There she was, trapped half-naked in the tiny metal bucket with her hands tied tightly to the rim so she couldn't escape.
She was shaking rapidly as her body was submerged in water, and her lips were an unhealthy shade of blue.
Stefan felt tears build up in his eyes as he saw the bruises forming all up and down her bare back, and how her long chestnut hair was unevenly chopped off above her shoulders.
He quickly reached for the ropes to untie her, but the second he made a movement towards her a small cry escaped her lips.
"D-Don't h-hurt m-m-me," she softly whimpered from the bottom of the bucket causing the tears that Stefan was holding back to leak down his cheeks.
Due to the way she was tied up she was forced to face the bottom of the bucket with her back facing the opening.
There was no way for her to see that he was the one who was there.
"Hey Elena, it's me, it's Stefan," he told her in the gentlest voice he could, "You're safe now, I'm getting you out of here."
"No, you're lying, stop lying," she cried, "Stefan's dead, he's dead, he's dead."
Stefan's heart dropped.
Did she really think he was dead this whole time?
He quickly realized that she didn't know that snapping a vampire's neck doesn't actually kill them.
"Oh Lena I'm right here, please trust me sweetheart," he begged desperately, "Snapping a vampire's neck doesn't kill them, I promise you it's really me."
She was shaking in fear and Stefan's heart completely shattered at the sight.
She looked so completely and utterly broken that Stefan couldn't take it.
He desperately wanted to free her from the ropes and hold her in his arms, but he knew that he needed to get her to trust that it was him first.
The last thing he wanted was to frighten her even more.
"Elena I know you are scared, but I swear to you that I am really here," he said as a few more tears streamed down his cheeks before he continued, "I promise I will be so gentle, just please let me get you out of here, please," he begged, his voice cracking.
Despite how terrified she was, something in her told her that she could trust him.
Somehow she believed that maybe this wasn't some sick joke and Stefan was really alive.
"S-St-Stefan?" she shuttered out from the bottoms of the bucket, "Is t-that r-really y-y-you?"
"It's really me Elena, let me get you out of here," he said as he reached for the rope around her arms.
"No," she croaked with the last ounce of strength she had left, "vervain," she breathed out.
When Stefan touched the rope his skin began to burn, and he quickly realized that Klaus put her in vervain so he wouldn't be able to touch her if he tried to save her.
"Shhh it's okay, it's okay," he cooed as he began to quickly untie the ropes that were bounding her hands together above her head.
The terrible burns that the ropes were leaving on his skin didn't even register in his mind.
What Klaus didn't understand is that no pain in the world could stop Stefan from saving Elena.
He quickly reached into the vervain-filled bucket and gently lifted her shivering body out of it.
"I-It's r-really y-you," she breathed out as she finally looked up at him.
"Yes it's me, I'm here," he soothed as he instantly cradled her weak form in his arms, holding her as close as he could to his chest.
"I've got you, I've got you," he cooed as he sat them down on the ground, "You are safe now, shhh, it's okay, you're safe."
She latched onto him with the remaining strength she had left while he held her shivering body close to his chest.
Quickly he took off his dry shirt and put it on her and wrapped his large jacket around her desperately trying to warm her up.
As he put his shirt on her his heart broke in half when saw the terrible bruises that engulfed her stomach.
In that moment he knew that her worst pain was yet to come.
He had no idea what condition her child was currently in, but he knew it wasn't good.
His eyes stung with tears as he looked down at her.
She was curled up so tightly in his arms as she continued to rapidly shake in his embrace.
He ran his fingers through her uneven hair and with every stroke clumps of it fell out in his hands.
She was so weak in his arms, and he knew that she was in so much pain so he bit into his wrist and gently brought it up to Elena's lips, but she weakly turned her head away.
"No, no more blood, please," she whimpered, "I promise I'll behave, I'll be good. Just no more blood."
"Hey shhh, it's okay, it's only me," he reminded her as she slowly looked back up at him.
"You know I would never hurt you, please let me heal you," he soothed as he held his wrist out waiting for her to make the next move.
Klaus would always force her mouth open and then gag her with his wrists before shoving his blood down her throat.
Although when she looked up at Stefan, she realized that he wasn't even trying to open her mouth.
He was letting her be in control.
Elena slowly opened her mouth on her own and allowed Stefan to gently press his wrist against her lips.
He held her close as she drank from him, and Elena closed her eyes as the pain started to go away.
Her arm began to heal, her open wounds began to close, and overall she felt her strength coming back little by little.
After a few more moments, Stefan softly removed his wrist from her mouth causing her to come back to reality.
When she did so, her high from the blood disappeared and the memories of the past couple of days consumed her as she clung harder to Stefan.
"Y-You d-died," she cried softly against his chest, "I-I thought y-you were d-dead."
Stefan's heart broke more and more with each tear that fell down her beautiful face.
"I am right here Elena. I am alive and holding you. You are okay angel, you made it," he cooed as he did everything in his power to make her feel safe again.
