A/N:- I had an exam lined up so I wanted to write it in peace, so the delay, unlike my other stories which I write in a rush. Hope u enjoy the chapter.
P.S. I mean the plot in them is rushed as compared to this one.
Jenna comes running down the stairs while pulling her hair up in a bun, "Coming" she says while putting the comb on a side desk, she opens the door and she feels sad about the man standing on the other side of the door. "Stefan. Come in."
Stefan steps in and Jenna hugs him, consoling him, she knows why he is back in town. She breaks the hug, "I heard about your brother Stefan. Come sit, I'll make you coffee."
Stefan walks inside and pulls a chair out on the kitchen island while he looks around for her, waiting for her to show up. Jenna notices this and tells him, "Oh Stefan, she is not here, after you left, she left for another school, she didn't want to stay in town anymore."
He sits thinking when he sent those gloves and axe to the forensics only one person's finger prints matched, 'Caroline Forbes' he didn't want to believe what the proofs were telling him so he came here to talk to Elena face to face to know if she had any hand in it, to know if she told Caroline about vampires and vervain. He had compelled the forensics to keep the results to them and not expose it not until he has found out who else was involved.
Jenna hands him a hot mug of coffee and he is back to his present, he sips the coffee while he finally lets it out. "Jenna, I was here to talk to her, but now that she isn't here and her cell is not reachable, I think…"
"Oh oh, about that, she took a new number, here" Jenna dials Elena's number from her phone and hands it to Stefan.
"You can go to her room and talk, I'll wait here."
Stefan takes the opportunity and goes to Elena's room while sipping his coffee, by the time Elena picks up the phone Stefan's eyes land on the one thing that takes all his attention. There was a clock in the room and his vampire hearing didn't pick up the ticking while he was outside but when he went inside not only the clock was ticking but there was also a cat who was stuck and mewling to get out.
At first Stefan reaches out to free it but then decides to test a theory, he steps out of the room and there is no sound of the cat. He steps in, again a sound, steps out, no sound, why on Earth would Elena have privacy spell cast in her room, Stefan feels something suspicious.
Elena picks up the call, "Hello, Hello Jenna, is anyone there, hello?"
Stefan disconnects the call, if she had a hand in getting his brother killed then he doesn't want to hear her voice but a part of him doesn't want to believe it so he decides to question Caroline Forbes herself.
The next day Caroline is walking to her school when Stefan blurs her away to a corner, pulls her vervain necklace off, grabs her shoulders and compels her, "Did you kill my brother?"
Compelled by him she answers, "No, I didn't."
"I found the gloves, the axe, the fingerprints inside the gloves were yours, can you explain that."
"Yes, I bought a pair of rubber gloves so that my manicured hands don't spoiled by doing the house work, the gloves were stolen a week ago, I think Dana took them."
Stefan loosens his hold on Caroline and heaves, somehow he feels relieved that his friends were not involved in his brother's murder but if not them then who, he was about to let Caroline go but then decides to ask one more question, "Caroline, why does Elena have a privacy spell cast in her room?"
"Because Bonnie was practicing magic and she learnt of this new spell, she wanted to try it and I was jealous so I had Bonnie cast that same spell in my room too so that we're even."
"Forget we had this conversation Caroline, now let me drop you to school."
She lets him, Stefan drives Caroline to school that day, Bonnie greets with a smile, "Oh Stefan, nice to see you again."
"Thanks Bonnie but I am here to look into my brother's murder, I have no idea who got him killed."
"Yeah, I heard about it, we're sad for you, but trust me Stefan, you should attend school with us today, maybe it will make you feel better, I mean yes, finding your brother's murderer would be on top of the list but I guess school would be a good distraction."
Stefan agrees to stay in school and a diversion does make him feel better, it is during the recess when he finds the latest suspect in this case, the old vampire Annabelle, he sees Elena's little brother all wrapped around her little finger, he looks at the vervain bracelet on Jeremy's wrist. Jeremy hands her a book, an old journal. Anna kisses him and leaves.
Stefan follows Anna to her hideout, questions her on the same, his brother, his brother's murder but even Anna denies having any information about the same.
"I have no idea who killed your brother Stefan, I am here to get my mother back."
