Mystic Falls, Va
I stepped out of the black and white 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS that I had picked up outside of Richmond and immediately regretted it. Small towns, like this one and Forks, means any newcomer is immediately an attraction. At least I was dressed comfortably as I received interesting sideway glances from the locals passing by me. I had stopped at a small mall on my way in and picked up some more area appropriate clothes. Washington was cold which guaranteed I was going to be covered up regularly but being in the south meant I could let loose a bit. Currently, I am sporting a gray quarter sleeve blazer with a white v-neck underneath, skinny red jeans and a comfortable pair of nude heels. Of course, I also have my Lapis Lazuli studs in that my good witch friend Mary Morris made for me. I found her in the 1970's and thanks to her; I was able to protect my family and hers from afar and more closely as time grew on. She made me a pair of studs, a necklace, a toe ring, two anklets once, and three bracelets. She enjoyed making jewelry, and I never took her for granted. When she died, it felt like I lost another sister. I grabbed my red handbag from the passenger seat and locked the car along with my thoughts of Mary.
Like Forks, this town only had a few places to eat, and I decided to stop in at the Mystic Grill. What a unique name. As I enter, I notice the place isn't bustling, but a young man with blonde hair makes his way over to me as if he is rushing around. He was carrying a large tub filled with dirty plates and silverware.
"Hi, I'm Matt. Please take a seat anywhere, and I'll be right over with a menu and some water." He sends me a thousand watt smile, and I thank him before walking over to a small table in the front and sitting.
As I wait, I notice two teenagers walk through, a young blonde female and a dark haired male. The pair is a bit loud, but they walk to the back where the pool tables are situated. The laughter and giggling from the blonde causes my waiter to look over to them and scowl as he is walking over. Masking his disgust, he quickly smiled and handed me the menu. "The steak sandwich is delicious here. We have a new soup and salad combination today as well. The soup is the corn chowder, and the salad is an arugula salad with almond raspberry vinaigrette."
"While that does sound exciting, I am a meat and potatoes kind of gal," I say laughing. "Can I just have a steak sandwich with some fries?"
"Yes Ma'am." Matt laughed as he took my menu back and scribbled the order on a small pad of paper. "What can I get you to drink?"
"An iced unsweetened tea please." I smile and watch as he cringes slightly.
"Just as I was starting to like you too!" He jokes and I laugh softly.
"I am not sorry, darling," I say, and he leaves smiling. I grab the cellphone out of my pocket and try Stefan's number again, but it goes straight to voicemail. Sighing, I hang up and look around the bar.
I can hear the teenagers in the back talking loudly and unfortunately the louder they become, the harder it is not to listen to their conversation. Oh well, at least I'll have a bit of amusement with my lunch.
"Something's up with your mother." The girl says, and I hear her taking a seat.
"Like what?" The boy asks as he pulls his chair out.
I noticed another waiter make his way out from behind the bar and walk up towards the couple. The boy is the same age as the other teens with dark brown hair and chestnut eyes. The boy also had an impressive amount of muscle on him. All three boys did actually. What were they putting in the water down here?
"When I was over yesterday, she just kept eyeing me." The girl continued as her companion sat down.
"Hey, guys." The waiter chirped. He must know them or at least go to school with the pair.
"Did Matt make you switch sections." The girl asks, and after a moment of silence, she sighed deeply. "He thinks we're dating."
Ah, now I understand my waiter's disgust: Ex-girlfriend and potential boyfriend are not the ones you want to wait on. I ignore the trio as Matt returns with my tea.
"Thank you," I say as he hands it to me. "Hey, quick question," he turns around at the sound of my voice.
"Yes Ma'am?" Matt gives me a quizzical smile.
"Where is the local motel at?"
I notice that the trio in the back has suddenly become quiet and my waiter narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Well, there's one on 2nd Avenue called the Mystic Motel, and then there is one on Baker Street, but it is a Bed in Breakfast," Matt replies as he scratches his head.
