Author's Note: Thank you for your reviews! They make my day! :) I'll try to update as soon as possible, but I'm still in school and I have homework and other stuff so it might take a while. Also, I'm really ill at the moment & I feel poorly,

Anyway, please let me know what you think c;

I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

Stefan flipped the body of the man to the ground, speeding to the last unfortunate woman that happened to be in his path. He didn't even bother to wipe the blood from his chin as he placed his hands on her shoulders. The lady opened her mouth to scream, but he quickly pressed his palm on her lips, muffling her voice.

"Calm down." he shushed her coldly. "Answer one question right and I'll let you go. Deal?" he added reassuringly. That didn't ease the woman's disquietude at all. She started shaking in fear, begging him with her eyes to let her go. "Do you think you're a good person?" he asked rhetorically, still keeping his hand on her mouth to keep from answering. He caught her sight and went on with a hypnotizing voice, compelling her:

"Say no."

The younger Salvatore slowly released her, smiling viciously when he heard her comply. He nodded appreciatively.

"Thank you for your honesty. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." He chuckled, winding his hand in her copper red hair. Her face turned ashen and she started spluttering unintelligible pleas, but he dismissed them all, tilting her head back and exposing her neck. His fangs punctured his lower lip and he struck – the woman screeched and made a frail attempt to push him back. However, she gave up sooner than he expected and went limp in his arms. "…and neither will you." He remarked, dropping her.

His phone buzzed in his pocket again. He had ignored it for most of the day, but the incessant calls were getting to his nerves already. His brother was the one calling him this time, not Caroline. The vampire licked his lips and answered exasperatedly:

"Hey. Calling to tell me that I'm not your brother anymore, that you finally hate me and you hope I burn in hell?" he inquired passively, stepping over the dead body of the woman and walking away as if nothing happened.

"You just said it for me." The other retorted, his voice filled with anger and reproach. "I'm so not in the mood for your 'I'm a ripper and I don't give a damn about you' attitude. Where's Elena?" he asked aggressively.

Stefan laughed shortly, striding without haste on the road to his newly acquired car.

"I thought I'd get a little credit for killing Bonnie but instead, you ask about your soon-to-be-dead girlfriend?"

"Don't you dare flaunt that in my face. You may be my brother, but I swear to God, Stefan, if you lay a hand on Elena I'll come and kill you myself." The eldest threatened with hostility.

"Really? Considering that I'll come back to life, you're really not that terrifying, brother." He quipped, getting in the vehicle.

"You'll never forgive yourself for taking the life of our friend. But if you kill Elena, mark my words, you won't be able to live with yourself." Damon continued desperately.

"That's deep. Too bad it's not deep enough to reach my inexistent morality." he mocked, hanging up.

"Stefan?" the oldest Salvatore said, obviously not getting an answer. "Dammit!" he exclaimed, tossing his phone on the bed angrily. He turned to Caroline, his nostrils flaring with fury. "I lost him. I lost Bonnie and I can't…I can't lose Elena."

"You won't!" the blonde interjected, stepping towards him. She was almost unrecognisable. Her hair was messy, her cheeks were rosy and her eyes puffy from all the tears she had shed. "Stefan has done horrible, unforgivable things, but you and I both know that if there's one person who can pull him back from that darkness, it's Elena. No matter what he says, he would never, never kill her. She is his last shred of humanity. Have a little faith. Your brother may be lost, but his love for her isn't."

"Did you not hear him on the phone?!" Damon snapped, glaring at her. "Cade gave him a choice: to kill one hundred people or the love of my life. He clearly made his choice after murdering Bonnie in cold-blood and abducting Elena. "

"Exactly. He snapped Enzo's neck and…" she gulped, tears welling up in her blue eyes. "…- and neutralised Bonnie. There was nothing stopping him from killing Elena. But he didn't." she continued, trying to regain her composure and control her voice. "My two best friends are gone because of him. But only one of them is breathing."

"So what are you suggesting? To leave my girlfriend with Ted Bundy: Stefan's edition and light a candle for her peace?" he replied sardonically, his hands twitching and clenching angrily.

"No." Caroline objected gravely, crossing her arms over her chest. "Matt and the whole police department are looking for her. There's nothing you can do to help her right now except for one thing: talk to Cade and convince him to bring Bonnie back."

"But what if I fail?" he asked hopelessly, riveting his gaze to the floor.

"Then we'll try again. Until we succeed."

/...

