Chapter Fifty-Six: Stefanie Salvatore

Present Day

Mystic Falls, VA

Stef felt a wave of contentment wrap warmly around her.

Cristian was right: this feeling was much better. She didn't have a care in the world.

Such a shame that the mood was being ruined by endless crying.

Most of the crying came from Zara. It was wailing actually... ceaseless, high-pitched, piercing wailing... especially after checking Adam for a heartbeat and finding none. Now she was draped over his body pathetically like her presence had any chance of bringing him back to life, and Stef's eardrums were suffering for it.

Zara held onto Adam's lifeless hand, pressing her lips to it, sobbing repeatedly, "No, please, you can't be gone, habibi. We're engaged, you're supposed to be my husband."

Stef rolled her eyes. Vomit-inducing suffering. Perhaps she could convince Zara to turn off her humanity, just as the death of Adam had switched hers off. They both needed it. Zara was a good friend to have around, but if she had to tolerate the noise of her sobbing over some dead guy for the rest of her life, that friendship was not going to last very long.

Her father was muttering something beside her. She tried to tune it out, but he was insistent. Finally, she slowly turned her eyes in his direction, meeting him with a bored stare.

"Sweetheart, don't look," he repeated. "Keep your eyes on me. We're going to get out of this."

Stef watched him glance over her cheeks in concern, unsure why. Then she remembered she'd been crying. Crying over what? Some old friends had come back into her life for a few days and she'd already been bawling her eyes out over one of them? Thank god that's over. What a waste of energy that was. "I know I'm getting out of this, Dad, but don't be too sure about you," she shot back to his surprise. She turned towards Cristian, emitting a beckoning whistle. "Hey, hotshot, how about cutting me loose?"

Cristian pitched her a dubious look. She was smiling but it didn't mean she had switched sides. He was pretty sure she wasn't on any side but her own right now.

Stef was about to attempt a second appeal, when she saw Raid take hold of Zara's wrists. The girl was now snarling at Cristian like a vicious predator, and he was holding her back. Fat lot of good his strength was going to be, the spoilsport. He was barely able to construct a fluid sentence, the shock of losing his cousin almost sending him into hyperventilation mode. Good grief, what had she seen in him? At least Phoenix she could respect; he was making the effort between the blood vessels bursting in his brain to crawl towards his friend to grieve for him. She had never given him enough credit for being a fighter.

None of them were as much of a fighter as Zara though. The girl finally erupted, all fangs and fury, growling like a beast, breaking free of Raid, and pouncing upon Cristian in a flash... only to get flung across the room by Lorraine. It was ten years of vampirism against five hundred: Zara didn't stand a chance. Stef knew Cristian couldn't cast another aneurysm spell without dropping the one he had on Gabe and Phoenix first, and Gabe was too equally matched in strength to Lorraine for that. She had no choice but to enjoy the entertainment as Lorraine and Zara grappled on behalf of their respective men. This was starting to resemble a trashy reality show.

Suddenly, Raid was in the mix, getting to his feet, storming towards Cristian. What on earth was he thinking, the powerless fool? He didn't even get to raise a fist before Cristian propelled him backwards with his magic, sending him skidding along the floor until he was at Stef's feet.

Cocking her head at Cristian, Stef taunted, "Must be so irritating, only being able to manage short bursts of magic while juggling two spells at the same time. How about dropping the one you have over me?" But she didn't have his attention. She lost it to Zara breaking off a sharp shard of wood from a crate and hurling it in Lorraine's direction, narrowly missing both her and Cristian behind her.

"I thought you were a witch, Raid? Kick his ass!" Damon encouraged him from above.

It seemed like all their secrets were now out in the open. "Lost my powers. Long story," Raid explained, getting to his feet. His tone was militant and resentful; he wanted nothing more than to defeat Cristian. He would defeat him, he decided. He just didn't know how. But if Adam wasn't leaving here alive, neither was he. "What got you involved in this?"

Damon gave a facial shrug. "Had nothing better to do except die for the sake of my daughter."

Sliding his hand around Stef's limbs, Raid attempted to pull her free. He avoided looking her in the eyes. He didn't want to see someone he didn't recognize.

"Get your fucking hands off of me, you creep!" she spat.

