[3x03; The End of the Affair]
August 2, 2010
Broody,
It's been over a month since Elena's birthday and things have been so crazy that I couldn't write to you as often as I'd like.
Caroline went missing for a whole week. Apparently, when she was sneaking out of Tyler's house on the morning of the full moon, Mrs. Lockwood shot her up with vervain. Tyler showed her his transformation that night and she said she'd take care of it. A week later and Caroline was still nowhere to be seen. Tyler, Liz, and I were frantic trying to search for her before finding out that Caroline's dad, Bill, was back in town to deal with Caroline. It was pretty obvious to Liz where Caroline was after that; for over a century, the Forbes family had a little torture room for vampires hidden under city hall.
Liz threatened to shoot Bill and we found Caroline in the cell, starving and bleeding from being tortured with the sun without her daylight ring. It was so confusing to me because Bill had always loved and spoiled Caroline so much…how could a parent do that to their child?
Caroline's fine now, just a little jumpy, and Damon compelled Bill out of town, convincing him that he came to Mystic Falls to take Caroline back-to-school shopping. If only that was really what happened…Hopefully we won't see him again.
Joel has officially started his job at the school. He's starting to set up all the computers around school under the strict watch of the computer tech teacher. He absolutely hates the guy and wishes he'd leave him alone but he won't compel him.
Senior year starts in two weeks, can you believe that? This summer flew by. We all got our schedules for the upcoming year and there was finally enough room for me to take an AP history class. Alaric's teaching and Caroline and Tyler got spots, too! Our lockers are the same as last year and I gotta say that I'm really going to miss having you as a locker-neighbor. Who else is gonna help me with my combination?
I miss you, Stefan. Three months is too long. I hope you're okay and you're staying strong. Tell Klaus to stop being a hybrid asshole and let you come back home. Everyone misses you.
Keep fighting, Stefan.
Sincerely yours,
Goofy
"Rise and shine, Twitch! We've got a long day ahead of us!"
Lucy groaned and rolled over, burying her head into her pillow. She swatted at Damon's hands as he tried to pull her comforter off her. He resisted, continuing to grab the blanket, and she finally threatened to siphon from him if he didn't stop.
"Wake up!" Damon cooed annoyingly, backing away from her bed.
"Ugh," she grunted and flopped onto her back, reluctantly opening her aching eyes and checking the time on her phone. "What the hell are you doing here? Why are you in my room at six in the morning?"
"Ah, did someone have a rough night?" Damon asked mockingly. "Elena said you were up late."
Lucy narrowed her eyes at him as she ripped off her blanket and rolled out of bed. "You two need to stop gossiping. A girl has secrets, you know."
"Like the fact that you're still sleeping with Donovan?" Damon held up the note Matt left before he snuck out a mere half-hour before. "Yeah, Ric and I saw him leave."
"God!" she ripped the note of his hand, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "Tell me what you want or get out, Damon. It's too early in the morning to look at you."
"Fine," Damon sighed dramatically. "I guess you don't want to come with me and Elena to bring Stefan home…"
Lucy stiffened and turned around to face him. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Stefan's in Chicago and Elena and I are going to get him," he said slowly, as though she was stupid. "Are you coming or not?"
"How do you even know that Stefan's in Chicago?"
"A certain sister of yours told me."
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Katherine?"
"Yup," Damon nodded. "Now pack a bag. We've got a road trip waiting for us."
An hour later, they were on the road with packed bags, Damon's road-trip playlist, and full bellies from the breakfast sandwiches Damon stopped to get them. It was actually kind of fun with Damon's rock music playing loudly and the wind blowing through their hair.
Lucy absolutely loved road trips.
Elena wasn't nearly as happy as Lucy was. She didn't sing along with Lucy and Damon and she didn't talk. She just looked out the passenger seat window, playing with the vervain locket Stefan gave her almost a year ago.
"I sure hope we find him 'cause it would suck if the last memento of Stefan was that shitty old necklace," Damon commented, glancing at Elena.
"It's antique, Damon," Elena snapped, keeping her eyes on the blurry trees in front of her. "Kind of like you."
"Ooh," Lucy cooed teasingly, sending Damon a smirk.
