Chapter Twenty-Seven: Stefanie Salvatore
Present day
The Hanging Fields, NC
Cristian killed him.
He killed Lyle.
Stef's entire body froze. Suddenly she didn't feel so confident that they could all walk away from this alive. She didn't want anyone to die, not even Lyle, not even any of the Coven. But kill or be killed had now become her reality. She quickly took note of all the positions of her enemies. Because that's what they now were: her enemies. Not her ex-boyfriend. Not the father who always disapproved of her. Not the step-sister who always rivalled Stef for Cristian's affections. Not even the powerful step-mother who tried her best to maintain a middle ground between her and her family. She now had to be prepared to kill them all if necessary. She never wanted this. This wasn't in her nature.
But it didn't take long for her shock to turn into rage.
Cristian studied her. "Something has certainly shifted in you," he observed with intrigue. Then he switched to a more casual tone. "So... I think I'll go kill your friends now."
He moved forward and Stef instantly blocked him, her eyes burning into him.
"Well, well, well," he smirked, stepping back. "You still have your humanity. I guess my little gamble paid off. Question remains, are you still a witch?"
This was it! This was how they were going to walk away from this. Cristian was almost certain that Lyle was not the witch, but all she had to do was not use her powers and maybe she could convince him otherwise.
Cristian lashed a whip of power towards her, which surrounded her like a lasso, pulling taut against her skin and yanking her to the ground. She hit the dirt, refusing to fight back even as the power unravelled from her.
Cristian paced around her, his magic putting pressure on her body, forcing her to remain prone on the ground. "Come on, Stefanie, even as a vampire you're stronger than this."
He was right. She could still resist him without using her magic. Placing both palms on the ground, she pushed against it, straining her muscles against his magic. Almost to her knees, she managed to place one foot flat on the floor, the weight above feeling like it was crushing her. But as she brought the other leg forward, suddenly the pressure left her off balance and she was flung backwards onto the dirt, her back hitting the ground.
Cristian stopped at her feet, looking down at her from above. "I refuse to believe Lyle was the witch, my little ruin. Are you really going to force me to take another gamble?"
Stef didn't answer, unsure what he meant by this.
"Ava! A stake, my dear," he shouted towards his step-sister.
Ava dropped a duffel bag she was holding, unzipped it, and pulled out a wooden stake. She walked over to Cristian, a bruise still prominent against her honey-coloured skin on the right side of her face from where Stef had kicked her. As she handed the stake over to Cristian, she looked down at Stef, her lips twitching upwards in an evil smirk before walking back to the group.
"Hand the rest of those stakes out and keep them pointed over there." Cristian gestured in the direction of Gabe and Zara who had taken a few steps closer, ready to get involved. "Use your magic to fire them in that direction if they move again, I don't care which one of them you hit. Aim for the Vaziris if you must, I'm reaching my last nerve now."
Gabe and Zara stepped back again, flanking Raid and Adam protectively.
The stake in his hand, Cristian came down over Stef's body, his knees between her legs, his power closer now, keeping her pinned to the ground with no escape unless she fought back with her magic. Her face scrunching up from the strain of her hopeless struggle against him, her eyes fixed on the stake nervously.
Cristian noticed the direction of her eyes. "I know what you're thinking," he teased, wiggling the twelve-inch stake in his hand. "Is it as big as mine?" He lowered the stake, pressing the blunt end firmly between her legs. "You've felt me hard against your clothes before, so you tell me."
Stef squirmed in disgust. "A cocktail stick would feel bigger than you."
He clenched his teeth in annoyance, removing the stake and placing the sharp end under her chin instead. "I bet you've become a promiscuous little whore since becoming a vampire, haven't you, Stefanie?"
She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of denying it. "Breaking records," she lied.
He dug the tip into her chin until it drew blood, fury etching sharply across his face. "I would have enjoyed making your first time so very painful," he growled, kneeling upright, the stake held high above her. "But I guess this will have to do instead."
As he thrust the stake downwards, suddenly a force captured his arm mid-air, inches from her skin. As Cristian struggled against it, a second invisible blow catapulted the stake from his hand, causing it to fly off behind him, the sight of it lost as it fell somewhere in the distance.
Cristian grinned down at Stef. "So you do still have powers."
