Author's Note: This chapter is inspired by Cage the Elephant's "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked," which appeared in the Season 1 episode of The Vampire Diaries entitled "Isobel." You know what that means! Things are about to get DARK . . .

8:23 – Fangtasia Bar and Nightclub

Stefan recognized the voice instantly. As far from home as he was, there was a part of him that always knew she would come . . . even hoped she would come. But hoping and wishing, didn't change anything. He and Elena were OVER. They had to be . . . for HER sake. Stefan couldn't let his emotions dictate his actions . . . not this time . . . perhaps, not ever again.

He stood perfectly still for a few seconds . . . thinking . . . calculating. He contemplated not turning around at all. He could simply pretend he hadn't heard her . . . walk right out of the bar, and never come back. It would be a cowardly thing to do, for sure. And yet wasn't that what he had become: a coward . . . an obedient dog to a monster he despised . . . a monster who deprived him of everything he had ever loved, so that all that was left was death and BLOOD?

BLOOD. He craved it all the time now, from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, to the second he crawled into bed at dawn, with the taste of his latest kill still on his lips. It was all he thought about most days . . . all he dreamed about. The sweet pulsating elixir of life intermingled with cold hard evidence of death. A true ripper enjoys the hunt, Klaus had told him on that fateful night. But it had never been about "the hunt" for Stefan. "The hunt" was just foreplay . . . perfunctory, routine, unsatisfactory foreplay. The BLOOD was the sex. In fact, it was better than sex.

But Stefan wasn't thinking about blood now. He was thinking about Elena . . . and her eyes . . . Such power they had over him. He could feel them now, boring into the back of his skull, imploring him to be the man she THOUGHT he was . . . the man she loved . . . or, at least thought she did. That man was gone now . . . assuming he had ever existed, in the first place. So, Stefan had to be strong, even if being "strong" meant killing the last shred of humanity in his soul . . . even if it meant never looking into those breathtakingly beautiful eyes ever again.

"Elena," Stefan said emotionlessly, keeping his back turned, and his eyes trained on the bar. "You shouldn't have come."

Elena sidled up next to him. Their shoulders were touching. He thought about moving away. But he didn't. He couldn't . . . not yet.

"How could I not come for you?" She inquired. "How could I possibly stay in Mystic Falls . . . in your house . . . in your bed . . . without you lying next to me?"

Stefan shook his head. "Things have changed, Elena. I've changed. You have to leave. Tell Damon to take you home."

"I'm not going anywhere, Stefan. You can't MAKE me do anything I don't want to do. And neither can Damon. I'm here, because I want to be here. And I'm not leaving without you," Elena insisted, grabbing hold of Stefan's wrist insistently.

Stefan yanked his arm away violently, startling Elena. "Don't you GET IT? I don't WANT to go with you! I've got a new life now, one that doesn't involve drinking bunnies and blood bags . . . pretending to be something I'm not. I'm a MONSTER, Elena. Can't you see that?"

"No . . . Stefan . . . you're not," Elena insisted, placing her hand on his shoulder. "A monster doesn't put his life on the line to protect his girlfriend and her friends. A monster doesn't make a deal with the Devil to save his brother. Don't let Klaus WIN, Stefan! We can beat him TOGETHER. As long as we have one another, we can accomplish anything. You taught me that."

"Elena . . ." Stefan closed his eyes. "You don't understand. I . . . I don't . . . love you anymore."

Tears welled up in Elena's eyes, but she managed to force them back. This is just the blood talking. Elena told herself. This is just Klaus talking. "You don't mean that," she whispered, so softly that Stefan could barely hear her over the noise of the bar.

"Yes . . . I do," he replied morosely.

"Then, look me in the eye and say it."

Stefan stayed where he was.

"LOOK AT ME, STEFAN," Elena exclaimed, cupping his chin in her hands, and turning his head toward her.

Though Klaus was seated at a table on the complete opposite side of the bar, he could still hear everything Stefan and Elena were saying to one another. That Doppelganger is becoming quite the little annoyance. He thought to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus noticed two human women whispering about him in the corner and giggling. They were both blonde, in their early twenties, and extremely attractive. They were exactly what Klaus needed.

With his pointer finger, he motioned the two girls toward his table, flashing them one of his trademark smiles. They whispered to one another a bit longer, as if trying to come up with a game plan. Moments later, they were at his side. "What are your names, my lovelies?" Klaus inquired.

"I'm Trina, and this Ashley," remarked the more attractive, and therefore, bolder, blonde.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Trina and Ashley. My name is Klaus," replied the Original vampire, rising from his chair to bow for both ladies, and offering them each a kiss on the hand. "I was wondering if you would both like to play a little game with me."

"What kind of game?" Ashley inquired.

"See that guy over there?" Klaus asked, pointing toward Stefan.

"The one fighting with the brunette?" Trina asked. "He's cute . . . but not as cute as you, of course," she concluded, with a wink.

"Look at me," commanded Klaus, as both girls turned their heads in unison.