"Anna, you can't have her back, Emily destroyed the crystal. There is no other way."
"There is another way Stefan, I just need Emily's spell, and a witch, so you let me do my job, I'll let you do yours."
Stefan returns home, broken, alone, he knows there is no one for him in this world anymore and no magic could help him get his brother back, and the word magic strikes an idea in him. He thinks maybe Bonnie could do a spell and find out with her magic who was wearing those gloves. He decides to talk to Bonnie next day but when Bonnie doesn't show up for school and neither does Caroline he goes to Sheila Bennett's house to request about talking to Bonnie.
"Stefan, I don't know where Bonnie is but a simple locator spell will make it easy for me to find her." When Sheila does the locator spell it shows the tomb underneath the church. Stefan reveals to Sheila everything about the tomb spell that Emily cast one hundred fifty years ago.
"If that vampire is forcing my granddaughter for something I will…"
"No, I can take care of Anna, I will bring Bonnie here safely, trust me." Sheila nods.
Stefan goes and finds two male vampires holding Caroline's arms, she was on her knees crying and Anna was pressurizing Bonnie, "You feel that Bonnie Bennett, another try at your aneurysm and that blond friend of yours will lose her arms, or much worse her head, now do the damn spell Bonnie."
"Okay, okay stop I am doing it, just don't hurt her."
Stefan analyses the situation, if he kills one first then the other would harm Caroline, he sees Bonnie chanting and sees the magic straining her. He analyses the situation and decides he doesn't has to be fast enough, just smart enough. He knows Anna is an older vampire he won't outrun her, but he can still save both girls.
He sees Anna's focus all over Bonnie, takes the opportunity shoves a stake in one's heart and rips the other's heart out and before both could fall to the ground he breaks Anna neck and speeds with both Bonnie and Caroline to Sheila Bennett's house.
Bonnie faints due to the strenuous magic she did. Now that Bonnie has fainted only one could get them the answers they need. They both look at Caroline, "Caroline, what happened, how did they got you two?" Sheila asks.
"Bonnie went to a date last night, she told me that this very hot bartender he looked out for her when Damon was threatening her for the crystal, and since then she has had a thing for him and then she finally asked him out and he abducted her from that date. They abducted me today morning just as I stepped out of house."
Caroline had just finished her sentence when someone throws a smoke bomb into Sheila's house, they all go coughing out. Once Sheila is out she tells to Stefan while coughing, "Stefan" coughs, "Stefan, Bonnie, get her out or she will choke to death."
Stefan vamps in and speeds out with an unconscious Bonnie Bennett, he lays her down on the porch, bites into his wrist and feeds her his blood to undo any and all effects of smoke as well as the strain of magic from her. Bonnie wakes up.
"Stefan. What happened?" she questions
"This happened" Sheila says holding a paper, she hands the paper to Bonnie, it's a message from Anna,
"Bonnie Bennett and her friends, today you killed two of my vampires, tomorrow I will come with ten and then with hundred, I won't stop until the tomb is opened, do your best to open the tomb today midnight or else Mystic Falls will be dead town when hundreds of vampires show up here.
P.S. Ask Stefan, I always do what I say I will do.
Your Frenemy,
Anna"
Bonnie heaves, "What do we do then, looks like we don't have a choice in this matter."
Caroline "Isn't it obvious, we do what she wants, we can't risk all Mystic Falls turning into a ghost town."
Bonnie, "Yes Caroline but the tomb contains twenty seven vampires, what do you think our town will turn into then if we open it."
Stefan, "Wait, Anna just wants her mother back, let her get her mother back, I know Pearl, she is a friendly vampire, she doesn't kill for her survival, in my life I haven't seen her kill."
Bonnie turns to Stefan a bit annoyed, "Yes but what about the rest Stefan, say one vampire is good what about the twenty six other vampires."
"Bonnie, I will kill them all myself."
Finally Stefan says something to which each one present agreed to. It is late night, they have asked Caroline to stay at home, it would just be the witches and Stefan, Stefan said he couldn't protect three people at a time, two would be a good number and Caroline agreed to it only when Bonnie agreed to give her all the details of what they were going to do that day.