"Thank you, I appreciate it. I want to check in before nightfall. I hear it gets a bit cold at night here." I say wistfully as if I am caught up in memories. After a few decades, I learned to be wary of humans and hide. Luckily, many people still viewed women as weak and fragile, so it became effortless for me to play the Damsel role.
I took a sip of my sweet tea, and the acid burn of vervain was present. The town knows. An instant flash of fear hit, but I have trained myself to be indecipherable and resilient. Carefully not to give even the tiniest hint away, I finished the sip before sending a bright and cheerful smile to Matt.
Matt smiles before walking off, and the three people on the other side of the bar start talking again.
"Who is that?" The dark haired male teen says.
"What do I look like, a mind reader?" The waiter says, and I try not to laugh out loud.
"Tyler why does it matter? She is probably just passing through. Jer, you are gonna be at Elena's birthday party tonight, right?" The girl talked faster than an auctioneer.
"Yes, but why does it have to be at the boarding house?" The waiter, Jer, whined.
"Look, Elena is having a tough time coming to grips with everything. I think it will be a good thing to connect her birthday with something that reminds her of Stefan."
Stefan.
I tried hard not to be noticeable as I continue to sip my tea naturally but hearing his name sends my anxiety skyrocketing. I miss him. Where is he? What is he doing? Why has he not called me back or answered my phone calls these past few weeks? Where is this boarding house? Is this the house he used to talk about when recalling his great nephews? I need to do some exploration. I relaxed a bit more in my chair and brought out my cell phone. Popping open the yellow pages web page and looking up Salvatore. Sure enough, Zachariah Salvatore had his listed address. Bingo! That is where Stefan would be. I smiled victoriously as my food exited the kitchen.
After a satisfying steak and leaving the heartbroken Matt a large tip, I make my way to the motel and check in. I take a nice relaxing bath to satiate my nerves. I was about to crash a party, hopefully, reunite with my best friend, and possibly have to face the abhorrent Damon Salvatore. Just thinking his name made me want to gag. Sighing, I stepped out of the tub, slipped into my favorite silk robe, and started thumbing through the half full motel closet. I loved the 1990's leather scene, and since I was going to reunite with Stefan, I decided to go vintage. I grabbed my favorite black leather jacket, a dark red spaghetti strap crop top, a black leather skirt that Lexi bought me, and a pair of black stilettos. My hair's already curly, so I just let it hang down my back in soft waves. I put on just a touch of makeup including a smokey eyeshadow with a hint of burgundy and a nude lipstick.
Looking at the clock, it is just past seven. Smiling, I grab my car keys and take my black leather with studs purse. I turned a few heads as I walked outside. Jumping into my car, I revved the engine and smiled brightly at the sweet sound the car made. I turned on the GPS and plugged in the address for the boarding house. The route would be scenic but beautiful.
Passing along the darkly lit forest, I flashed back to my first meeting of Edward Cullen. Witches have been trying to duplicate the vampire species for generations, but one sorceress, in particular, created a group that better resembled a disco ball when tossed in the sun. Only fire could destroy Cold Ones, as they were so dubiously named. When I ran into Edward and his coven, I did not know what they were, but I soon figured it out after talking to the local tribe of shapeshifters and doing some mild research. In the forest behind Forks High School, I confronted him. We had both been posing as high school students, him so that his family would seem "normal" and me so I could stay closer to Charlie without raising suspicion.
Edward and his family shared their secrets with me, but I could never expose myself. Whenever Alice had a vision of me, it was because I wanted her to see me in that vision. Whenever Jasper felt my emotions, it was because I wanted him to know what I was feeling. Edward, I could never let in my mind. At times, the coven could be controlling and manipulative, but as long as they did not threaten the people of Forks, I saw no reason to expose myself as a vampire. When Edward "broke up" with me in the dark forest behind my home, I had burst into a fit of giggles in front of him. I had made him terribly upset to the point that he resorted to trying to tear down my confidence. Unfortunately for him, it made me laugh harder.
