"Ouch... dammit," the cranky and sleepy voice of the human Petrova doppelganger complained as she slowly lifted up her tired body from the uncomfortable position that she was in on the Gilbert cabin's couch. Emily then glanced around her in confusion once she was sitting up before she let out a quiet huff as she realized that she must have fallen asleep here when she was waiting for Stefan. The human girl had tried to stay up and wait for the Salvatore vampire to come back into the cabin so they could talk this out, but Emily guessed that she must have passed out while she had been looking through Johnathan Gilbert's life - hence the old leather bound journal lying across her lap.
Emily let out a small sigh as she was all alone - which she absolutely hated. I guess Stef is still pissed, the Gilbert girl thought as she leaned her back against the soft couch and closed her green eyes in annoyance. The human doppelganger then boredly glanced around the living room and the kitchen once she got rid of the sleepiness she was feeling before she swiftly noticed Stefan standing by the lake from her view from the large window that overlooked the water.
This trip is just so much fun, Emily sarcastically thought as she stretched out her sore body from the awkward position she had fallen asleep in. The human girl hated that Stefan was mad at her but she knew she couldn't do anything about it since Stefan wouldn't even walk into the same room as her. So, instead of begging for the vampire's attention, who wasn't even making an effort with her, Emily grabbed the journal from her lap and decided to read more into her ancestor's life.
"With the dying embers of the fire at Fell's church," Emily began to read from Johnathan Gilbert's own words, "the scourge of the vampires has passed. And though war raged all around us, our town was safe from the demons of the night... or so we thought."
This must have been when they thought they got rid of all of the vampires in the church, Emily immediately realized at the mention of the fire at Fell's church or what she knows it as; the tomb. The brunette girl then quickly flipped to the next page as she couldn't help but become engrossed into her ancestor's side of the story from that night; from a human perspective.
"For the monsters we drove to their fiery deaths had begat new monsters," the human girl continued to read before she was swiftly pulled into the story from the nineteenth century of the ending war between the vampires and the founding families.
GILBERT RESIDENCE 1864
Inside of the estate of Johnathan Gilbert was a brewing party as the founding families celebrated the end of all of the vampires that were in their small town of Mystic Falls. There was drinks of strong whiskey for the men and red wine for the women being toasted around the large table with lavish foods being served. It was the perfect evening for their defeat of the night creatures.
However, all the cheering, laughing, and talking were all soon interrupted when a loud creaking sound ran throughout the large dining room of the Gilbert residence by the ceiling to floor window that gave the founding families a clear view to the night sky. "Did you hear that?" Honoria Fell whispered nervously after a moment of silence as she was the only one brave enough to utter a single sound.
Thomas Fell, Honoria's husband, quickly walked over to the large window and peered out into the dark night. However, the only thing Thomas could see was his wooden carriage and his calm white horse. Thomas didn't like the unknown, so he swiftly walked back to the dining room table and grabbed the largest silver knife he could find before he commanded the group, "stay here."
"No, Thomas!" Mrs. Fell begged as she hurriedly stood up from her chair before she moved her worried eyes to Thomas. The brunette woman feared that her husband would get hurt and she did not want that to happen as there could be something out there; something dangerous.
"It is all right, dear," Thomas assured his wife as he stared into her furrowed brown eyes with a small smile. He then glanced at the calm men and the concerned women around the table as he added to assure them as well, "the vampires are all dead."
"Yes, Honoria," the man of the Gilbert estate uttered as he stared at the Fell woman to convince her and everyone else that there was absolutely nothing to worry about. "They burned in the church," Johnathan promised, "we're safe now."
Once Thomas realized that Johnathan had calmed his wife down for the time being, he squeezed his fingers around the handle of the knife before he swiftly left the dining room and exited the Gilbert estate altogether to see what was the cause of the noise from outside.
The dining room was then overcome by a thick and nervous silence as the founding families all glanced at one another in worry. However, though, Honoria couldn't take the suspense any longer as she was growing concerned as the seconds ticked by, so she was the one to interrupt the tense silence. "Please, Johnathan," Mrs. Fell begged before she mumbled anxiously, "I'm worried."