Damon rolled his eyes. "Shut up," he told her and gestured to one of Stefan's journals that he had brought along; Lucy had been making her way through them—she was on 1890. "Hand me the 1920s journal, will ya?"
Lucy hummed and searched for the numbered journal, handing it to him when she found it.
"Read this," Damon held the journal out to Elena. "It paints a pretty little picture of Stefan's first experience in Chicago."
Elena took the journal and opened it to take a peek. "It's Stefan's diary," she shook her head in realization. "I'm not going to invade his private thoughts."
"It's not like he thinks like that now," Lucy shrugged. "It as ninety years ago. Times have changed and I'm sure Stefan has too."
"Exactly," Damon agreed. "and you need to be prepared for what you're about to see."
"I've seen Stefan in his darkest periods," Elena insisted, handing the journal back to Lucy. "I can handle it."
Damon rolled his eyes. "Read her a passage, Twitch."
Lucy sighed and opened up to a random page, reading the first entry she saw. "It's from March 12th, 1922. 'I've blacked out for days. I wake up in strangers' blood, in places I don't recognize with women I don't remember.'"
"Ahh?" Damon gasped loudly, looking over at Elena. "I'm shocked! Stefan's not a virgin?"
Lucy laughed; who knew Damon could actually be funny if he wasn't antagonizing people?
Elena sighed and pressed her palm against his cheek, forcing his gaze back on the road. "Eyes on the road, Grandpa."
"Fine, back to my game. Tell me if you see a Florida plate."
"I saw one a couple miles ago," Lucy spoke up.
"It doesn't count because I didn't see it."
They arrived in Chicago around five in the evening, two hours quicker than they should have due to Damon's crazy fast driving. He drove past most of the city—happily avoiding Navy Pier and Lake Michigan, much to Lucy's complaints—and headed toward the older part of town where the buildings made of brick were crumbling and the landscaping was messy.
They stopped for a quick bite to eat at Portillo's—a restaurant that Damon raved about and Lucy and Elena thoroughly enjoyed—before making their way to their final stop. Stefan's old apartment building.
The building was shabby and run-down, the wallpaper peeling off in long strips on the wall in the hallway. The carpet was brown, even though Lucy suspected that it wasn't its original color, and the hallway smelt like there was some type of mold growing behind the walls.
Lucy's nose twitched from her allergies as Elena looked around in disgust.
"Stefan could live anywhere in Chicago and he chose this?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.
"I'm sure it looked nicer ninety years ago," Lucy guessed though Damon shrugged.
"There used to be an all-girls high school around the corner," he explained Stefan's apartment choice. "but it shut down for attendance issues. Weird, right?"
Elena narrowed her eyes at him. "If you're trying to scare me into giving up and going back home, it's not going to work."
Damon simply pressed his finger to his lips and quietly shushed her as he stopped in front of a door and grabbed the doorknob. The metal squealed as he broke the knob off and the door swung open.
"Here we are," Damon gestured into the apartment, allowing Lucy and Elena to step through. "Stefan's second personality home."
Lucy looked around in interest; the apartment was mostly one room, though there was a door leading off to a bathroom. The kitchen was small and had antique appliances, the bed was neatly made, and the furniture was small and cute. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.
"He obviously hasn't been here recently," Elena commented, brushing her finger over the dust on one of the bedside tables.
"Tour's not over yet," Damon stated, shuffling over to the large bookcase next to the kitchen. To Lucy's surprise, the bookshelf swung forward, revealing a hidden closet full of alcohol.
Lucy and Elena made their way over to Damon as he turned on the light in the closet.
"So Stefan hid his alcohol," Lucy shrugged, not seeing the big deal. "It was prohibition, right? Wasn't that common?"
"What a monster?" Elena added sarcastically.
Damon nodded toward the small wall in the closet. "Look harder."
Lucy sighed and took a look at the wall. There was a long list of names written in Stefan's handwriting. It was almost the full length of the wall. It was shocking to see his victims named out like this, but they already knew that Stefan was a ripper. He had trouble with control; he was bound to have a long list of people he killed.
Was it intimidating? Yes. Was Lucy going to give up on Stefan? No.
"It's a list of names," Elena's eyes widened in realization. Damon hummed and she looked at him questioningly. "These are all of his victims?"
