On the Road
Krystal was quiet, Stefan glanced over at her,
"So," Stefan started out, Krystal glanced over at him,
"She wouldn't talk to you huh?" Krystal asked,
"No, I left her note," Stefan explained as he went back to staring out the window,
"I think I should have left Damon one too, he looked pissed, don't know why, clearly he is in love with her, and we were only friends," Krystal mumbled.
"But you like him don't you?" Stefan asked,
"What I know about him, yeah," Krystal explained.
"I think we both need to get away," Stefan mumbled,
"Maybe, though I never lived in Mystic Falls, its too small," Krystal shaking her head.
"Its how Klaus found Elena," Stefan explained, he went on to talk about what Klaus had done to them over the years.
"It must be hard for her," Krystal thought, Stefan agreed,
"Casper find some good music please," Krystal commanded,
"Of course," Casper flipping through the channels, he found some upbeat rock.
"I thought you wanted me to drive," Stefan asked,
"I cant sleep now," Krystal explained, he glanced at her,
"You look nice today," Stefan commented on her clothing,
"Thanks, that sweater looks good on you," Krystal explained,
"Thanks, I was thinking about pulling it off till we get there, with Colorado's weather and all I might need it," Stefan explained.
"We don't feel the cold though," Krystal laughed a little,
"Its good to keep up appearances though," Stefan pulling it off, he had a gray dark nice shirt on, a little tight with his chest muscles rippling through it.
"You and Damon both like the expensive stuff huh?" Krystal glancing at him,
"I guess, to me its just a shirt, though I do like to dress up," Stefan explained.
"I used to dress up, and I used to like doing all the girl things, I just don't anymore, there is no one to impress anymore," Krystal shrugged,
"I just like to dress up for the hell of it, I don't care what people think," Stefan shrugged. They got to talking about his ripper side, his uncontrollable thirst for human blood. Krystal now understood when he was a bit freaked out about drinking the blood from the bag, he had such a big heart when he was alive, that the guilt ate at him for the things that he had done.
"I didn't tell Damon this but I think I might know who can help Elena be a human again, I just don't want to give anyone's hopes up," Krystal seriously,
"Who?" Stefan asked,
"My grandmother, she lives in California, I need to go see her after the funeral," Krystal explained.
"I'll go with you," Stefan seriously, Krystal nodded,
"Maybe I can pay Damon and you back with this, if anyone would know she definitely would," Krystal seriously.
"Why would she?" Stefan asked,
"She is a very powerful woman, I got my gifts from her but I choose not to use them, I don't want to be a freak," Krystal explained,
"Is she a witch?" Stefan asked,
"She can see everything she can see a person's past and future with just a touch, she can see ghost, she can even cast a few spells, she is one powerful witch," Krystal explained,
"I don't know if she will like what I have become, so she might not welcome us with open arms," Krystal explained.
"She already knows what you are?" Stefan asked,
"As powerful as she is, she probably felt it when it all happened, for all I know she may be the one who is responsible for keeping me alive till help came," Krystal explained.
"Don't tell Damon, he will probably try to use her," Stefan explained, Krystal nodded, they listened to music some more. Stefan took a nap, Krystal glanced over at him, she smiled a little, he seemed conflicted while he was awake, but now, he let all his worries slip away in his slumber, she wondered if she looked like that when she slept. A couple of hours after Stefans nap, Krystal pulled off onto a dirt road, she pulled into woods and stopped,
"What are we doing here?" Stefan confused,
"You didn't feed before we left, I was stopping to let you feed," Krystal explained.
"Thanks," Stefan giving her a small smile, he liked that she was looking out for him,
"Why don't you come try some?" Stefan asked, Krystal laughed a little, she shrugged,
"Why not," Krystal locking the car up, she followed Stefan into the woods,
"This is the same as with humans but you don't have to compel them, and they are faster than humans, so its more fun in my opinion," Stefan explained.
"And animals heal faster too," Krystal nodded,
"Yeah," Stefan explained they found a few deer, Stefan pointed them out to her,
"Use your speed," Stefan whispered, Krystal stood stock still and let them graze on the grass, Stefan watched her, when she took off he took off and they both caught two deer and fed from their neck. Krystal pulled off and let the deer go.
"Good, you catch on quick," Stefan smirked,
"Its not bad, but it wont make you as strong as the human stuff," Krystal seriously.