"I-I thought you d-didn't t-though. Oh, S-Stefan, you weren't b-breathing. I-I was s-so s-scared," she sobbed.
"Shh, it's okay, I'm right here baby. I am so sorry that this happened, I am so so sorry," he whispered as he rocked her back and forth in his arms.
She continued to cry in his arms as he held her close to his chest.
Not even an hour ago she thought she was never going to see him again, she really thought Klaus had killed him.
Suddenly she began to panic.
Where was Klaus?
She began to rapidly shake in Stefan's arms as she realized he could be back any second.
Stefan realized that she began to cry harder against his chest, and her heart rate increased double what it was a few seconds ago.
"What is it sweetheart?" Stefan asked worriedly as she continued to tremble.
"K-Klaus," she shuttered in fear.
"I took care of him," Stefan soothed as he delicately stroked her hair, "You never have to worry about Klaus ever again, I promise."
"W-Where i-is h-he?" she asked as her body continued to shake in fear.
She would not truly feel safe until she sees his body lying lifelessly on the ground.
"Let me show you," Stefan whispered to her as he stood up with her still in his arms.
She instantly whimpered and shook her head as she continued to clutch onto him like a lifeline.
"It's okay, it's okay," he soothed as he placed a light kiss against her hair, "He can't hurt you anymore because he is dead Elena."
She looked up at him in shock, almost as if she couldn't believe it.
"Would it make you feel better if you saw it for yourself?" he asked her softly.
Elena just looked at him for a minute before she meekly nodded against his chest.
She trusted Stefan with her whole heart, and she knew that he would never knowingly put her in danger.
Plus it would make her feel better to see him dead.
Stefan slowly carried her up the stairs holding her protectively against his chest.
His heart continued to break as he saw how completely petrified she still was.
He knew that whatever happened to her down there was enough to leave permanent mental and physical scars, but he vowed to himself that he would do everything possible to ease her pain.
Once he reached the top of the stairwell he pushed open the floorboards that doubled as the hidden door and brought them out into the outdated shack.
Elena still had her head buried deep into his chest, it was almost as if she believed she could pretend none of this was real as she hid herself in his body.
Stefan approached Klaus's still form and looked at his dead body with disgust as he felt Elena shake in his arms.
He was responsible for all of the pain that his sweet beautiful Elena has endured.
Stefan felt sick to his stomach as he thought about it.
Klaus killed her whole family, held her captive, hurt her beyond belief, impregnated her, and then attempted to kill her unborn child.
She has been through more pain in her short life than anyone should ever go through in one hundred lifetimes.
He has never been happier to see anyone dead in all his life.
"Elena, right next to us is the stone corpse of the man who has caused you so much pain. He is dead Elena and he is never coming back," Stefan told her as she slowly unburied her head from his chest.
She flinched the second she saw him, and a small whimper escaped her lips.
"He's dead Elena," Stefan soothed as he gently stroked her hair, "He can't hurt you anymore."
Elena nodded her head as a small sense of relief washed over her.
Stefan was right, Klaus was nothing more than a piece of rock.
Elena just stared at Klaus's unmoving body and realized that he truly couldn't hurt her anymore.
He really was dead.
After a few more moments her eyes became heavy, and she began to feel sleepier with every passing second.
"Stefan, can we please leave?" Elena asked him quietly through a yawn.
"Of course angel," Stefan cooed as he held her close, "Close your eyes now sweetheart, you are safe now, you can sleep."
Stefan watched her eyes become heavy with sleep as he carried her out of the shack.
He stroked her hair with the softest touch he could possibly give as she slept curled up in his arms.
When he looked down at her he couldn't stop the tear that was ready to leak down his cheek.
He was so angry, no, he was furious.
He looked back down at his sweet Elena and then at the horrid run-down shack that she was trapped in for so many years of her life and he wanted to scream.
There was nothing in this world that could make it okay, because no matter how hard he loves her, and how much he wants to take every ounce of her pain away, he can't.
The trauma that she has been through will stick with her forever no matter what he does.
Stefan felt helpless.
He looked at the angel in his arms and flashes of how he found her not even an hour ago consumed him.
More tears streamed down his cheeks as he remembered the pain and terror in her eyes as he opened up that metal bucket and found her crumpled in there.
Klaus chopped off her hair, beat her to a pulp, stripped her of her clothes, and caged her up like she was some animal that needed to be locked away.
Stefan couldn't take it.
He knew she was safe now but he needed to do something.
He quickly lit a match and threw it back into the shack watching the place that had caused the love of his life so much pain burst into flames.
The walls crashed in on themselves and smoke flew all around it.
He walked away with her as she slept in his arms knowing that Klaus's body was burning away into nothingness.
He let out a dry scoff as the thought occurred to him that his soul was burning in hell while his body was burning on Earth.
Stefan hoped that he would never stop burning.
If anyone deserved eternal misery it was Klaus Mikaelson.