Stef snarled up at him. "Those weren't my powers." His hold on her released, she brought both her legs up and kicked him off of her, sending him skidding along the dirt before he smacked sideways into the ground. As she stood, she turned to see Raid had stepped forward from the others and was lowering his hands, having expelled his magic into Cristian. Gabe pulled him back behind him, understanding that Raid was now the prime target.
Still on the ground, Cristian started laughing. "Raid Vaziri." His laughter grew louder as he got to his feet. "That hot-headed rebel, you have no idea how happy that's made me." He swiped the dirt from his clothes as he stepped closer to Stef. "I did suspect him though... when I caught you feeding on him in the parking lot after our little squabble. For a while I couldn't understand it, I was so sure you already had your witch powers. In the car I felt you trying to claw into my mind." He demonstrated a scratching motion in the air around his head. Then he stopped and wiggled a finger at her like she was a naughty child. "But then I remembered that vampires already have the power to do that, don't they? Enter the minds of others? 'Head dives' I believe the kids are calling it nowadays. Very clever." He sighed before suddenly straightening in realization, as though he had almost forgotten something. He checked his watch. "Well, I would love to keep this conversation going, my little ruin, but time is ticking on and I have a witch to kill, now that I can see him."
Time for Plan B. Stef held a finger up alongside her head. "Now you see him?" Swishing her finger back towards her group of friends, she instantly cloaked them all, turning them invisible. "Well, now you don't," she grinned. She pointed her finger at herself. "Sui protectionem a morte," she added, her eyebrows flicking up smugly at Cristian. "I believe you remember that spell. It was in the copies you made for me of your grimoires."
"A very powerful spell," he reluctantly agreed. "One that used to drain my own power very quickly, leaving me unable to perform other spells."
"Well, as you can see, I'm currently juggling two spells at once, so female multitasking wins again," Stef reasoned. "You're not going to get what you want, Cristian, so just hand over Flick."
"You're more powerful than me," Cristian concluded.
"That I am," Stef confirmed.
"But I'm betting you're now more vulnerable than me," he added, charging towards her and grabbing her by the arm.
Stef instinctively tried to yank from his grip in surprise. Then realized that was a huge mistake. Her arm remained trapped in his hand. She no longer had her vampire strength. The magic required to perform both spells was also draining her of her vampire powers.
A slow, sadistic smile spread across Cristian's face. "This is going to be extremely useful for me," he bragged. "Now get over there." He pushed her in the general direction of where her friends were standing, remaining cloaked.
"Don't touch me!" she snapped. "I know how to walk." She stopped around twenty feet away from the grassy knoll, as the rest of the Coven came forward, surrounding her. Dimitri was the furthest from her, allowing his son to continue taking the lead. Ava took position next to Cristian, shooting a sour look at Stef.
"What's up, Ava? You still sore about the old..." Stef held her hand out to the side, making a flicking motion in Ava's direction, representing the kick to her face. Ava was not amused. "Listen, this is all very intimidating – bravo – but you can't kill me and I'm not going to lift the cloaking spell, so you're wasting your time."
Cristian took out a pocket knife, flicking it open. "Do your friends realize how slowly you'll heal while your spell is protecting them?" He took hold of Stef's hand, slicing her across the palm, and then holding her hand outwards in demonstration.
Stef drew air sharply through her teeth, wincing at the pain. "Fuck, Cristian, you have a bigger blood fetish than I do."
The wound was not healing.
A low hum filled the air and then receded. This amused Cristian. "Oh, Raid, sorry, you can't use your powers while you're cloaked. I understand that's inconvenient for you, but you could always reveal yourself to me and we can deal with this man-to-man, witch-to-witch."
Even though they couldn't be heard by the Coven while cloaked, Gabe still uttered to Raid in a low tone, "Don't you fucking dare."
"I'm not letting him hurt her!" Raid protested.
"Do you trust her?" Gabe snapped.
"He's going to –"
"Do you trust her?" Gabe repeated.
Raid tensed. "Yes."
Gabe sighed, relieved. "Then don't... you... fucking... dare."
Finally, the wound on Stef's hand started to heal, but it was still painfully slow. "If that scars I'm going to give you a matching one," she complained to Cristian.
"Oh, Stefanie," Cristian lulled, endeared by her ignorance. "We haven't even started yet."
With that, he plunged the knife into Stefanie's stomach.
"No!" Raid screamed, the two vampires beside him holding him back with all their strength, ensuring he didn't move.