The memory of Edward Cullen sulking away into the forest made me chuckle as I drove down the road. The GPS alerted me to take the upcoming right, and as I did, a line of cars came into view. Teenagers were stumbling out of the front doors of the large house. Honestly, the residence was vast and impressive, but the dark wood house surrounded by towering trees gave the home a creepy and secluded motel vibe. I parked my car in the back, right behind a white Ford F150, and started making my way closer to the front entrance.
Getting closer, a scent of a familiar vampire wafted through the open door: Damon Salvatore was here. Damon being here really throws my game plan off but regardless I will have to face the rat bastard eventually. Now, how am I going to get inside is the bigger question. Do I need to get into the house? I am thinking to myself when the dark haired teen from the dinner passes by, and his scent wafts over. Thankfully, I do not cringe outright, but inside I am reeling. Werewolves are deadly to a vampire, especially their bite. Fortunately, the boy is chatting excitedly with another young girl who is showcasing an ample bosom. Her dark green eyes skim over me before she smirks and drags the kid inside.
Sighing, I decided to circle the house. From the back patio, I watched as Damon Salvatore scowls from the top of a staircase that overlooks some young adults in his home. His dark brown hair is messy, and his black button up is wrinkled just a bit. Someone must have had a bad night.
From the corner of my eye, I see her. Long chestnut hair waving down her back and bright caramel eyes that have a hint of mischievousness to them. "Katherine." The name stumbles from my mouth before I can even react.
I glance over to Damon, and I know he is searching for whoever whispered Katherine's name. He places his hand on the small of her back and guides into an adjoining room. Rolling my eyes, I walk over to a few trees nearby and swiftly climb them. I am careful not to be seen by any of the party goers. The trees do not line up to the room Damon went into, but I can still hear the pair arguing.
"Can we not do this now? I'm having a terrible night." Damon's voice stressed.
"All summer, every single time I came to you with a lead, you made me feel like an idiot for having hope." Katherine's voice grated sounding just as whiny and petulant as Damon. A match made in hell for sure, I thought.
"You were an idiot." Damon sighed heavily. "We both were."
I could hear Katherine gasp, "Tell me what you know, Damon." She demanded.
"I know you need to get back to your party, Elena." Damon's voice is a soft whisper.
Elena? Elena… Ohhh... "You idiots."
I waited seven seconds for Damon to pop his head out of the window before he noticed me perched at the edge of a tree.
"Isabella." His voice held a note of fear. Good. "Elena, go downstairs." He ordered the young doppelganger.
"No. I have questions damn it!" Elena cursed loudly causing Damon to turn around to glare at her. "Why didn't you tell me that you've been tracking Klaus' victims?" She walked forward, but Damon blocked her path. "And who is out there?"
"Because they're not Klaus' victims, Elena, they're Stefan's!" Damon beckoned for her to see reason.
"What?" I asked as the sensation of dread washed over me.
"Who's out there Damon?" I could hear the doppelganger ask again.
"Elena, please, for once do as I ask and go downstairs. Enjoy your party." I could see Damon's lips twitch into a halfhearted smile as he said Elena's name.
"Damon, I…" Elena started to say, but Damon pointed a finger out the window.
"Scary vampire outside needs to be taken care of, so go." His voice was stern but with a playful tone, and I rolled my eyes.
Once the door shut, Damon turned around and pushed himself out of the window until he was sitting with his feet dangling off the roof.
"Long time no bite," Damon said with a half smile.
"Where is Stefan," I growled at him.
"Stefan? Oh, he left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard Bellsie." Damon says as he swings his feet back and forth ruefully.
"Why?" I demanded.
"You know how it is when he goes full ripper Bellsie. One minute he is all 'I love white fluffy bunnies" and the next he is all "arg arg arg.'" Damon finished his jest with a fake lunge and making vampire teeth with his fingers.