"She's lost her humanity," Raid explained to Damon. "She doesn't know what she's saying."

"I actually taught her to say that from a young age," Damon admitted sheepishly. "It kind of backfired in the doctor's office a few times."

As Raid tugged on Stef's forearms, she screeched, "I said, LET... ME...GO!"

Suddenly she broke away from the wall and Raid toppled backwards, with Stef landing on top of him. The fall knocked the wind out of him, the surprise probably more so. She was free. How? Was their magic returning? He barely had time to consider the answers as Stef pushed against his chest, sat upright on his legs, and slapped him hard across the face.

"Congratulations," she sneered. "You finally earned that slap you always wanted." She got to her feet, stepping away from him, flexing her limbs, enjoying her new freedom.

"Raid, get her out of here!" Damon demanded.

Rolling onto his hands to push himself up, he saw Cristian walking towards him, his arm raised. "Stef! Run!" Raid shouted. He knew the demand was pointless – knew she'd ignore it – but he kept repeating it as Cristian's powers dragged him backwards along the floor, flung him upright, and pinned him to the wall where Stef had just been.

"Ooo, a trade, I like it," Stef laughed. She held up her hand to Cristian for a high five, but he just stared at her palm in distaste, like she'd lost her marbles. Stef lowered her hand and shrugged. "You're no fun."

Cristian turned and faced Raid, who was struggling to break free. It seemed he still held hope that it was something other than Cristian's powers that had released Stef. How wrong he was. Raid had been touching what didn't belong to him. She wasn't his to touch anymore – not now Stef's humanity was off. Cristian's magic was indeed running low and, since Raid couldn't keep his hands to himself, he had no choice but to swap them. He glared into Raid's face angrily. "When Stef tells you to take your hands off her, you fucking listen. She no longer loves you. Get that through your head."

"She will when she gets her humanity back," Raid thundered. "Unlike you, I don't need to compel Stef to make her love me."

"No, you just needed a prophecy to do that for you," Cristian retaliated. "This, right now, is how she really feels about you? Isn't it, Stef?"

Having no interest in their petty feud, Stef turned away, grunting, "Oh, I don't give two shits about either of you."

She watched the brawl between Zara and Lorraine continuing. Broken crates and shattered bottles littered the edges of the room, casualties of the fight – at least her father would likely think so. After losing her footing briefly, Zara was now steadying herself, ready to take the next lunge, when she stopped in surprise, noticing that Stef was free. It was the distraction an exhausted Lorraine longed for, and she whipped the talisman segment from her pocket, threw it to the ground, and placed her heel over it threateningly, the stone pressing perilously into the concrete.

"That's Gabe's talisman," Stef warned Zara. "So, you lose... unless you want to end his life after he saved yours all those years ago."

Zara remained still, taking deep panting breaths. Her eyes were still raw from crying. No doubt her throat was raw too. Being a tornado of rage wouldn't bring Adam back, and she wouldn't risk losing Gabe. Her heart had been broken enough.

Stef followed Zara's eyes over to Gabe, where he was struggling on the ground, a protest unable to leave his lips before turning into another guttural sound of pain. It looked like he was willing to die if only to make the agony stop. He seemed to be bearing the worst of it compared to Phoenix, and Stef wondered if it was due to his age or Phoenix's lack of brain activity.

She was getting sick of this: the pain, the fighting, the yelling. Her father was now shouting at her to escape. Fan-fucking-tastic, another noise she had to put up with! As soon as he was dead and she was human again, she was going to burn everything in that damn basement of his. For someone who claimed to want all things supernatural kept in his past, he sure didn't act like it. He stored the weapons, stayed friends with vampires and witches, he'd even apparently had her compelled. She wondered who had carried it out? Gabe or Caroline? They were the only two realistic options. He expected her to grow up and lead a normal life, but her life had never been normal. Without him, maybe it would be.

She turned and grabbed Cristian by the collar of his shirt, coming up on her toes as she brought his head down to hers. "Take out the witch stone now. I'm done with this shit."

"Stefanie, you don't want to do this," her father advised, casting his eyes over Raid. The boy had been prepared to die to save his daughter. He was still prepared to do it. He couldn't imagine anyone more worthy of her. "We have Bonnie, she can fix this –"

Stef pushed Cristian aside to focus on her father. "Fix me, you mean?" she snapped. "Fix me like you fixed my memories?"

