Dear Journal,
I am going to lose my brother, and I can do nothing about it.
If only I had anywhere to search, but Damon has followed every possible lead for the past 3 years, and nothing.
Nothing I can do in the time that is left. The infection has spread, it won't take long now. A few days maybe. And then I will be alone. Truly alone.
I am going to lose my brother, and she is not coming.
Stefan stood still in front of the fire, lost in thoughts, far, so far away from this place. He did not feel the warmth creeping up on his skin, nor the faint pain in his jaws telling him he had disregarded the time to feed.
But he knew exactly the moment he appeared in the room.
"He is still alive."
Hands deep in his pockets, he turned around to lay eyes upon Klaus, who was turning his back to him, already pouring himself a glass of bourbon. Stefan could hear the tinkling of the ice cubes in the glass, the liquid splashing over them.
"Oh Stefan, don't be so gloomy."
He could also hear the grin in the original's voice.
"I know he is still alive. I am not here for that."
Klaus turned around, and the younger Salvatore had only time to catch a glimpse of a very satisfied smile on the other's face before he hid it behind the glass as he emptied the drink in one large gulp.
Stefan felt something fall in his stomach, and his whole body went rigid. This could only mean one thing.
"Elena."
The original finally let his smile spread. He made a grand gesture of putting his glass down, like a hourrah.
"Yes my friend. She is rushing home."
He was now pacing around in front of the same dying fire, and he was very aware of everything around him. His senses were pushed as far as he could. He could smell the faint scent of Klaus' aftershave, the only odor that was not familiar in this room. He could hear Damon rampaging through his stuff in his room, the mild heaviness of his footsteps, proof of all of how bad of a shape he was in now.
And that is why he heard the car the moment it turned to leave the main road and engage itself on the dusty path that led to the boarding house.
He stopped dead in his track, lifting up his head, as if he could almost see her.
Elena was coming home.
To him. To them.
He didn't know what he was feeling, all he could identify was nervousness. The weight in his stomach got heavier.
The motor was turned off abruptly. And a deafening silence rang in Stefan's ears. He felt frozen, didn't know what to do. Even when a car door was opened, and then closed, and that footsteps started for the front door.
And suddenly she was there.
Stefan is a funny bloke. Well, less funny than in the 60s, but still. He amuses me. So dramatic.
I let them stare at each other like this is some crucial sacred moment that will define the rest of their life for a second or two before I decide to get up and put myself between them.
"Sweet Elena, a pleasure seeing you again."
I allow myself a real smile, or a grin if you will, and open my arms in a welcoming gesture.
"I've missed you."
She stares icily back a me, but does not make a move at my sight. I go on.
"You had me worried for a moment. I feared you would not got here on time, and we would have to lose Damon. How tragic."
She does not react to my teasing. In fact, she seems quite composed, in control of her emotions. No, that's not exactly that.
I stay quiet as she advances further into the room, down the two steps. She looks determined, but not in a I-am-ready-to-sacrifice-myself-because-I-am-a-martyr way. Something is different.
She looks exactly the same, he thinks first. Hair a little bit shorter, body a bit leaner. But the rest is the same. She looks at him at the same time his inhumane senses pick up her scent, and he is back 3 years ago, and all he wants is to take her in his arms and wait for eternity to come to an end. He also suddenly remembers that even before she left, they were not close anymore, with him hooked on human blood and not giving a damn.
"Where is he?"
She directs her first sentence to Klaus. Who is more than willing to oblige, an unshakable grin on his face.
"Upstairs, slowly dying"
Her second sentence is for Stefan though.
"How is he?"
He cannot not notice the controlled emotion underlying in her voice. Lips tight, he slowly shakes his dead, a gesture of despair.
"The infection has got pretty bad."
Her gaze drops to the floor, pensive for a second, but quickly comes back to the original.
"So my blood, huh?"
"Ironic, isn't it?"
She does not respond and heads toward the staircase, where she vanishes without looking back once.
I cannot help but stare at the place where she has disappeared.
Elena has come back.
I feel Klaus moving to stand next to me, no doubt staring at the same thing as me. I suddenly feel lighter than I have for a long time.
"You know, I have to say, I was a bit surprised at your choice of bait."
Klaus plays along, still unmoving.
"You mean you thought I would choose you to lure her back here."
In spite of myself, I turn a bit to look at him, crossing my arms in the process.
"Well, it would have made sense. I mean, in case of danger, Elena has never hesitated to risk her life for me."
Like if he is having trouble stirring his eyes from the staircase, Klaus finally spares me an amused look.
"Oh she would have died for you, mate, but for him… he is back to staring at the emptied staircase, … for him she would kill."