"Still handling it?"
Elena scoffed, following him out of the closet. "What were you doing in the 1920s?" she asked. "Paving the way for women's liberation?"
"I was around," Damon shrugged casually. "Chicago's a big city. Stefan was a cocky ripper douche but I could avoid him and still indulge on a few Daisy Buchannan's of my own."
Elena seemed disgusted and Lucy rolled her eyes as Damon went to leave the apartment. He was only a few feet from the door when Elena stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
"Stefan's old stomping ground," Damon informed them.
"We're coming with you."
"No, you're staying here and whipping up an actual plan," Damon corrected Elena. "I'll come back when I find him. Don't go wandering off," he pointed at Lucy. "That means you."
Lucy huffed as he left, shutting the door behind him. "What am I, a toddler?"
"Compared to him? Yeah," Elena sighed and sat down on the bed. "We should be going with him."
"I hate myself for saying this but maybe we should listen to him," Lucy shrugged, taking Stefan's 1920s journal out of her bag and opening it up as she sat in one of his chairs. "Klaus thinks you're dead so it's safer for you to hang out here."
Elena raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you agree with Damon?"
Lucy scoffed and rolled her eyes, engrossing herself in Stefan's journal.
April 1922
Lexi found me last night and dragged me off the train tracks. She thinks she can make me care again.
Lucy pressed her lips together and turned the page, finding another entry.
June 1924
Lexi's driving me crazy. More animal blood, more misery…
1935
Cravings are there but it's easier. Lexi's onto her next project…Getting me to laugh.
Lucy couldn't help but smile at the mentions of Lexi and how she helped Stefan. She only knew Lexi for one day but she could tell that the blonde vampire was someone special. It turns out that Lucy was right; Lexi spent most of the last century taking care of Stefan and making sure he didn't go off the deep end. Stefan lost a real friend when Damon killed her.
Lucy jumped and Elena gasped when they heard a man's voice coming down the hall. Giving each other wide-eyed looks, they recognized the British drawl being used.
Klaus was here and he was about to walk in and see Elena.
Lucy urgently gestured for Elena to hide in the bathroom, picking up their stuff and shoving it in her sister's arms. Elena hurried into the bathroom as Klaus' voice got louder and Lucy shut the door behind her. She then rushed into the closet behind the bookshelf, hiding herself in the corner by the list of Stefan's victims.
The door swung open and Lucy heard Klaus, "What a charming little homestead," he paused a little. "Do you feel that? Is anybody here?"
Lucy winced and covered her mouth with her hand, hoping that it would quiet her anxious breathing. Thankfully, Stefan unknowingly came to her rescue.
"It's been vacant for decades," he said. "People must break in all the time. Why'd you bring me here?"
"Your friend, Liam Grant, the one who drank his wife's blood, I could never figure out why you wanted his name," Klaus stated, recalling a conversation that Lucy wasn't privy to. "And then you told me your little secret. It was all part of your special little ritual."
Horrified, Lucy turned her head to read the list of names, finding Liam Grant almost immediately.
"To write it down," Stefan filled in the blanks.
"And relive the kill over and over again," Klaus added and Lucy heard his footsteps drawing closer to the closet she hid in. Lucy closed her eyes and flinched deeper into the corner. "Believe me now?"
Another set of footsteps who had to be Stefan came closer to the closet. Lucy opened her eyes to see Stefan staring at her, a cute but dumbfounded look on his face. Lucy let her lips curl into a soft smile at the sight of him.
He was okay. He was alive and standing right in front of her. Stefan was all right.
"Look what I found," Stefan said, making her stiffen. Instead of pulling her out of the closet to show Klaus, he grabbed a bottle of alcohol on the bottom shelf. "1918 single malt."
"My favorite," Klaus approved. "Let's go and find someone to pair it with."
The closet door was slowly shut and Lucy slumped in relief when Klaus and Stefan walked out of the apartment, shutting the door behind them.
Lucy waited a full minutes before she swung the bookshelf away from the closet and made her way to the bathroom, knocking softly.
"Elena, it's safe," she assured her sister. "They're gone."
Elena immediately opened the door and rushed out of the bathroom, pulling Lucy into a hug. "Are you okay?" she asked into Lucy's hair. "Did they see you?"