"I want you both to try and seduce that man, and don't stop, until you've separated him from that girl," he instructed, his eyes glowing green, as he spoke.

Klaus watched with glee, as his compulsion worked its magic on the two young women. Within seconds, the flirtatious looks in the girls' eyes vanished, and dreamy and vacant expressions took their place.

"Why would he leave his girlfriend for two women he's never met?" Ashley inquired sleepily.

"Because you have something he wants," answered Klaus.

"What's that?" Trina asked.

"Lean closer and I'll show you."

As both girls leaned in toward Klaus, he proceeded to take large bites out of both of their necks. By the time Ashley and Trina dazedly made their way across the bar toward Stefan, both were sporting large grotesque-looking gashes near their carotid arteries. From those gashes, long warm trails of blood, dripped down their necks, forming pools of red, along their tight fitting halter tops.

The intoxicating stench of blood reached Stefan's nose, long before the girls did. He gripped the bar tightly, as his eyes turned jet black, and the veins began to pop on his forehead. Instinctively, Stefan licked his lips, as he felt his fangs poke out from the corners of his mouth. "ELENA, GO AWAY!" Stefan growled.

"NO!" Elena exclaimed, still not sure what was happening. "Not until you look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me anymore."

"He doesn't love you, anymore. He loves me. That's why he gave me this," remarked Ashley, pointing proudly at her wound, as she wrapped her arm around Stefan's and amorously nibbled on his neck.

"No, he loves ME. That's why he gave ME this," echoed Trina, kissing Stefan on the cheek and resting her bloody neck on his shoulder.

Stefan closed his eyes and winced, as if in pain. But he made no move to extricate himself from the two bloody-necked women. Good ole, Klaus, exposing me for who I really am . . . doing for me what I lack the courage to do for myself. He thought bleakly.

Elena took a step back, horrified. Stefan could never have done this to these sleazy women. It must have been Klaus. But where was he? Elena glanced quickly around the bar, but the blonde vampire was nowhere to be found. "Stefan . . . tell these girls to . . ." She began.

"Hey, Elena, where did you . . . well, well, well . . . If it isn't my brother, the Vampire Gigolo? Long time, no see," Damon remarked, as he instinctively moved forward to shield Elena from the threat to her that his younger sibling had obviously become.

"Damon, get her out of here," Stefan implored.

Every cell of Stefan's body was now bursting with a need for blood. The scent of it was so thick in his nostrils, he could almost taste it.

"Drop the bloody hypnotized harpies, Stefan. We can help you through this," Damon replied, taking a step toward his brother.

Elena was shaking now, tears running freely from her face. "Say it, Stefan," she said softly, regaining the thread of their earlier conversation. "Look me in the eye, and tell me you don't love me anymore."

Stefan snarled at Elena, his black eyes finally managing to meet hers. "I DON'T LOVE YOU, ANYMORE, ELENA. Why would I POSSIBLY go back to that tragic little town with YOU, when I could have the entire world at my fingertips?" He concluded, gesturing around the bar wildly with his hands.

Damon hugged Elena protectively, pulling her body into his own, as she cried into his chest. "Come on, Elena," he whispered in her ear, "Stefan's not himself. We'll come back and see him tomorrow . . . when he's more . . . sober."

But Elena broke free from Damon's grasp. Impulsively, she propelled herself toward Stefan, kissing him on the mouth, as the two blonde women tightened their grip on him, still holding their ground.

The smell of Elena's blood, intertwined with those of the two women, sapped the last ounce of restraint Stefan had. Violently, he pushed Elena out of the way, causing her to stumble and land on the floor. Fangs extended, he bit into Trina, draining the girl completely of life, within seconds. As she fell to the floor, cell phone cameras went off around the bar, its tourist patrons immediately assuming this was just another part of Fangtasia's nightly entertainment.

From her position by the door, Vampire Pam quietly motioned for the bartender to retrieve the dead body. He did so quickly, and without hesitation, such that Trina appeared to have vanished into thin air. "Ooh . . . that looked like fun," cooed Ashley into Stefan's ear. "Can I be next?"

"Yes," insisted Stefan with a scowl. "You certainly can be."

Then, with one last longing look in Elena's direction, Stefan wrapped his arm possessively around Ashley's slim waist, and led her out of Fangtasia.

Damon dashed toward Elena, lowering himself to the floor, so that he was at eye level with her. "OK, Elena," he said, quickly examining her body for external injuries and, to his great relief, finding none. "Let's get you home."

"Damon," Elena said stoically, her eyes looking unfocused, as they stared off into the distance. "Buy me a bottle of tequila, please."

Damon shook his head, placing his hands gently on both of Elena's shoulders. "No way," he began. "I don't think so. Take it from someone who knows, drinking tequila on an empty stomach and a broken heart, is NO way to end an evening."

"Damon . . ." Elena continued, an edge creeping into her voice. "Tequila . . . NOW!"

"Yes, sir," replied Damon comically, as he helped Elena up, and reluctantly headed for the bar.

He had a feeling this was going to be one LONG night . . .