Johnathan wasn't one to be scared, but he was beginning to become concerned about his friend as they hadn't heard anything in quite a few minutes. "Very well," the Gilbert man uttered as he finally came to a decision before he slowly stood up from his chair and told the worried woman, "I shall go too."
Johnathan then looked around the table for a moment as he gave the founding families an assuring smile before he silently walked out of the dining room and made his way out onto the porch, where he quickly noticed Thomas looking around with the kitchen knife ready for attack. "I can prove there are no vampires," the Gilbert man called out to his friend as he knew there was no need to worry.
Thomas swiftly twirled around at the voice before he instantly relaxed when he saw the calm Gilbert man. He then took a couple of steps towards Johnathan, while he also kept a look out for any type of danger that surrounded the Gilbert estate, as he couldn't help but be curious to how Johnathan could prove that the vampires were really gone.
The Gilbert man gave his friend an excited grin as he loved his invention before he pulled out the pocket watch from the front of his grey slacks. Johnathan then flipped the watch open and showed Thomas the secret compass before he held it out into the chilly air. However, when the compass didn't tick like it should when a vampire was around, Johnathan looked back up at Thomas and exclaimed, "see? Nothing to worry about."
Thomas Fell let out a small sigh of relief now that he knew for sure that there wasn't any vampires around and that the noise must have just been the wind. The two men then gave each other a small smile and went to walk back to the party inside of the Gilbert estate, but quickly stopped when they heard the arrow of the compass begin to spin at an unbelievably fast rate.
Johnathan quickly looked down at the vampire tracking device in confusion as everything was just fine a second ago. The Gilbert man then began to turn his body all around as he tried to figure out where the rouge vampire was located. However, though, when Johnathan looked back to his friend to tell him to warn the founding families, Johnathan saw Thomas was nowhere to be seen. "Thomas?" The Gilbert man cautiously called out into the chilly night, "Thomas?"
Johnathan quickly walked off the white porch when he didn't get a response from his friend and began to search around the yard for Thomas. But when the Gilbert man heard a familiar swooshing from behind him, he quickly turned around before a loud gasp escaped his mouth when he saw Thomas' body lying on the ground.
"Thomas!" The crying Honoria shouted as soon as she rushed out onto the porch and immediately saw her husband's unmoving body lying there. Everyone inside of the Gilbert estate had heard something and she was the only one brave enough to check it out. But now, Honoria was regretting it as the sight she was witnessing scared her beyond belief.
"No, stay inside!" Johnathan quickly commanded as he pointed at the Fell woman, who was running towards him and Thomas, "get back inside!" The Gilbert man knew it wasn't save for Honoria, or even him, to be outside when there was a vampire on the loose.
However, before Honoria could even think about leaving her obvious hurt husband and follow Johnathan's orders, she was swiftly pushed against the Gilbert estate and felt all the pain in the world enter her body while she felt her warm blood oozing from her cold neck before her brown eyes slowly closed and she took her very last breath.
GILBERT CABIN
"I knew I was about to die," the human Petrova doppelganger continued to read as she was so invested into her ancestor's side of what happened after the fire. "You can not run from a vampire," Emily uttered in a whisper as she read the words of Johnathan Gilbert, "I saw the vampire who killed me. I recognized him. It was Stefan Salvatore."
"Holy crap," Emily gasped in shock as she read the last line of one of the many Gilbert journals. The human girl couldn't believe that the vampire that killed a member of her family was none other than her extremely attractive boyfriend. "I definitely didn't see that coming," Emily mumbled as her mind kept reading over the last line in disbelief.
Meanwhile out on the dock by the chilly Durham lake, the aforementioned Salvatore vampire was currently skipping small little rocks that he had picked up from when he had walked around the large Gilbert property. Stefan just couldn't face the human girl just yet, so he had traveled around the cabin for hours until he finally found himself back at the spot where he and Emily made their promises of the future. It angered the Salvatore vampire so much that the human girl was giving up on him and everyone else that loves her. Stefan just didn't understand it.
The Salvatore vampire stood there in silence for a couple more minutes as he was lost in his thoughts of the sacrifice and what they were going to do now that they know that Elijah isn't going to protect Emily, before he was soon interrupted by his cell phone ringing in his jacket pocket. Stefan quickly fished his device out and saw it was his brother before he tiredly uttered, "hello."