Elena stopped in the centre of the room, looking around her. Ever since Stefan left, she desperately tried to find a way to escape. Her only option was to break a window, but she felt extremely weak and she barely could hold herself on her legs. She was in shock, not being able to accept the fact that her best friend was really dead. It hurt both physically and mentally to think about it. After a myriad of bitter tears, she realised that Bonnie would've wanted her to be strong and do whatever was in her power to get away from Stefan. She couldn't recognise him anymore. Not after what he had done without remorse.

Her eyes burnt from crying and she wiped a singular tear from her cheek while she inhaled deeply, gathering her strength. She grabbed the chair next to the bed and with trembling hands she threw it in the window, investing as much force as she was capable of. After repeated strikes, the glass was only scratched, but there was no sign that it would break any soon. She let out a sob of despair, dragging the chair back to its initial position. She placed her hand on her forehead, trying to keep cool-headedness and not panic. She sat on the bed and she caught sight of a diary on the bed stand. She took it, opening it curiously. It was Caroline's. After reading all of her entries, she came across someone else's handwriting. She immediately recognised it and her heart missed a beat.

Dear Elena,

I really don't get why Caroline has to be so sentimental. She also failed to tell you the most important things, like the fact that my mother was the one to give Kai the idea to link your sleeping regime to Bonnie, or that we had to put up with a lunatic vampire hunter, Rayna and two psycho sirens and then the actual devil. To sum it up, me and Damon are working for him and we have to send as many corrupted souls in hell as possible. I think I found my true calling in life.

Killing Bonnie, by the way, was

The entry ended abruptly with that unfinished sentence, the next page torn off from the diary. She reread it multiple times to fully grasp it. The mention of sirens and the devil was very confusing and she also felt betrayed by Lily Salvatore, even though she barely had known her. She regretted reading it, because now she couldn't help but wonder how he'd continue and why he tore the page off; plus, her head was aching tremendously.

The sound of keys turning into the lock startled her and she swiftly closed the diary and put it where it was, as if she had been doing something clandestine. Stefan slammed the door shut and came in with several shopping bags in his hands, heading to the kitchen. She pulled the blanket over her knees, staring at the floor.

"Do you really expect me to believe that while I was away you've been admiring the carpet for two hours?" he asked amusedly, leaning against the door frame and placing his hands in the front pockets of his black pants.

"Believe what you want." She spat with hostility, her cheeks burning.

He chuckled shortly, only enhancing her anger.

"Aren't you just adorable when you pout." He commented mockingly, seeming to take great delight in her antagonism. "Anyway, I'll let you brood now. I hope Chicken Parmesan is still your favourite, 'cause that's what we're having tonight."

Elena raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment. It was strange that even after 8 years he remembered such petty, normal details about her. But she did too – the memory of him cooking for her was vivid, like it happened yesterday. She folded her arms over her shoulders as the Salvatore disappeared into the kitchen.

She suddenly jumped up from the bed, the simplest and at the same time the most stupid plan forming into her head. But she had to at least try. She entered the kitchen and saw him laying a cutting board on the table, placing mozzarella on it. He took a knife from a drawer and started to cut the cheese into little cubes. She cleared her throat to get his attention:

"I want to help." She uttered, looking at him defiantly. Her heartbeat started to race anxiously, but she knew that he could hear it, so she tried to take small breaths not to give herself away sooner than necessary.

His emerald eyes became wider for a second. He gazed into hers suspiciously, long enough to make her uneasy, but neither of them let themselves be intimidated. She thought he was going to refuse, but he voiced at last, nodding.

"Alright. Why don't you beat two eggs in a shallow bowl?"

"No." she protested, a bit too fierce. She instantly corrected her mistake and softened her voice. "I feel like cutting something. I'm sure you understand why." She added weakly, placing her palm over his hand that was holding the knife. A short twinge of electricity struck her body, cutting her breath away for a moment. Stefan must've felt it too, for his hand slightly stirred under hers, but his countenance remained stone cold.

He slowly released the knife, watching her in the eye the whole time. She took over it, cutting the mozzarella into tiny pieces intentionally under his sight, knowing that it wouldn't be long until he'd assert critically with a laugh:

"Um, you actually need to dice the cheese, not chop it."

In other circumstances, she would've genuinely laughed with him and tease the 170-year old vampire master chef. For the first time his voice sounded so much like the Stefan she knew, with his warm and melodious mirth. It made her heart fill with nostalgia and shrink to the size of a bead. If only he hadn't killed Bonnie. If only he hadn't abducted her and kept her there against her will. If only he hadn't turned his emotions off.

She bit her lower lip determined, fighting back hot tears and turned around brusquely, using the element of surprise to stab him into the chest, as close to his heart as she could, without actually grazing it. He had forgotten to lock the front door in the hallway, giving her the perfect opportunity to escape.

She didn't look back and ran like hell.