"Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked, confused.
"Yes. It'll take 2 hours top."
"Wait, no." Caroline shook her head. "Mystic Falls. It's your old town, isn't it? The one with all the vampires and Elena and your brother. I don't understand, isn't that... predictable? I mean, for Klaus."
He shook his head. "Trust me, I know Klaus. And I know exactly what he thinks he knows about me. Mystic Falls will be the last of his guesses."
"But what about the other vampires?" She questioned, fearing for her life once again.
He looked at her, noticing her uneasiness. "Don't worry about them. They're not gonna hurt you."
She breathed deeply. "Okay, I guess."
"I have to make a call first." Stefan said, taking out his phone from his pocket and dialing someone. He brought the phone to his ear, waiting patiently, when Caroline heard someone say "Hello?" on the line.
"Damon." Stefan said.
"Stefan?" Damon questioned, unsure.
"Yeah."
"Hi. I guess. Why are you calling me? It's been a year, Stefan."
Stefan sighed. "I know. Listen, I'm heading to Mystic Falls." He said, without a single trace of patience.
"Really?" Damon said, surprised. "Why?"
"I'll explain it better when I arrive, but listen. I need you to call Bonnie, Rebekah, Jeremy, anyone, everyone. I need their help."
"Oh, God, Stefan. What the hell did you do now?"
"I told you, I'll explain it better when I arrive. Please, just do that for me. It's important."
Damon sighed. "Fine. I swear to you, if you're about to drag me down into your bull-"
"That's exactly what I'm doing. I mean, I figure you're being my brother and all, I could at least count on you when I needed help. But if I'm wrong, just let me know, I'll turn back and you won't be bothered by me ever again." Stefan grunted, already annoyed - Damon really did annoy him easily.
"Jesus, you're moody."
"Very funny. I gotta go now. See you soon." Stefan said and ended the call.
Caroline was still unsure of how to react. It would be relatively safer, yes, since a human and one vampire are definitely weaker than a human and a dozen other vampires together. She was already in terms with the whole vampire situation, but she couldn't help having this uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Lots of vampires. Together. With her. In the same place. At the same time. It made her nervous, really nervous.
What was Caroline getting herself into?
Caroline decided against being too nosy. And noisy. Instead, she spent the majority of the drive looking out the window, even nearly falling asleep a couple of times, avoiding at all costs to give in to her curious self. She knew Stefan knew what he was doing. She trusted that, at least. He would protect them better than she ever could, he knew where to go, who to go to, he knew all the tricks and the safe places. Still, she couldn't help but think about his decision to go back to Mystic Falls. She was aware Elena was also being threatened - maybe he wanted to make sure he could keep her safe, too? And, yes, it's very obvious: he needed the help. He couldn't take Klaus on his own, not while worrying about the life of a human being - a powerless, weak, easily killed human being. So maybe that was his plan. Not only hide out but actually try something - try to kill him. She couldn't contain her curiosity, now.
"How are you going to kill Klaus?" Caroline asked.
Stefan seemed taken aback by the question. "What?"
"I mean, that's what we're doing, right? Putting the whole vampire family together so that you can kill Klaus."
Stefan sighed. "Not really."
"What?" It was Caroline's time to be taken aback. "Wait. Why not?"
"Because he can't be killed."
Caroline laughed. She laughed, failing to hold it back even she when she tried. But she saw the serious look on Stefan's face and suddenly she felt like crying, and not laughing. "You're not joking, are you?" Stefan shook his head. "But... but how? He threatened to kill you so obviously you can be killed, so, why can't he?"
"He's a hybrid. Half vampire, half werewolf."
"Wow, okay, no. That can't be true." Caroline said, shaking her head. "Werewolves? You can't be serious! What's next - witches?"
Stefan grinned a little. "We have that, too."
Caroline's eyes widened. "Ghosts?"
"Well, spirits. It happened once. Jeremy got brought back from the dead and he started seeing spirits of his two vampire ex-girlfriends."
Caroline let out another laugh. "Oh my God! And I thought my life was messed up!"
Stefan nodded. "Exactly."
"Okay, so, basically, Klaus is half werewolf - which means he can't die like a vampire. And I'm guessing that is a stake to the heart, like in the movies?"
"Yes. Well, kind of. Normal vampires, like me, we get killed by wooden stakes. Klaus is an original vampire from the original family. That takes another kind of stake - made from a white oak tree."
"Jesus, it's like I'm back at school." Caroline sighed. "Alright, then, how do you kill a werewolf?"
"By ripping out its heart."
"Brutal." Caroline said. "What if you rip out his heart and then stake it with the white oak tree stake?"
"Yeah, I don't think that would work. Even if it did, 70% of the Mystic Falls population would probably die."
Caroline looked at him annoyingly. "What else is there now?"
Stefan smiled at Caroline's absence of patience when it came to new supernatural facts and rules. "He's an original vampire. When you kill an original vampire, their whole bloodline dies too. And there's no saying whose bloodline you belong to - it's just luck."
"My head hurts."
"At least now you know everything there is to know about vampires!" Stefan said, sarcastically.
"And werewolves. And hybrids. And witches." Caroline laughed.
"And spirits - don't forget the spirits."
They both laughed in unison. Caroline was finally getting to see Stefan smile in a 'I have fun sometimes too' way. She noticed he always had this worried look on his face, like he was always running from something or someone, and she guessed that, most of the times, he was actually running from himself.
She knew the feeling. Being too scared of yourself sometimes, of your thoughts, of your feelings. But most of all, she knew what it was like to be confused. There was no telling if he felt that too, but she did. She was always confused about herself, the people around her, her choices, her life. She changed her mind way too often. She noticed the only thing she wasn't confused about at that exact moment was of Stefan. She didn't change her mind about him, she didn't doubt him. That was definitely a new feeling - a good feeling, she thought. She hoped.
She couldn't understand why Elena would choose Damon over Stefan. She didn't know the guy, she was aware of that, but even so, Stefan was so... genuine. He deserved something good in his life, he deserved happiness - but apparently, fate was against it. Why? She couldn't tell. Caroline had no idea why Stefan suffered so much when all he did was good. Okay, maybe not all he did, but whatever bad things he did, he carried the guilt and the shame with him all the time and everything he did was to make those bad things right. Then why couldn't he be happy? It wasn't fair.
But then again, Caroline had plenty of experience with unfairness coming from fate and from life. When she compared herself to Stefan, though, she realized how lucky she was.
Looking out the window, taking in the bright blue sky and the fluffy white clouds and the nearly blinding sun that made her eyes hurt even when she wasn't looking directly at it, she noticed a sign far away. As they got closer, she could finally read the words, and it made her heart skip a beat in a jumble of emotions - anxiety being probably the strongest of them.
'Welcome to Mystic Falls', the sign read. Caroline took a deep breath and glanced quickly at Stefan. She hoped things would work out for once. She hoped she would get out of this situation alive. She hoped Mystic Falls wouldn't be the last town she ever visited, and she hoped Stefan wouldn't be the last face she ever saw.
Help me, she thought. But who exactly would help her now but Stefan?
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