"Cute becomes stupid quickly on you Daisy," I tell him with a smirk. "So where is his latest victim."
"No. Don't look for him." There was a dark edge to Damon's eyes. "Don't wait for him to come home. Stefan is gone, and he is not coming back. Maybe not even in Elena's lifetime." For once in the nearly seven decades I have known him, Damon Salvatore looks remorseful, broken, and dejected.
After kicking out all the teenagers at 3 am, Damon offered me a room to sleep in for the duration of my stay. When I got back from the motel with all my things, I went in search for him. Instead of in the parlor with a glass of scotch, I found him inside the attic room on the ground asleep with tear streaks dried on his cheeks. The room was messy with knickknacks scattered around the room and clothes ripped from hangers in the closet. A lot of the items I recognized as Stefan's, like his Hell's Angels signed helmet and tree of life painting he picked up at the American Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian in 1976. The room must be Stefan's room that Damon has destroyed in a childlike fit.
Sighing, I picked Damon up and ran him to the room next door. The room didn't look occupied, but for now, this would suit him fine. I place him in the bed and leave. I keep the door cracked open and made my way through the house looking for a suitable room to sleep in. Preferably one with a bathroom next to it. On the far east wing of the house is a large bedroom with an adjoining bathroom. The room was a male's room, but it appeared as if it had been untouched for some time. Pictures scattered around the chamber showed a man that resembled the Salvatore brothers. The room must have been their great nephew's room before Damon killed him.
Sinking into the bed, I rolled over onto my side. Surprisingly, the bed overlooks a small garden through the balcony window. With the windows opened as they are, I can see the gentle breeze skim over the top of the flowers and rustle some leaves. I fell asleep with the wind open, the breeze quickly lulling me to sleep. I dreamed of my human days with my sister as we played through the forests of Washington.
When I awoke the next morning, I rushed first to shower before throwing on a pair of faded blue jean knee length shorts, a soft gray Rolling Stones prism shirt and a pair of running shoes. I braided my hair swiftly before walking down stairs to the parlor. I found a small fridge disguised as a bookshelf behind the bar. The fridge is filled with blood bags and white wines. I grabbed one of the blood bags and began pouring a glass when I heard the front door open. Glancing up, Elena Gilbert stood in front of the parlor with her hands on her hips. She was wearing a lacy white tank top and blue jeans with cowgirl boots.
"Who are you?" Elena started to say as Damon walked down the stairs with no shirt on and low riding black pants.
"Just can't stay away, can you?" He sent her a smirk and then turned around to me. "Gonna pour me one?"
Rolling my eyes, I obliged and handed him the one I had already made myself. Fixing another, I listened to the two.
"Who is she?" Elena asked as again.
"Scary vampire. Big on the bity." Damon plopped down into a large leather chair.
I sent Elena a broad smile that may have seemed intimidating to some. I noticed the girl rolled her eyes before also taking a seat on the loveseat opposite from Damon.
"You have been dodging my calls." She said in a disapproving manner.
"Yeah, well, busy dealing with a dead fake girlfriend and unexpected visitors." I heard the hint of sadness in Damon's voice although he tried to mask it with humor.
"I saw the news, why didn't you tell me?" Elena leaned over and placed one hand on Damon's knee.
"Happy Birthday, Elena. Stefan killed Andie. Cake?" Damon shifted his leg so that her hand fell away.
"He called me, Damon." Elena's voice was a mere whisper.
"What?" Damon asked astonished.
"Stefan called me last night."
"Well, what did he say?" I asked irritated that the doppelganger couldn't get straight to the point.
"He didn't say anything, but it was him. Who are you to Stefan anyway?" She demanded as she stood up.
"The last time Stefan went binge drinking on a bunch of country folk, she happened." Damon snorted before taking a sip of his drink.