"Yeah, that's the down side, come on lets go, I've gotten enough," Stefan walking back with her to the car,
"Maybe if it was a bad guy, you could feed from them and not feel so guilty?" Krystal asked,
"Maybe," Stefan thought about it. Krystal was about to open her door when Stefan came to her,
"I'll drive, besides I know of a good blood bank, in these parts," Stefan explained.
"Alright," Krystal giving him the keys, their fingers touched, she glanced up at him, she gave him a small smile, then went to the other side and got in, they left.
In Colorado
Krystal had took a nap and by the time Stefan had stopped by the blood bank she was fully awake to start driving some more, their last stop was to get some gas. Currently they were pulling into her parents place,
"Nice place," Stefan standing beside the car,
"It was until the fire fight," Krystal getting her desert eagles out, he followed her to the house. The door had been left busted in, Krystal had tried to fix it before she left but nothing worked, she slowly entered the house, it didn't look like anyone had messed with anything, but she could hear a heartbeat and slow breathing, Krystal got Stefan's attention and pointed to her ear and pointed up, he listened, he nodded, he followed her upstairs.
She checked the rooms, it wasn't till she came to her parent's room that she found a little girl asleep on her parents bed, no more than maybe ten years old, her little body broken and bruised, Krystal caught herself before she fell to the floor, she put a hand over her nose, to keep from sobbing out loud, but the little girl woke up, when she saw Krystal and Stefan she jerked up and ran to the opposite side of the bed and cowered where they couldn't see her, leaving one of Krystal's teddy bears on her parent's bed.
Slowly she put her guns away, she inched toward the bed took the teddy bear and inched around to the little girl,
"You like my teddy bear huh?" Krystal softly and calmly,
"He got me through the hard times, I guess he has someone else to help now, here, you can have him," Krystal giving her a small smile as she sat the teddy bear halfway between them, the little girl slowly reached out and took the bear but jerked back away from her, Stefan watched Krystal interact with the scared little girl, it broke his heart to know that Krystal had had the similar hard times that this little girl had went through.
"What's your name sweetie?" Krystal asked softly, the little girl stared at Krystal then at Stefan, then started picking a little at the bear,
"We wont hurt you, are you hungry?" Krystal calmly asked, the little girl glanced at her, and nodded a little.
"We have food in this house, you wanna take my hand and we'll go get you some food," Krystal slowly holding her hand halfway out, the little girl looked at it, she didn't know whether or not to trust her, she was starving but could she really trust this woman? Slowly the little girl reached out and slowly placed her little hand in hers,
"My name is Krystal, this is Stefan," Krystal slowly getting up and walking her down the stairs to kitchen.
In the kitchen
Stefan started looking in the cabinets,
"Why don't you sit up here, our chairs are broken," Krystal patted the kitchen bar, the little girl nodded slowly, Krystal carefully lifted her up and put her on the bar, the little girl let out a small squeak,
"Did I hurt you?" Krystal asked, the little girl pointed at her ribs,
"I'm going to check your ribs and make sure there are no broken bones, alright?" Krystal asked the little girl nodded, Krystal gently ran her fingers along her sides, she felt a crack in one side,
"Okay, now lets see what we can find to eat," Krystal looking in the fridge, she found lunch meat,
"Do you like ham and turkey?" Krystal checking the expiration date on them which was still good. The little girl nodded, Krystal grabbed the bread and made sure it was alright, it was starting to mold,
"Here, you can snack on this, I know we have some ravioli that is still good, do you like ravioli?" Krystal asked, the little girl nodded as she stuffed the lunch meat into her mouth,
"Sweetie, you need to take it easy, you could choke," Krystal explained calmly. The little girl took slower bites, but large ones, Krystal found a can of ravioli and heated it in the microwave, when she pulled it out it was a little hot,
"Here you go, it's a little hot so you need to let it cool down a little, okay?" Krystal asked, she only nodded, Krystal found some juice that was still good, she grabbed a plastic cup, Stefan watched her as she carefully broke her skin and let her blood stream into the cup, Stefan tried to stop her, Krystal glared at him, he let her do it, then she licked her wrist clean, and poured the juice in the cup.