"Well, I showered. I shaved," the older Salvatore immediately began to tell his brother as he walked around his bedroom in the boarding house. "Had breakfast," Damon continued with now a smirk on his face as he looked down at the sleeping Elena on his bed before he concluded, "I'm very relaxed."
Stefan huffed out a sigh as he instantly remembered the argument that he had with the human girl last night. "That makes one of us," the younger Salvatore mumbled as he turned his body away from the lake and moved his gaze onto Emily, who was reading her ancestor's journal, inside of the Gilbert cabin.
"I did hear one piece of good news, though," Damon told his brother as he stood in front of his full body mirror. The older Salvatore vampire then paused for a moment as he fixed his leather jacket before he finally continued with the good news, "Tyler Lockwood ran away from home last night."
Stefan instantly furrowed his brows as he didn't understand how his brother could already know that when Tyler barely caught a ride with the female werewolf last night when he had left the cabin after saying goodbye to the human girl. "How do you know that?" The green eyed vampire voiced his confusion as Stefan was curious how people in Mystic Falls had already heard the news.
"Well, I heard it from Sheriff Forbes, who heard it from a very distraught Carol Lockwood," the older Salvatore vampire began to explain sarcastically to his brother as he moved away from his mirror and moved over to the sleeping Gilbert. Damon then began to shake his girlfriend awake before he continued to speak to Stefan, "thus, ending our werewolf chapter, bringing us too..."
"... killing Elijah," the younger Salvatore vampire mumbled as he finished Damon's trailing sentence. Stefan ultimately knew this was how everything was going to come to an end. If Elijah couldn't keep Emily safe, then there was no other option but to just get rid of him and handle Klaus on their own.
Once the older Salvatore finally woke Elena from her slumber, Damon immediately smirked after he moved his attention onto the dagger and ash in his drawer that good ole John Gilbert had gave him. "Exactly," the blue eyed supernatural being told his brother as he tossed the weapon into the air as he just couldn't wait to finally use it on the original.
"Well, it's not going to be easy," Stefan commented as he stared down at the lake in front of him. "He's crafty," the younger Salvatore vampire added as he thought about all the tricks that they had already seen from the original.
"Well," Damon exclaimed as he copied the green eyed vampire before he challenged back with a proud smirk settled onto his lips as he uttered, "I've got a crafty little dagger." It was as if Damon wasn't scared or afraid of what the original would do to them as they finally found a way to kill Elijah after realizing a stake wouldn't do the job.
"He's an original," Stefan warned his brother as he knew Damon was already coming up with some type of dangerous plan. "We don't know what all that encompasses," the younger Salvatore vampire added as they didn't need anything to go wrong if they were actually going to get rid of Elijah for once and for all.
"Oh, trust me, Stefan," the blue eyed vampire told his brother as he placed the dagger back into its hiding spot in his bedside drawer along with the ashes. "I'm gonna dot all my t's," Damon told Stefan before he mumbled with an eye roll, "I don't want any surprises."
"Wow, Damon," the younger Salvatore muttered in disbelief at what his brother was telling him. "So, you're actually gonna be careful for once?" Stefan inquired as this was definitely not in Damon's forte. It was more his than his brother's.
"Yes, Stefan," the older Salvatore deadpanned in annoyance before he muttered sarcastically, "I've become you." Damon nodded his head at his girlfriend, who was finally out of his bed, as he silently told her that they needed to get going before he focused back onto his brother as he mumbled, "how tragic for the both of us." The blue eyed vampire then headed to the door of his bedroom as he told Stefan, "got to run. I've got a murder to plan. Busy day," before he swiftly ended the call.
Stefan couldn't help but roll his green eyes at his brother, who was too excited to actually kill an original as he slowly placed his cell phone into the front pocket of his jeans. The Salvatore vampire then sobered up as he let out a sigh once he turned his gaze onto the human girl inside of the cabin. Stefan knew he couldn't keep avoiding the human girl any longer, so he took deep breath before he slowly walked towards the cabin for the first time since their fight after he had found out the truth.