"Wait, Stefan turned you?" Elena looked shocked as she turned around to stare at me.
"We went through this, Elena," Damon says, and she turns back around. "Stefan is gone. I don't mean geographically."
Elena grabs a pack of papers from her back pocket as she stood up. "I asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call's origin. It came from Tennessee." Elena starts to walk away and down the hall when we hear her call out. "If he were gone, he wouldn't have called." The door slammed shut leaving Damon and I staring at each other.
"Care to explain all this mess," I say with a flourish of my hand.
"I believe Stefan kept you fairly well informed about the doppelganger, Katherine, and Klaus. What you may not have heard has Klaus compelled out the Ripper to spare my life. A werewolf got a hold of me and turns out Klaus is the cure for werewolf bites." Although Damon sneered the last part, I heard a heavy note of distress and sadness in his voice.
"Stefan did inform me, but I didn't believe the eerie creepiness. Oh. There is something I forgot to do." A memory of Lexi destroying Damon's supply of whiskey hit me, and I smiled viciously.
"What's that?" Damon uttered out as he turned to give me a small smirk.
I grabbed the edge of the bar that housed all of Damon's favorite Whiskeys, Bourbons, and Scotches. With a twist of the wrist, the bottles and the bar came crashing to the ground. Damon looked at me with absolute disbelief.
"What the literal fuck, Bella?" He screamed as he flashed forward and grabbed my neck.
"You murdered Lexi, Damon." I grabbed his hand and dislocated his arm from his shoulder blade. Before he could recover, I picked up one of the jagged pieces of glass and twisted it into his stomach. "You were supposed to protect Stefan and instead he has disappeared." I sent a swift kick to his shin and felt the bones crumble upon impact. "You have utterly failed as a brother and as a friend, Damon Salvatore." The anger that flashed in my eyes must have alerted him to the proximity of my anger. He quickly backed away from me as I marched out of the house, despite the inner urge to destroy everything, and headed towards the city of Mystic Falls.
Memories of Lexi and Stefan through the ages bombard me, and I find myself missing the two more. I take out my phone and look at the last photo of the three of us together. The photo was taken a right after Edward had dumped me and I had decided to head to St. Augustine, Florida. Lexi and Stefan had met me there, and we roamed the streets laughing and drinking. The last picture was as the sun had just set, the purple still fading into the dark clouds. Lexi and Stefan were on each of my sides, and we were all smiling broadly on the Fort looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. I played a few of the videos we had of each other playing in the ocean and running down the alley ways. I felt the tears trickle down and found myself sitting in an old looking cemetery.
I go to switch my phone off when Damon's face appears on the screen. Angrily, I swipe the answer feature and snarl into the phone. "What Damon?"
"Oh hi there Miss wanders off for 3 hours by herself and then gets testy when I check in on her." I could practically hear his eye roll.
Groaning, I slap my hand to my forehead. "What do you want."
"I have a lead on Stefan."
"Where?" I turn around to see Damon standing in front of me.
"A small area right in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee," Damon speaks to me directly instead of the phone. I put mine away and look around.
"So what are we doing standing around here. Let's go." I start to move forward, but Damon flashes in front of me.
"Bella, there will be werewolves and Klaus. Not to mention we will be pissing off one little annoying doppelganger. You okay with this? Are you ok with helping me bring him back?" Damon's ice blue eyes try to penetrate my mind, and I smirk.
"It's Stefan. No matter what, I want him back and safe. I don't like you, but that doesn't mean I won't work with you to help Stefan. So let's go get changed for a little romp in the woods." I say with a laugh and flash through the woods.
Within a few hours, Damon and I were stepping out of his Blue Camaro and strolling through the forest in time to surprise Elena. Elena is currently talking to an older man with light brown hair and soft blue eyes. From the sound of the conversation, the pair were having an argument about protection and the dangers of the supernatural.
As Elena got closer to the water line of the creek, Damon chuckled a bit. "Watch this."