"You wanted it –"

"And how much did you want it?" she challenged. "Did you... try to talk me out of it? Did you... suggest therapy? Did you even tell my mother?"

Damon lowered his eyes. "No."

"No..." Stef repeated in a sigh. "Well, let's see if she deserves to find out once I get those memories back. After all, it's literally only a stone's throw away now!" She chuckled sourly as she made her way to Raid, stopping in front of him, her expression turning serious. "And what about you? Aren't you going to beg for your life?"

For the first time since her humanity was switched off, he raised his eyes to hers. It would be easier for him if he faced this. Her brown eyes were cold and determined, but they held some amusement. He couldn't understand why. "Do you want to be human again?" he asked her.

Her response was instinctual. "I do."

"Then do what you have to do," he said wearily. What did he have to live for now anyway? She nodded in satisfaction with his answer, but as she turned away, he added, "Just don't let Cristian compel you."

Her posture tightened as she spun back to him, her eyes narrowed. "You see, that's exactly why I don't love you anymore, Raid," she scolded. "Because, after everything you've learned about me, you still don't trust me." She purposely spat out the final two words as she lifted her chin to his face, her features hard but her eyes alight with a secret.

Raid's eyebrows twitched in confusion. He studied her. Her humanity was definitely off, but she knew something he didn't. What had he been told over and over again? To trust her. To work with her, not against her. She knows the tactics. She knows the players. She knows what she's doing. Maybe she didn't care about whether he lived or died right now, but what she wanted was in his interests too.

She wanted revenge against Cristian. And that small spark of amusement in her eyes? That was her knowing exactly how to get it.

His eyes suddenly danced along with hers, but he kept the rest of his features vacant. "You don't love me?"

She grinned. He was finally in the game. "Not one little bit."

"Then take out the fucking stone, Stef."

She turned her back on Raid, sweeping her arms open invitingly to Cristian, who was already prepared with the talisman and knife in his hand. "You heard him. Go for it."

Despite knowing her humanity was off, her eagerness still made Cristian feel uneasy. He glanced over towards Zara. She was under control: Lorraine still had her heel pressed against Gabe's section of the talisman. He swept his eyes around the rest of the room. Raid and Damon were still under his power, as were Gabe and Phoenix. No traps. No obstructions. Had he really done this? Was he really about to get what he wanted?

He slammed the knife underneath the stone with a satisfied grin. Yanked it firmly, flicking out the amethyst, propelling it upwards as his smile spread... then it fell downwards, just like his smile.

Fear overtook his eyes. "Stef, what did you do?"

All of a sudden, relief poured through Gabe and Phoenix as the pain of the aneurysm spell subsided and disappeared altogether. They collapsed to the ground, drained of energy. Then Damon jerked free from his restraint against the wall... followed by Raid.

Raid... who clearly wasn't feeling an invisible blade hacking away through his magic and towards his heart like Cristian was.

"What did I do?" Stef answered. "I got revenge, Cristian. I mean, the old me did try to warn you." She mimicked a whiny, high-pitched tone. "Cristian, you don't know what you're doing! You don't want this!" She then switched back to her normal voice. "Blah, blah, blah! Old me actually wanted to save you, being the compassionate sap she was. But you didn't listen. And... this is the price you pay."

Cristian stared at her in a silent plea. He was losing his magic piece by piece. It was going to kill him afterwards. He still couldn't understand why this was happening.

"Oh, right!" Stef feigned her sudden realization. "You don't remember! Well, it took a huge hit to my magic, I have to say, but the worst part was when you tried to fight it using a spell. If I so much as breathed a word of it to anyone, the entire Coven would have instantly found out. They would have killed me... and you along with it. Because, believe me, your life isn't so valuable to your father that he would have kept me alive knowing what I'd actually done." Stef could tell from Cristian's tortured expression that his magic was almost completely destroyed... taking her own magic with it. She waited a few seconds longer. No point in the Coven finding out now.

Going... going... gone.

"If you haven't figured it out yet, Cristian," Stef continued, "Raid wasn't the first witch I fed on after the ritual. It was you. And I compelled you to forget it."

Then, in a flash, her lost memories came back to her.

As did Cristian's.