Meanwhile inside of the Gilbert cabin, the brunette girl was so engrossed into her ancestor's stories that she didn't even hear the Salvatore vampire enter until Emily heard the loud sound of the door being closed. Emily swiftly became on guard at the noise and reached for the stake that she had placed beside the couch before she instantly relaxed when she saw it was only Stefan.
Emily silently placed the wooden weapon back onto the floor before she straightened up her body on the couch and moved her gaze onto the quiet Salvatore vampire. The human girl didn't even know how she was suppose to approach Stefan when he had walked out on her last night. But Emily knew she had to be the first one to speak, so she silently placed the Gilbert journal onto her lap before she cautiously asked, "are you still pissed?" Even though Emily knew the answer already, she just needed to at least start a conversation with Stefan so she could help the vampire understand why she was doing this.
The Salvatore vampire slowly pulled off his brown leather jacket and hung it onto the hanger by the front door before a small scoff escaped his mouth at the human girl's question. Stefan knew he needed to try to not be angry at Emily and work this all out, but he just couldn't help but still be hurt by Emily's secret about her dying in the sacrifice. Finally, though, after a minute or so, Stefan got control of his anger before he mumbled out, "yes, I'm still mad."
"Well, every couple has disagreements," Emily muttered with a careless shrug of her shoulders as she tried to lighten the tense mood. The human girl hated this. She just wanted them to kiss and make up but Emily knew it wasn't going to be that easy by the serious look that Stefan was currently giving her.
Stefan shook his head in disbelief before he exclaimed loudly, "Emily, you've agreed to sacrifice yourself to Klaus." The Salvatore vampire then crossed his arms over his chest and took a small breather before he stated in a more calmer voice, "to say that we had a disagreement is the understatement of the century."
"You would know," Emily muttered as she gave Stefan a sarcastic smile before she held up her ancestor's journal and shook it to show the Salvatore vampire what she meant since Stefan was involved in some of the key parts that she had read so far that happened over a century ago.
The Salvatore vampire couldn't help but let a small grin reach his lips and let out a soft chuckle as he stared down at the spunky human girl. It didn't matter that he was still mad, Emily just had that effect on him. It's probably the reason I haven't faced her until now, Stefan thought as he knew the human girl just had the ability to make all the bad things wash away.
Stefan silently move around the Gilbert cabin once he noticed Emily was focusing onto the journal in her lap before he took a seat down onto the couch beside the human girl. Once he was seated, the Salvatore vampire pulled Emily's legs over his lap to show that he was slowly losing his anger. Stefan then stared down at the silent human girl for a moment before he wondered as he looked at the journal, "so, what does Johnathan Gilbert have to say?"
Emily gave Stefan a small smile as she was glad that he was actually speaking normally with her. She then glanced down at the journal in her hands before she mumbled with a chuckle, "a lot." The human girl closed her ancestor's journal before she ran her fingers over the rough edges as she furthered her answer, "he wrote his whole life in these things." Emily handed Stefan the journal before she continued, "he kept so many secrets. He even kept stuff from the founding families." The human girl then gave Stefan a pointed look as she remembered what she had read earlier before she muttered, "stuff that you have never mentioned."
The Salvatore vampire silently grabbed the Gilbert journal from the human girl in confusion before he slowly began to look at the different pages. Oh...that, Stefan thought as he read what he did to the Gilbert man after the Fell church was burned down on that day back in 1864. The green eyed vampire then quickly closed the journal as he never really liked reliving his past life before he explained to the human girl, "we were, uh... we were angry at the founding families for what they did to Katherine. We wanted revenge." Stefan placed the journal between him and Emily before he shook his head and continued, "I didn't know about Johnathan Gilbert's ring yet. I didn't know that he would...that he would survive."
Emily quietly nodded her head as she listened to the Salvatore vampire's recollection of what happened during the nineteenth century. It made sense that Stefan didn't know about the ring since Johnathan's journals continued after that, Emily realized, along with the fact that her ancestor kept speaking about the younger Salvatore after his short death.
