He didn't know how he managed to convince caroline to give him the adress but eventually she did , and within an hour he packed a small suitcase just in case he needed to stay longer . he decided to call Alaric when he gets to fell's church , not that he will worry about him or something but , in the world they live in not coming after 24 hours means you are either dead or kidnapped and he knew the guy had enough troubles being the guardian of two broke teenagers .
he got in his car and started driving , trying to keep focused so he won't drive his new car off a bridge or cause an accident to an unlucky human being , he had enough blood on his hands already .
The next three hours were blurry with his mind trying to calculate what he was going to do next . After more than a century and a half being a vampire he learned to never go through those kinds of advantures whithout a plan A and B and C . and even with all those plans there were cases where his enemies outsmarted him and he needed to impovise , some of these cases ended up badly . he knew most of witches are good and always tried to help humans unlike vampires who's only way of survival is by hurting people and feeding on them , and he knew witches resented vampires for their history of distruction and barbarism so to just go and ask them to help him is plain stupid . he will need to either compel them to help him which will be impossible since they are strong or he will need to make a good deal and be very persuasive .
He finally reached his destination , He parked his car and he stepped out of it leaving the suitecase in the back . he went to look for the room number 96 . Using his vampire speed he found it within seconds and he knocked the door . The blond vampire opened it , wearing a light blue dress and a white leather jacket making her look even more beautiful than she usually did , or at least that's what stefan thought . with her blond hair framing her face and her smile that formed the moment that she saw him she did look like the sun , so shiny and radiant .
"Well well look who decided to join me" she said squeezing him in a hug "ugh I missed you so much"
"Caroline it's been only a week " he said messing with her and she playfully punched his shoulder "but yeah I missed you too " for a brief time he allowed himself to feel the surge of warm happiness that filled him after seeing his friend , but he knew they need to get back to the dark reality , they were here on a mission .
"so about your precious little coven of witches , did you even manage to see if they even exist ?" he said as he removed leather jacket and threw it on the wooden chair placed next to the night table . he sat on the bed next to caroline
"Stefan I only got here last night what do you think " she said in a frustrated tone "but yeah I checked it out in some local bar , they have a small store that sells herbs and that sort of stuff "she said with a calmer tone . stefan was truly impressed , his friend was always able to do multiple tasks in a short time and with the best quality . She was a super girl even for a vampire
"wow you figured it all out in one night " he said " but how are we going to convince them to help us, we can't just go and beg them for help , plus how can we be sure that they have the grimoire , or that the grimoire contains the spell , or that they won't kill us or torture us , what if ..." he started to panic thinking of all the things that can go wrong when caroline interrupted "Wow wow smart boy calm down , don't think it all too much , we're vampires too , we can take care of each other and I promise at the first sign of trouble we'll just run okay ?"
Stefan wished he had her optimism and he still knew that it was a bad idea . he didn't mind if anything happined to him but he couldn't afford to lose caroline too , it was too much for him to bear . however he knew he had no choice so he nodded neverthless
"If you don't want to you don't need to go with me stefan , it's your choice" she said "I can handle everything on my own"
"I know you can , but we're stronger and safer together " he replied " you won't be able to get rid of me no matter how much you'll try " he said making her smile . she stood up and went to take her purse " alright then it's settled , let's go"
"now ? " stefan said surprised , he thought that they'll need to make a plan or something
"well yes now sherlock , I don't see why we need to wait , we'll try to convince them , if they helped us that's good or else we'll need to get our asses out of there as fast as possible " she didn't wait for him to respond , before he could say anything she was opening the door and stepping outside , he had no choice but to grab his jacket and follow .
He tried to keep up with caroline's rushed steps while they were walking in fell's church's almost empty streets , it was amazing how much this town reminded him of mystic falls .They asked the first person they saw about the witch shop's location and it took them quite a long time finding it . From the outside it was a small shop with a tiny wooden door , almost invisible next to the big stores next to it with their big glass doors and even bigger plaques , but when he stepped inside it was inexpectedly wide . The place was tidy and simple , it reminded him with the shop pearl harper and her daughter anna used to have in the 1800s . the wooden floor was clearly old but shiny and there was no pieces of furniture except for a counter and shelves that go all the way to the ceiling , filled with bottles and jarrs of all shapes and sizes containing weird looking herbs . the shop had no windows , the only openings it had were the door that they came from and a small wooden door in the wall facing him . Once he was inside , feeling caroline standing right behind him , the smell of vervain burned his nostiles and he felt the urge to flee this place and never come back . He exchanged a worried look with caroline who seemed to be stuggling with the smell too . There was no one in the shop and he was worried that it might be a trap or that the witches sensed their coming and decided to drive some stakes into their hearts .
Finally a woman apeared , she was in her early thirties , tall and slender wearing blue jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt . Her wavy brown hair was tied into a ponytail and her eyes shone with both warmth and determination . she was carrying a box filled with more bottles and she gave them an appologizing smile . but in a second her expression changed to what looked like surprise followed by amusement
"well , well , well look at what we have here , two vampires who lost their way " she said in a mocking tone making stefan even more worried , this wasn't a good start
"No we are not lost we are her to see the witches" it was caroline who spoke trying to be as friendly as the situation could offer . The woman burst into laughter and then suddenly her face hardened
"our coven doesn't deal with vampires so if you need something ,why don't go ask the witch who made you those fancy daylight rings " she spat at them , throwing every ounce of hatred she could possibly muster
"because you are the only people that can help us" it was stefan that spoke this time , cursing under his breath the way things were going , this wasn't good
"I guess I didn't say it clearly enough , get the hell out of here " as she said that , four young women stepped out of the wooden door in attack position and stefan felt a sharp pain tearing his brain from the inside , he heard caroline's sceams and he knew it was time to go but he decided to give it one last try
"wait , what if I offered you something in exchange of helping us " it was a desperate attempt but it worked , the woman guestered to the others to stop , and stefan rushed to check on caroline who looked so pale , she gave him a confused look but he didn't say anything
"I'm listening" said the brunette witch with clear impatience
"we can provide you with doppelganger's blood " he offered hoping for the best . he glanced at caroline who looked surprised but he gave her a small nod to reassure her , after everything he and his friends went throught because of the blood that flows through his veins and elena's he hoped that it will be useful to him for once , not just for just for evil immortals .
The woman let a small laugh "doppelganger's blood " she repeated
"yes , in exchange for you services you'll have as much doppelganger blood as you want , it's powerful enough to replace the moon's power or a shooting star in rituals and you can do whatever spell you want with it , I guess that's a fair deal " he was talking with confindence he didn't have inside . but it was his only chance
"alright and what do you want in exchange for something as rare as doppelganger's blood ? " she asked
it was caroline who sopke , taking a deep breath and summouning her courage . She looked at the older woman dead in the eye before saying
" We want you to bring our dead friends back to life "