"Here, this will help you feel better in no time," Krystal giving her the juice, the little girl stared at her,
"Its okay, I wont hurt you, I know you don't know if you can trust me right now, but it's the truth," Krystal softly. The little girl drank it greedily,
"That's a good girl, can I go wash you up, I think I have some stuff that might fit you," Krystal smiling, the little girl nodded,
"Alright, I'm going to carry you okay?" Krystal asked, she again nodded,
"There's some boxes in the room we found her in, in the closet, there should be some little girl clothes," Krystal explained. Stefan nodded, Krystal took her to her parent's bathroom, she ran the tub of warm water,
"Can you strip for me?" Krystal asked as she closed the door and locked it, the little girl shook her head,
"Its just me and you," Krystal softly. Still she shook her head,
"Did someone hurt you, a female person?" Krystal asked, she nodded her head,
"I just want to get you clean and then you can wear these warm clothes I have for you, but we have to get you clean first," Krystal explained, she looked under the cabinets and found some bubble bath her mother had, she opened the bottle, taking a moment to smell the scented bubble bath, she missed her mother. She turned around and found the little girl in the tub with her clothes all off,
"Good job, I found some bubbles for the bath to make it less awkward," Krystal explained as she poured the bubble bath soap in, the little girl smiled a little,
"I like bubble baths too, I have a wash cloth here for you, can you wash yourself?" Krystal asked, the little girl took the cloth, she looked and found the soap and wet the rag and put some soap on the rag.
"Good job, you are a smart little girl huh?" Krystal asked, she nodded,
"Can you tell me how old you are?" Krystal asked, the little girl shook her head.
"Listen, if you want to stay with me you can, I wont make you go back or put you in the streets," Krystal softly and calmly, the little girl held up ten fingers.
"Ten, okay, do you want to tell me your name?" Krystal asked, she still shook her head,
"Its okay, hurry and wash and your ravioli should be done when you get dressed," Krystal smiling. The little girl washed up, and washed her hair, Krystal helped rinse it out, finally she got out,
"Okay, I want you to stay right here and dry off, I will bring you those clothes, they are pajamas so you can sleep in them," Krystal explained as she shut the door,
"Did you find the clothes?" Krystal asked softly,
"Yeah, there's two boxes of winter clothes here," Stefan explained. Krystal poured them out on the bed, she looked until she found some pajamas,
"What was with you earlier?" Stefan whispered,
"She had a few cracked ribs, I had to heal her," Krystal whispered, she found some pajamas and some socks and some underwear, she went back into the bathroom and locked the door.
"Here, these should fit," Krystal softly,
"Thank you," the little girl mumbled out,
"You are more than welcome sweetheart, when you get dressed we'll brush those tangles out and blow dry it okay?" Krystal asked, she nodded. Krystal dug through the cabinet and got out everything she needed,
"Do you feel better now?" Krystal asked,
"I don't hurt so much," the little girl mumbled,
"That's good," Krystal giving her a kind smile. She gently brushed through her hair and blow dried it and then they went out into the bedroom, Stefan was sitting on the bed,
"Hi," Stefan softly, the little girl waved slightly,
"We are going to go see if her food has finished cooling," Krystal explained, Stefan nodded,
"Can you see if you can fix the door with something?" Krystal asked,
"I can try," Stefan explained,
"There is tools in the garage, I don't know if dad had any nails or anything to fix a door with," Krystal explained.
"I'll see what I can do for it," Stefan leaving the room, they all went downstairs and Krystal got her to eat the ravioli, Stefan poked around in the garage and tried finding something to hold the door shut till morning.
Then he prodded around with the door and made sure it was nice and locked up. He turned around and found a mess in the living room, he flipped on the light, and straighten the furniture up and found the TV in perfect condition, he turned it on and found some cartoons, the little girl had finished the bowl off,
"Do you like cartoons?" Stefan asked, she nodded and smiled a little, he patted the couch he was sitting on that had bullet holes in it, she looked at Krystal, she smiled a little, she helped her off the kitchen bar and she went over shyly to Stefan and sat down on the end of the couch,
"I wont hurt you," Stefan softly,
"I've got to take a shower, can you sit with Stefan for a little while?" Krystal asked. The little girl looked at Stefan and nodded, Krystal went to her shower in her bathroom and took a short shower, leaving enough hot water for Stefan.
She got out and put a pair of fleece pajama bottoms on and large comfy sweater, she then took her blankets and some pillows and made a bed for her and Stefan in the floor of her parent's room where they could lock the door in case there were people that did break in, she had a child to protect now.
Finally she came in the living room, the little girl had fallen asleep with the teddy bear, Krystal smiled a little,
"I'll go put her to bed, why don't you use my shower, I left you some hot water," Krystal explained.
"I've got to get the stuff from the car first," Stefan explained,
"Alright, when you finish, I have a bed made in my parent's room for us, basically some blankets on the floor and she is taking the bed, it was the only room that hasn't been broken into, we can lock the door and hear if anyone comes in on us," Krystal explained.