"Yeah, well, then why don't you save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless baby Gilbert's." The man said gruffly.
"Okay, and how 'bout you borrow it until after we survive this? I'd feel bad if I got you killed before happy hour." Elena jokes and hands a large ring over to the man. He picks it from her fingers and smiles softly at her.
Elena smiles as the man takes the ring and backs a bit further away, closer to the water's edge. "I don't know why you think you're a lost cause." She started, but Damon pushes her into the water. She stands up, soaking wet and glares at Damon. "DAMON! How are you even here?"
"Thanks for the tip, brother." Damon laughed as he took a look at the crossbow from the man who Elena had been talking with earlier.
"You sold me out!" Elena shrieked in disbelief.
"You think I'd take you to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?" The man looked as if she had wounded his pride.
"Get out of the water, Elena," Damon said as I walked over.
"If I get out of the water, you're gonna make me go home." She sulked as she sat on one of the large rocks.
"Yes, because I'm not an idiot like you." Damon stuck out his tongue.
"Right now, you are both acting like idiots," I said as I flipped over the creek and landed on the dry land by the strange crossbow wielding man.
"You gave up on him Damon." Elena huffs and stares at the forest away from us.
"He didn't give up on Stefan, Elena." The girl looked over at me as I spoke. "Damon face reality. The Stefan you knew and loved gone due to Klaus. There is nothing we can do about that. Right now. If you want to influence him back, get out of the water." I stretched out my hand towards her, and she slapped it away.
"NO!"
"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh? You gonna walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan to stop by?" Damon snarled at her.
"My plan," She hissed as she picked herself out of the water, "is to find him and help him." She stood in front of Damon with an intensity in her eyes. "Damon, this is the closest that we have been since he left. I am not going home."
"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse. That makes you safe. This," Damon stretched his arm out wildly "This is not safe."
"I'm not leaving before we find him." Elena pushed passed him and came to stand by the strange man.
"It's a full moon tonight, Elena." The man says softly as he looks down at her.
Elena lifted up her head and nodded briefly. "Then we'll find him before then."
"Okay, okay. But we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait." I say as the three slowly comes to terms with the situation we now resided in.
"I promise," Elena says as she looks at me.
"No offense, but I don't know you, so I don't trust you. No matter what Stefan has said about you." I turn away from the trio and start to lead us deeper into werewolf territory.
"Damon, who is she?" I heard the other man ask.
"She's an old friend, Ric." Damon's voice is a whisper, and I resist the urge to smile.
"You have those." I heard Elena scoff as she picked up her bag from the ground.
When we started hiking, the sun was above our heads, but as I step aside to let Damon take the lead, the sun is setting. Elena had bitched and whined the entire time, earning snarky comments from me and eye rolls from Damon. I learned the crossbow wielders name was Alaric (Ric) Saltzman, local Vampire Hunter and High School history, teacher. We were talking about the French Revolution when Damon turned around to quiet us down and ask for directions from Ric.
"We got about a mile left," Ric said as he pushed the map back into the backpack.
"The sun's about to set as well," I say as I look up through the trees to see the stars peeping through the clouds.
"I understand that Bella," Elena growled out.
"She was just saying…"
"The moon doesn't hit its apex for a while, Damon." She said as she passed him on the trail. "We have time."
I rolled my eyes and deliberated between tossing a rock at her head or just fireman style carrying her away when I heard some twigs snapping. A few feet from us stagger out a man, bloodied and confused, with sharp teeth. Ric immediately points his crossbow at the man.
"Stay where you are!" I hear Ric command, but the man senses what Damon and I are.
"Vampires." He sneers and charges over to Damon. The man pushes Damon into a tree and is trying to take a bite of Damon when Elena tosses a grenade to Damon.