The human girl glanced back up at Stefan after she absorbed the information before she mumbled, "he definitely didn't like you." Emily shook her head as it was hard for her to read about how her ancestor talked badly about Stefan. "He talked about you like you were the scum of the Earth, like a monster," the brunette girl explained, "it was like he was describing Lucifer."
"Well, that's what I was, Emily," the Salvatore vampire mumbled as he glanced down at his fingers that were resting against the human girl's leg. Stefan then looked back at Emily after a moment of silence settled between them and stared deeply into her green eyes. "I want you to know the truth," the Salvatore vampire told the human girl as he grabbed ahold of her hand and squeezed it, "but I want you to hear it from me."
Stefan brought Emily's hand up to his lips and laid a soft kiss on her warm skin before he rested their hands onto the couch. The Salvatore vampire then took a deep breath as he readied himself about what he was about to tell the human girl. "In the weeks after I became a vampire," Stefan began as he rubbed his fingers across Emily's hand, "I relished in it. I took it to the darkest place I could," before Stefan was instantly pulled into one of his least favorite memories as a vampire.
SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE 1864
In the dark living room of the old Salvatore estate was a small 'party' as soft music from the black grand piano was being played as if it was a romantic setting. But, in reality, it was what nightmares are made of. The newly turned Stefan Salvatore was currently resting against his dead father's white couch with one of the founding families' wives next to him as he drank every single drop of her delicious blood.
Once the woman had died in his arms, Stefan pushed her to the side without a care in the world before his hungry gaze immediately targeted the two woman that were dancing beside the grand piano and also on the woman who was playing the musical instrument. "Who wants to die next?" Stefan questioned as he slowly stood up from the bloody couch.
"Me, I'm next!" The young brunette woman in the thin dark blue dress exclaimed as she quickly walked over to the hungry vampire with happiness shining throughout her eyes like she was excited to be murdered - thanks to the compulsion Stefan had done earlier that night.
"No, me!" The other woman with the blonde curly hair and the white and pink dress exclaimed before she pushed the brunette woman away from the hungry vampire. "You promised me," the blonde woman pouted.
The Salvatore vampire chuckled at his two eager meals as he began to caress their warm skin and smelled in their heavenly scent. However, before Stefan could choose which one he wanted, he spotted the woman by the piano. "What about you?" Stefan called out as he walked up to the musical piece. "You know, if you don't pick up the tempo," the brunette vampire began softly before he playfully snarled as he grabbed the woman's face, "you're going to lose your head. Snap. Snap."
The piano player was too wrapped into the vampire's compulsion, so she didn't see it as a threat. She only let out a giggle before her fingers pushed down onto the musical keys at a faster rate - which instantly pleased Stefan. The aforementioned Salvatore then swiftly vamp sped over to the brunette woman and began to dance with her before he hungrily shoved his fangs into her neck.
While Stefan was getting his fix off of his drug of blood, the oldest Salvatore; Damon, finally made his way into the room once he had arrived back at his home from his own midnight snack. The blue eyed vampire glanced around for a moment and noticed the dead woman before he turned his gaze onto the feeding Stefan. "Company, brother?" Damon called out as he alerted his fellow vampire to his arrival.
The younger Salvatore let out a growl when he was forced to stop feeding by his brother's voice. Stefan then released the happy and bloody woman as he gave Damon a bright grin. "I brought enough to share," Stefan exclaimed before he pushed the used brunette woman into his brother's arms.
"Are you mad bringing them here when the entire town is hunting us?" Damon shouted as he steadied the young woman that his brother had tossed to him while also keeping her at arms reach as she was trying to rub her fresh blood onto him. Damon definitely didn't need that when he was still trying to control his urges.
Stefan rolled his eyes at Damon before he slowly walked towards his brother as he told him, "Damon, if you're worried about the founding families, please don't." The Salvatore covered in blood gave his brother a smirk as he added, "they're all dead or about to be." Stefan then turned back to the blonde woman he was about to drink from as he made his point as the woman was apart of one of the founding families. The blonde aforementioned woman smiled excitedly at the bloody Salvatore vampire as she couldn't wait to die, which made Stefan happy as he swiftly vamp sped towards her and crunched his fangs into the human woman's neck.