"I'm fine. Stefan saw me," Lucy saw the horrified look on Elena's face. "and he didn't say anything to Klaus. He got him out of here as fast as he could."
Elena sighed in relief and pulled away from the hug. "We should have gone with Damon," she repeated her earlier words. "I'm gonna call him."
There were footsteps coming down the hall outside Stefan's apartment again. Lucy and Elena hurried behind the kitchen wall, holding vervain darts to their chests in case it was Klaus coming to finish them off.
The door opened and shut; Elena peeked around the wall and sighed in relief when she saw Damon.
"Finally!" she exclaimed, watching as Damon walked toward them with their bags in his arms. "I called you an hour ago."
Damon handed them their luggage. "Make yourselves presentable. I know where Stefan's going to be tonight."
Lucy sighed and set her bag down, unzipping it to find a presentable outfit. Elena just stared at the oldest Salvatore brother in shock.
"I told you that we were practically discovered by Klaus and you're worried about what we're wearing?" Elena's voice was snappy as her gaze turned into a glare.
"I had an hour to realize what a bad idea it was to leave you guys here alone, process it, and move on," Damon replied. "Are you okay?"
Elena and Lucy both nodded.
"Okay, good," he sat down in a chair. "Get dressed. You're all road-trippy and gross."
Lucy pulled a sundress out of her bag. "So you know where Stefan's going to be?"
"Yes, with Klaus," he confirmed. "So, you and I will distract Klaus—because we know he has somewhat of a soft spot for you—and Elena, you will deal with Stefan."
"Okay," Elena breathed. "Thank you."
"You're only going to have about five minutes tops before that hybrid-freak rips out my heart," he reminded her. "So please, tell you can do this."
Elena nodded. "I can do this."
"Good," Lucy said, walking to the bathroom so she could change. "And don't worry, Dracula, I won't let Klaus rip your heart out."
She thought she heard Damon mutter something but she ignored it, closing the bathroom door and pulling her t-shirt over her head.
"I'll get Stefan's attention and lure him out of the bar," Damon told Lucy as they walked purposefully toward the entrance of the bar that Klaus and Stefan were at. "Elena will wait until he comes out. Once they're talking, you and I are going to distract Klaus. Any questions?"
"Nope," Lucy knew how important this was so she didn't make any jokes. "Let's do this."
Damon nodded and disappeared into the bar. While Lucy waited, shivering from the cool night air, she thought about how she could distract Klaus. Maybe she could make him nostalgic or something. She was his favorite—with Rebekah being a close second—after all…
Damon walked out of the bar and Stefan came speeding out a second later, shoving Damon into a nearby car.
"What is wrong with you?" he growled at his brother.
Damon pushed Stefan off of him. "What is wrong with you?" he retorted. "You kill Andie one day; you save my life the next. What are you, good or bad? Pick one!"
Stefan pressed his lips together. "Klaus almost saw Elena and Lucy," he stated, gesturing over to Lucy, who waved sheepishly. "The three of you need to get out of Chicago."
"Neither of those girls are going anywhere until they've got you checked into vampire rehab and on the mend," Damon said, annoyed with the sisters' persistence. "Trust me. I've tried."
"Elena's the key to everything. Klaus can't know that she's alive."
Lucy stepped forward, giving him a curious look. "What are you talking about?"
"She was supposed to die in the sacrifice and she didn't," Stefan explained quickly. "Now Klaus can't create any new hybrids. His witch is seconds away from figuring that out. Go home and forget about me, Luce. Tell Elena the same."
Damon cleared his throat, pulling Stefan's gaze from Lucy. "Tell her yourself."
Stefan turned his head in the direction of where Elena was waiting for him. While he was distracted, Damon silently gestured for Lucy to follow him; she gave Stefan one last look and followed Damon into the bar.
Once Damon compelled the bouncer to let her-underaged-self in, Lucy spotted her hybrid brother sitting at the bar, downing a shot of amber liquid.
Lucy made her way over to the bar as the lady behind the bar called for the last set of drink orders and sat in the stool next to him. "Hello, Nik."
Klaus swallowed the rest of his drink and turned to face her. "Little sister," he greeted her. "What a surprise. I thought you were too young to get pass the bouncer."