"Damon!" Elena yells and Damon catches it and slams it into the werewolf's face just as it explodes. The agonizing screams match the burn marks that now mar the man's face. It doesn't take long for the man to slip into unconsciousness. I notice Ric had even shot an arrow at the man's heart although he missed.
"Let me guess: Hybrid," I say dryly as they look at each other.
Damon and Ric ended up tying the hybrid to one of the tall trees with vervain ropes. I laughed a bit as Damon burned when he took the lines from Elena. I walked around the perimeter as the trio decided on what they wanted to do with their capture. Personally, the man is half wild and deserves to catch some peace: in other words, we should kill him. Sighing I walked around a few trees to clear my head when I heard Elena scream.
I started racing forward when I heard footprints behind me. I stopped underneath I large oak tree and waited patiently. The bloodied werewolf is running from Damon when I see a quick flash of a vampire. The beast drops to the ground, a hole present where his heart should be. Stefan Salvatore looks down at the werewolf and tosses the heart down to the ground before looking up at Damon. Stefan's usually bright green eyes are coal black with the veins running along the edges of his eyes. His black shirt had a few rips and blood stains.
"Fancy meeting you here," Damon says wryly as he takes in the disheveled look of his younger brother.
"What part of 'don't follow me anymore' got lost in translation, Damon?" Stefan snarled.
"Might want to take it up with your girlfriend," I say as I walk out from the shadow of the oak tree. Stefan turns around, and I see the surprise in his eyes with a twinge of guilt and fear. Stefan's humanity is still there. "You don't want her chasing you; I'd stop with the late-night phone calls." I wink at him and smile softly.
"I didn't call her." He coughs out.
"Bless your heart, but you are a terrible liar," I say as I pat his shoulder before walking over to stand by Damon.
"She's not gonna give up on you," Damon said with a serious tone.
"She has to. Because I'm never coming back." Stefan growls before taking off into the forest.
I feel Damon tense up and slap his shoulder a bit. "Hey, D, why don't you go and take Elena home." I put my finger to my nose so that Damon knows not to ask questions. He nods his head in understanding and disappears.
Lifting my head, I find Stefan's scent and the smell of werewolves coming from the far northeast. I race off as quietly as possible. Growing closer, the stench of death becomes overbearing, and I catch myself from gagging at the site of a dozen or more mid-transition werewolves that have died. A man with dirty blonde hair is throwing a bottle of beer towards Stefan who looks away with a confused expression.
"I did everything I was told!" The blonde screamed as he turned around and glared at Stefan. The man tried to regain his composure as he took a shaky hand and dragged it down his weathered face. Turning away from Stefan, the blonde started to pace awkwardly around one of the dead bodies. "I should be able to convert them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelganger."
Judging by Stefan's awkward flinches through the man's tirade, the blonde was Klaus Mikaelson.
Klaus turned back around and stared at Stefan intently. "You look like hell."
"Last I checked, I'm dying." Stefan rolled up his sleeve revealing a nasty looking bite that was beginning to ooze a yellow puss.
Klaus looks away from Stefan to the dead body of the man Stefan had tracked earlier. Stefan must have brought it back with him.
"I had to take him out. I didn't have a choice." Stefan grumbled, and Klaus looked up at Stefan. "I failed you. I'm sorry. Do what you have to do." Stefan inclines his head and closes his eyes, and I hear Klaus chuckle a bit.
"It should have worked."
Turning around, Klaus picks an empty beer bottle off the ground and wipes off the lip. He bites down harshly on his hand and making a fist, holds it over the small opening of the bottle. After a few moments, Klaus gives the bottle to Stefan.
"Bottoms up. We're leaving." Stefan takes the bottle from Klaus and adopts a long sip. "It appears you're the only comrade I have left." With a sigh, Klaus flashes away.
Stefan looks towards the distance where Klaus disappeared to and then to the dark area of the forest I have been silently watching. He winks before tossing the bottle on the ground and disappearing as well.
"Stefan, what have you got yourself into?" I whisper with a shake of my head.