Meanwhile, the older and wiser Salvatore grabbed the brunette woman's face while his brother was busy and couldn't stop him. Damon then connected his blue eyes with the human woman's green ones before he quickly compelled her with his newly found supernatural abilities, "leave this place. Never think of it again."
Once Damon saw the brunette woman walk to the entrance of the room, he swiftly pushed his brother off of the blonde woman and exclaimed, "same for you." The older Salvatore then grabbed the blonde's face like he did with the last one and compelled her, "leave this place. Never think of it again."
The younger and hungry Salvatore growled when all of his meals began to walk out of their father's estate. "Damon, don't be like this," Stefan whined as he was just beginning to have fun. He only had the chance to kill one of the founding families' wives. Stefan then took a step closer to his brother as he exclaimed stubbornly, "I'm just having some fun."
"Staying alive is more fun, Stefan!" The older Salvatore immediately exclaimed back. Damon then glanced around the room at all of the blood and mess that was surrounding them before he faced his brother again and told him, "we have to be more careful than this. More clever." The blued vampire paused for a moment as it pained him to talk about her before he whispered, "like Katherine was."
Stefan chuckled humorlessly when his brother mentioned 'her.' If Damon was trying to convince him to stop being reckless, that was certainly the last thing he should of brought up. Katherine was nowhere to be seen. She was dead. She left them all alone when they needed her. "Look what that got her," Stefan growled as he still held something for the woman that got killed in the fire a few weeks ago when they tried to save her.
Damon's blue eyes instantly was soaked with unshed tears at the way his brother was speaking about the woman that they both love. The older Salvatore shook his head and mumbled, "I'm done here." Damon looked directly at his brother as he told him, "without you. I'm leaving town," before he shoulder checked Stefan as he walked passed him. Damon just couldn't handle his brother any longer. He was just causing too much destruction, and it would lead to their death.
The younger Salvatore didn't like the idea of not having his brother by his side, so Stefan swiftly vamp sped in front of Damon and tightly grabbed ahold of his shoulders. "You hate me," Stefan stated erratically, "I know. I know." The bloody vampire looked into his brother's eyes as he mumbled on at a fast rate, "an eternity of misery and on and on. I know, but you don't have to leave town." Stefan then quickly shook his head as he promised to convince his brother to stay in Mystic Falls, "Damon, I'll do better. I promise."
"No," Damon strongly exclaimed as he was not going to fall for his brother's games any longer. "You will get us killed," the blue eyed vampire exclaimed as he pushed Stefan's hands off of him. Damon then looked at his brother in disgust as he mumbled, "I'd rather leave you to do that to yourself," before he swiftly left the upset Stefan behind as he walked out of the Salvatore boarding house for the last time.
GILBERT CABIN
"I wasn't myself then," Stefan uttered as he stared across at the human girl after he had described what he was like once he turned into a vampire. "I was full of guilt," the green eyed Salvatore voiced his emotions, "what I did to my father, to my brother. I had to turn it off. It was the only way I could survive."
Emily silently nodded her head as she tried to absorb the type of person that Stefan used to be - which was completely different from who he is now. The human girl then shook her head after a moment of silence before she mumbled in disbelief, "Johnathan was right. You were like Lucifer."
Stefan chuckled humorlessly as he briefly closed his green eyes before he looked directly at the human girl. "I was worse," the Salvatore vampire mumbled truthfully. Stefan wanted Emily to know everything so he knew he couldn't stop now - like he wanted. He just had to keep on going no matter how hard it is for him to tell the girl he loves about the things he is most ashamed of.
The Gilbert cabin's living room was silent for a couple of minutes as Stefan tried to gain the courage to continue his story as he aimlessly played with the human girl's fingers which instantly kept him calm. The Salvatore vampire then took another deep breath after another minute passed before he finally spoke more about what he was like back in the day, "for weeks I kept spiraling. I was completely driven by the desire for blood. Hunt, prey, kill. That was all I knew."
Emily furrowed her brows once Stefan finished talking as she thought someone should of realized that people were dropping like flies since it was the nineteenth century. "Were you compelling people to not notice you?" The human girl wondered as it had to be hard for an emotionless vampire to cover their messes when they don't have a care in the world.