"I must have charmed him or something," Lucy shrugged, giving him an innocent smile.
"Or I compelled you in," Damon commented, taking a seat at the stool on the other side of Klaus.
Klaus sighed and slowly turned to him. "I see they've opened the doors to the riff-raff now."
"Oh, honey, I've been called worse," Damon smirked.
Klaus chucked bitterly. "You don't give up, do you?"
"Give us my brother back and you'll never have to see me again."
"Well, I am torn," Klaus admitted, cocking his head. "You see, I promised Stefan I wouldn't let you die but how many freebies did I really sign up for?" he shrugged as though his decision was out of his own hands. "And clearly you want to die, otherwise you wouldn't be here, so…"
"Nik, would you please just let Stefan go?" Lucy pleaded, grabbing his hand. She was desperate to get Stefan back; if she had to suck up to him, so be it. "I mean, what do you need him for a decade for, anyway? He's gotta bother you, right? I mean, he's crabby all the time. You don't want to deal with that."
"I don't know, Luciana," Klaus drawled with a simple shrug. "I quite like Stefan's company. However, if you're willing to join us, I could be talked into letting Stefan go a couple years early…"
Lucy hesitated, furrowing her eyebrows as she thought about Klaus' deal. She would miss her senior year of school, she probably wouldn't be able to attend college or have a career in whatever she wanted to do, and she probably wouldn't see her friends or family for a long time. Was it really worth that?
Her answer was yes, it was worth it. Stefan didn't deserve to be treated like a servant and being dragged around the country looking for werewolves to turn into hybrids. Elena and Damon were lost without Stefan, so if Lucy had to sacrifice a few years of her life to make them happy, it was fine. Besides, she could do online school and she'd be with Stefan.
"Okay, nope," Damon cut off her train of thought, seeing that she was actually considering Klaus' offer. "Not gonna happen, Twitch. You're not going with Dumb and Dumber."
Klaus simply smiled at Damon's comment and reached out, wrapping his hand tightly around his throat. He got off his stool and stood up, lifting Damon high into the air. Lucy hovered anxiously, trying to come up with a spell that she could use against Klaus and save Damon from his wrath.
Damon grunted as Klaus tightened his grip and held a toothpick up to his chest.
"Oh, dear, what was that?" he clicked his tongue mockingly, moving the toothpick up to Damon's neck; Damon cried out when the sharp woods pierced his skin. "I'm a little boozy so you'll forgive me if I miss your heart the first few tries."
"Klaus let him go," Lucy begged her brother.
Klaus pulled the toothpick out and stabbed the middle of Damon's chest, ignoring her. "Oh no, that's not it," he hummed and stabbed closer to his heart. "Oops, almost."
"You want a partner in crime?" Damon choked out. "Forget Stefan. I'm so much more fun."
Klaus smacked his lips together and threw Damon across the room, letting him crash onto a table, which fell to the ground. As Klaus broke off a leg of a chair and hovered over Damon, Lucy siphoned some magic from her necklace.
"You won't be any fun after you're dead," Klaus growled as he lifted his hand to stab the stake into Damon's heart.
Lucy narrowed her eyes and the stake burst into flames, burning Klaus' skin. Klaus winced and threw the stake away from him, sending an annoyed glare toward Lucy.
"Really?" he sighed as he got to his feet.
"Well, I asked you nicely and you didn't stop, so…" Lucy shrugged and nodded at Damon; he sped out of the bar and away from Klaus' wrath.
"No fighting in my bar," the bartender declared, having seen the whole thing. She turned her judgmental glare on Lucy and added, "Leave. Your kind aren't welcome here."
Lucy narrowed her eyes at the woman and turned to leave, only stopped when Klaus called to her.
"Luciana," she turned around to face him. "You tell Damon he doesn't have to negotiate his brother's freedom. When I'm done with him, he won't want to go back."
Lucy pressed her lips together and gave him a disappointed look. "Goodbye, Nik."
When she walked out of the bar, Elena and Damon were already in his car, ready to go. Elena had been unsuccessful in trying to get Stefan to come home with her and Damon was angrily cursing out Klaus while he sucked down a blood bag.
Chicago was a bust. They'd never get Stefan back.