Once Sheila and Bonnie chant together and the tomb's door opens Anna shows up, she picks up a flashlight and goes inside. Although Stefan agreed to kill the vampires first but one the tomb opens he is reminded of the one girl who was the spark of his teenage life, the one girl who taught him to be carefree, the one girl with whom he could be himself even when he is not, the most carefree person he has ever met, he is reminded of Katherine.
He agreed to kill all the vampires but one the tomb is open the greed to see her rises in his heart, he thinks if he could he would steal her today too. He decides he would steal her, he goes inside with a stake with a desire in his heart that he will speed away with Katherine, bring the one person back who has loved him and who he has loved too and the one person who has loved Damon too and is still alive, breathing.
Stefan goes in with a flashlight, waits for Anna to find her mother and once she does, she feeds her with a blood bag and walks her to the door. At the door there is a blockage, she finds herself unable to walk out.
"What did you do?" Anna asks looking at the witches.
Sheila walks to her and tells her, "I just opened the door, I didn't lift the spell."
Stefan is there looking for Katherine, he flashes the light on each of their faces, goes deeper and deeper into the tomb looking for her but there is no sign of her anywhere.
Anna smirks.
"Why are you smiling?" Sheila questions her.
Anna presses her lips together tries to control her laugh and then replies, "See, you must be old and all but I have centuries over you, I know better than to trust witches so I didn't come here without a backup plan."
She lifts up her cell and says, "Modern technology you see, I slipped a pressure bomb in your friend Caroline's head. Just a click and her head explodes, or you can go on chanting and remove the spell and I will get the pressure bomb removed just as easily as I had gotten it fixed in the first place."
Realizing they have no choice, the Bennett witches chant, they exhaust themselves but the spell is lifted, Anna steps out of the tomb, smirks again, "Oh and by the way, there is no pressure bomb, there was never one." She speeds away before the witches even have time to process what she has said.
Stefan stakes all vampires leaving the one who was in the lowest part of the tomb, because he heard the talk outside, he knew the lifting of the seal would be temporary so he sped out. Stefan doesn't blame the witches, he knew already Sheila had told him that when it comes down to it, Sheila will protect her own, but he decided staking the last vampire wasn't worth it if he was to be given life imprisonment at the tomb, after all he had his brother's killer to find.
After Stefan speeds out, he goes straight to the forensics, collects the axe and the gloves and goes to Sheila's house. Bonnie drove Grams to her home, she opens the door and she goes to get a water glass. Stefan was about to knock the door but he hears the faint heart beat of Sheila Bennett he speeds to her room and puts his bleeding wrist on her mouth.
When Bonnie walks in with a glass of water she asks Stefan, "Stefan what are you doing?"
He turns to Bonnie and says, "Bonnie, she needs my blood, I came to here to ask for a favor but then I heard her heart rate, it was very low, my blood will heal any strain the spell has done on her, just like it healed you when you fainted in the afternoon."
Once his wound knits itself, he removes the wrist, Sheila gets up, resting her back on the headrest, "Stefan, thank you. Now what favor you came to ask for?"
"No" She nods his head, "Another time, you rest for now."
"Okay, I will do the favor another but you can tell me what it is you want?"
Stefan opens the bag he was carrying and takes out the iron rod, axe and the gloves, "These were the weapons used to kill Damon, I got it tested by the forensics but the person whose finger prints match it, didn't do it, it was done by another."
"And who did it?" Bonnie asks
"That's what I want to know Bonnie, I was hoping you could use your magic to point out who my brother's killer is, so that I may, get justice for him."
Sheila forwards her hand, her palm showing upwards, he understands she is asking to touch it, once he keeps the axe and gloves in her hands, Sheila gets a flashback of everything and then she opens her eyes, she thinks it's not possible, if it is true then why is her memory not there.
She plasters a smile on her face, "Stefan, please, leave the materials here, once I have fully recovered, I will cast the spell and show you who it is."
"Thanks" he smiles, "You're my only hope in getting justice for my brother." He says and then leaves.
Grams sees Bonnie staring at her with her arms crossed, "What?" she asks
Bonnie touches the gloves and the axe, her intention was to lift it up from her hands but the minute she touches it, everything flashes before her eyes too. She looks at Sheila, "How did we forget?" both say in unison.