"Hmm," Stefan mumbled as he shook his head before he uttered, "no quite." The Salvatore vampire softly ran his fingers across the human girl thigh as he explained how he was never caught, "there was a war going on. The thing about wartime, endless, anonymous blood supply," before Stefan was swiftly pulled into his memories.
WOODS 1864
In the middle of the small town of Mystic Falls was the thick woods that held the most terrifying parts of the Civil War. However, though, it was an absolute paradise for any hungry vampire that was looking for a snack or two as there was bleeding soldiers settled in all of the nursing tents with all different kinds of injuries from the fierce war.
The emotionless Stefan Salvatore looked like any other person around the woods; someone that was helping the ill men that was fighting for them. However, in reality, the hungry vampire was currently drinking the last of the soldier's frightened blood as the brave man's soul slowly left his body.
Once the soldier was on the floor; dry of blood, the hungry vampire swiftly looked up from his crouched position for his next victim. Stefan then immediately noticed a woman across the way with a dark hood feeding soup to an injured man. The Salvatore vampire watched the woman for a moment but when he noticed that she was heading towards the woods, Stefan realized that this woman was definitely his next meal.
The Salvatore vampire kept his head down that was still vamped out with blood dripping from every crevice of his face while he also stayed at least seven steps away from the woman so she wouldn't notice him following her. However, though, when Stefan realized the woman wasn't walking anymore, he quickly vamp sped behind a thick tree. The Salvatore vampire then sped around the woman to frighten her when she began to glance around before he couldn't control his blood lust any longer as he swiftly jumped through the air to attack her.
There was just one thing that Stefan didn't think of. He didn't think that this innocent and helping woman could in fact be a vampire. And that was exactly what happened as the woman swiftly grabbed ahold of Stefan's neck before he could land on her. She then slammed the young vampire down onto the hard ground with her own vamped out face.
The blonde vampire's face slowly turned back to her human form once she realized it wasn't a soldier that was trying to take advantage of her. No, it was just another vampire. The woman then looked at the young supernatural being in annoyance before she snarled humorously at the vampire who thought she was human, "what kind of an idiot are you?"
GILBERT CABIN
"Alexia Branson," the Salvatore vampire mumbled out the name of the person that had caught him trying to feed off of her - who he didn't even realize was a vampire during the Civil War. Stefan then glanced over at the human girl and noticed her confused expression before he added to help her understand who he was talking about, "well, that's what she was known by back then."
Emily's green eyes instantly widened as she began to piece everything together. "Y-You mean Lexi?" The brunette girl questioned the Salvatore vampire. Once Emily saw Stefan silently nod his head, she couldn't help but let a small comment of humor escape her mouth as she continued to ask Stefan with a small smirk shining on her lips, "you mean my best friend? Your replacement?"
The Salvatore vampire shook his head at the human girl with a soft chuckle. It automatically made Stefan think back to his birthday at the Grill when two of his favorite people in the world instantly connected with each other. It was one of Stefan's favorite memories when he had just watched Lexi and Emily talk like best friends. Well... until later that night when everything went horribly wrong.
Stefan swiftly cleared his throat when he began to think about that dreadful moment of losing his closest friend. The Salvatore vampire then gave Emily a small smile once he felt calm before he began to explain how he met Lexi, "she heard Mystic Falls was a good place for vampires, but she had no idea that they'd all been massacred." Stefan squeezed the human girl's hand as he was slowly pulled into another memory while he uttered, "she ended up needing a place to crash, so I brought her home with me."
SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE 1864
It was around five in the morning when Stefan Salvatore had made his way through the thick woods of all of the injured soldiers and the healing volunteers, doctors, and nurses before he finally walked through the front door of his deceased father's estate with the cautious Alexia Branson following closely behind.
"I'd say it isn't necessary to take me in," Alexia began as she stepped over the threshold of the large boarding house. The blonde vampire then gave the younger supernatural being a pointed look as she deadpanned, "but you did try to eat me," before she mumbled as she knew it wasn't safe for her to be outside, "and well, with dawn coming, beggars can't be choosers."