"That's fine, here, I'll carry her," Stefan offered, Krystal stood back and let him carry her to the room, she pulled the covers down, Stefan laid her gently on the bed, then covered her up.
"You will make a great father," Krystal smiling at him with teary eyes, Stefan smiled a little,
"You have a way with her as well," Stefan gently wiping a tear from her eye, she smiled a little.
"She shouldn't have to go through something like this at her age," Krystal explained,
"And you shouldn't have either," Stefan softly.
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," Krystal mumbled,
"I guess, I am going to go get our stuff and take that shower now," Stefan softly as he walked out. Krystal sat there and looked around the room, she was starting to really miss her parents. Her mother always understood her, her father wanted to fix her as if she were broken like the Mustang they worked on,
"I wasn't broken," Krystal softly whispered, she could feel everything creeping in her veins, the depression and sorrow.
"I need you brother," Krystal whispered out,
"You don't need me," he appeared by her side, sitting on the end of the bed,
"I do, I don't know how to do this," Krystal cried softly.
"You have done great so far, you have Stefan, you have your sister, you could go back to Mystic Falls, have friends," her brother explained. Krystal shook her head,
"But she can, she could live with Cadence, she could have a new life, start fresh," Krystal glancing at the little girl.
"You could move back and take care of her," her brother explained,
"I'm a vampire, if I took care of her she would find out sooner than later that I am one, she will freak," Krystal explained as she looked at her hands.
"You are just like her, your afraid to get close to anyone, you don't want to lose anyone else, but the thing is, they aren't going to hurt you, Stefan is here because he wants to help you, you want to help Elena, you need someone to look out for you too," her brother explained.
"I'm a vampire, Stefan and Damon are too busy with Elena to even notice me, I cant have a relationship with a guy who isn't a vampire," Krystal explained,
"If you found someone who loved you, you could tell them about you, and then you could turn him, there's other vampires that have done that, look at Stefan and Elena, she eventually turned," her brother explained.
"She never wanted this, I didn't want this, I did it for Cadence, to protect her," Krystal mumbled,
"And to start over, let Stefan be your friend at least," her brother explained, Krystal glanced at him,
"Why?" Krystal asked softly,
"Because when you bury mom and dad, it is your closure with me, you wont be able to see me anymore," her brother strongly. Krystal's eyes produced more tears,
"But I need you," Krystal softly pleaded,
"No, you need someone in the sense of alive, like Stefan, Elena, Damon, hell even Cadence, spend time with her while she is alive," her brother explained. Krystal nodded her head,
"I'll try," Krystal softly. Stefan walked in,
"Hey, you okay?" Stefan asked as he sat down beside her,
"Everything is getting to me again, I need a friend," Krystal sobbed out softly.
"You have me, that's why I am here, I would like for you to be my friend," Stefan softly, Krystal glanced at his eyes, he was hurting too, Krystal nodded a little,
"I'll try, I'm not so good at this friends thing," Krystal laughing a little.
"I think you are doing just fine so far," Stefan explained as he held her to his side. He gently kissed the top of her head,
"So, what are we going to do about her? She cant stay with us not in this house," Stefan explained.
"I'm going to get her to go with Cadence for a little while, just until I can sat up something more stable," Krystal explained,
"You are going to take her in?" Stefan asked,
"Yeah, I already have, Cadence is just going to keep her until I can figure out where I want to stay," Krystal explained. Stefan nodded,
"Sounds like a good plan," Stefan thinking about his unborn child,
"Its human," Krystal mumbled,
"What is?" Stefan asked,
"Your baby," Krystal softly.
"Wow, I don't understand how its possible," Stefan a little nervous about talking about it,
"I'll find a way to keep her safe, she wont die," Krystal seriously,
"You can't protect everyone who is important to you or to me and Damon, that's not a life, that's not what we are meant to do," Stefan explained.
"People grow up Stefan, they have a family, they protect that family and love that family and support that family, that's a life worth living," Krystal explained.
"That means you will have to let someone else other than yourself protect you as well and for you to get close enough to someone and trust they wont leave you can you handle that?" Stefan asked,
"We all have to start somewhere, she is a nice beginning for me don't you think?" Krystal glancing back at the little girl.
"Yeah, but you will need help," Stefan explained,
"I've got Cadence for now and….you," Krystal softly.
"Yes, you do have me, come on, we need sleep," Stefan explained, he got up and held his hand out for her to take, she looked at his eyes for a second then his hand, she slowly slipped her hand into his, they walked over and laid down on the makeshift bed and covered up and went to sleep.