However, though, when Alexia slowly walked into the entrance way of the living room, she immediately had a different answer after what she saw. The Branson vampire looked around the large opened space and noticed at least four dead humans strolled across the room with dry blood gathered down their necks and dresses. Alexia shook her head as she looked at all of the carnage before she mumbled, "or should they be?"
"I, um," the Salvatore vampire hurriedly began to mumble as he rubbed his bloody fingers through his sticky and messy brown hair once he realized what the blonde was looking at; the dead bodies that scattered the living room. "Uh, I meant to dispose of those," Stefan finally explained awkwardly as he knew there was no way for him to lie when the evidence was laid out in front of them.
"My God," Alexia mumbled as she took a closer look at the dead bodies and noticed that there was no self control or compassion by the vampire that had done this - which was the vampire to her left. The blonde supernatural being turned her gaze up to the vampire beside her as she uttered with realization, "you're a ripper."
Stefan looked down at the short blonde vampire that he had barely met in confusion as he didn't understand what she was talking about. Was that something that Katherine never told him about, Stefan thought. "What is that?" The Salvatore vampire voiced his misunderstanding of the term as he knew he was never going to be able to guess what it is.
"There are good parts of being a vampire and there are bad parts," Alexia explained to the obviously new vampire. The blonde turned her eyes back onto the scene of destruction of all of the dead bodies in the Salvatore estate and mumbled, "you're the bad parts." Alexia then let out a sigh as she knew what she needed to do. She couldn't help but be a sucker for the lost souls, so she looked back up at the emotionless vampire as she uttered confidently, "well... we're going to have to change that."
GILBERT CABIN
The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but let out a shaky breath after she heard the story of how Stefan and Lexi officially met. It just made Emily miss the vampire, that she had barely known for one day, even more. Lexi was just so different from the people the human girl had experienced. Emily had known the blonde vampire was a good one but she didn't know that she was the type to help an emotionless vampire, like Stefan, just out of the goodness of her heart.
Emily swiftly glanced over to the Salvatore vampire when she felt Stefan's grip tighten against her hand before she saw that he wasn't staring at anything in particular. "Hey," the human girl softy whispered as she used her free hand to push back Stefan's brown hair. Once Emily saw her favorite pair of green eyes with a tint of sadness looking at her, the human girl gently asked, "you doing okay?"
Stefan silently nodded his head as he looked down at the concerned Gilbert girl. "Yeah," the Salvatore vampire mumbled as he released Emily's hand and began to trail his point finger up and down her warm arm. "It's just talking about her brings up things that I'd rather forget," Stefan explained in another small mumble.
"I know," Emily uttered as she squeezed Stefan's other arm that wasn't moving up her limb with her unoccupied hand as she knew exactly what Stefan was talking about. It was beginning to play in her mind as well; the night that the oldest Salvatore killed Lexi just so the council would get off his back. Emily hated that night. It was the night Emily had made a promise to Lexi about them all going to a Bon Jovi concert. It was the night that she had made a new best friend. But sadly, that was all taken away.
The human girl quickly shook her feelings away as she knew the Salvatore vampire was feeling the pain so much more than her. She only knew Lexi for less than a day while Stefan knew her just about his whole vampire life. So instead of staying silent and lost in her thoughts, Emily grabbed ahold of Stefan's hands and slowly pulled his body over hers.
"Just relax," the human girl whispered to the confused vampire. Emily then slid her body further up onto the couch so Stefan's head was lying on her chest before she slowly began to rub the vampire's back to offer him some much needed comfort. Even though Stefan didn't openly ask to be coddled, Emily knew he needed it after talking about his deceased best friend.
"Thank you," the Salvatore vampire whispered after a moment of calm and tranquility silence had settled between them while he had just listened to the human girl's steady heart beat. Stefan then lifted his head up from Emily's chest and stared into her green eyes and uttered softly, "I love you," before he brought his lips down to Emily's for a short but sweet kiss.
Emily gave the Salvatore vampire a small smile before she stated, "it's my pleasure." The human girl then leaned her head onto the arm of the couch before she wrapped her arms around Stefan's back and tangled her legs with the vampire's. "I love you too," Emily whispered after a few minutes had passed by with them embracing each other before her green eyes slowly fell closed as sleep took ahold of Emily with the love of her life in her arms.