As Cristian withdrew the knife, blood poured down Stef's clothes and she clutched at the wound while she waited for it to heal. He thought she took the pain extremely well. He had expected her to collapse to the floor, but she was still standing firmly. In an odd way, he was quite proud of her. That kind of bravery would have done her well as part of the Coven.
"I've had worse menstrual cramps," she goaded tightly.
"You seem like you're used to being stabbed," Cristian noted.
"I try to fit it in after the gym," she explained dryly.
Cristian didn't know if he was disappointed or entertained by the fact that Raid had not yet made an appearance. It seemed he was willing to let Stef take these punishments. Then he had an idea for one that he thought might get a reaction.
As the bleeding began to stop, Stef suddenly started coughing. Her chest lurched uncomfortably until the coughing was replaced by the noise of her choking. Water began to pour from her mouth, and she finally fell to her knees, panicking, unable to breathe.
"Fuck him!" Phoenix screamed. "He knows she has a fear of drowning, fuck! Fuck him! We can't let him do this to her!"
"Come on, Cristian, you piece of shit, pull out the big guns," Gabe muttered.
As the flow of water stopped, Cristian pulled Stef to her feet by her hair. He finally had the fear from her that he needed. "Lift the spell off them now!" he screamed into her face, his grip tightening on her hair.
Stef reluctantly held up her palm, then raised a trembling index finger. As soon as she saw hope bloom across Cristian's face, she rotated her hand, switched fingers, and shot him the middle finger.
Cristian dropped Stef back down to the ground, where she gladly sat, exhausted. "Someone call Winifred, we need to invoke the power of the dead witches now to lift this spell. Get Winifred!"
A member of the Coven rushed to the car, trading places with Winifred to remain with Flick. Winifred made her way to the group, looking disgruntled. "Can't you do anything without my help, boy?" she snapped at Cristian.
"Invoke the power of the witches," he said slowly and calmly, "and lift the cloaking spell."
Winifred looked towards her husband, who nodded in approval. She sighed heavily and then began the chant, lowering herself to her knees to touch the ground that they died upon.
"This is your chance, Raid," Gabe said hurriedly. "You need to join her in the invocation. Lower yourself slowly down and repeat what she says. This is going to be a battle for their power."
"But I'm not strong enough," he pointed out.
"It doesn't matter how strong you are," Gabe reassured him. "A side will be picked. We just have to hope it's ours."
Listening carefully to Winifred's words, Raid nodded and very slowly lowered himself down to the ground, careful not to interrupt Stef's cloaking spell. With his hands finally on the floor, he repeated the same incantation. He repeated it multiple times, feeling nothing. This wasn't going to work. He knew he wasn't powerful enough. His only consolation was that Winifred also appeared to be struggling with the spell. He put a renewed firmness and passion into his voice. He was doing this to save Stef. He had to save her. He wouldn't lose her. Finally, while his voice repeated the words to the spell over and over out loud, all his mind was repeating was I love her, I love her, I love her...
Then Winifred stopped chanting. She stood solemnly, her hands crossed together and her head bowed. "I told you this was a bad idea," she warned Cristian.
He was confused. "What do you mean? Has it not worked?"
"Oh, it has worked," Winifred informed him ominously.
Suddenly Stef was on her feet in front of him, her pupils dilated, her skin pale, stern fury in her eyes unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was like she was possessed.
She whipped her hand out in front of her, generating a force that drove Cristian into the air and suspended him there. As witches around her attempted to disarm her with magic, she immediately nullified it, casting her other arm backwards, huge flames bursting from the earth, causing the Coven to fall back away from the heat.
Phoenix couldn't contain himself. "Fuck yeah!" he screamed, jumping into the air, not a single shit given about the cloaking spell any longer.
"I didn't feel anything," Raid said, confused at how the invocation had worked for him.
"You weren't taking the powers for yourself, Raid," Gabe explained, his eyes not leaving Stef. "You were giving them to her."
With Cristian still locked in mid-air, and the witches struggling to regain their subdued powers, the vampires attempted to charge upon Stef. Without even turning her head, she threw a palm out in their direction, lifted it to raise them into the air, then scooped her hand in a slicing motion, breaking all their necks simultaneously. Their bodies fell to the ground.
"Winifred, stop her!" Cristian screamed from above.
Winifred made one final attempt to channel energy from the witches of the Hanging Fields, her fingers twisting and tightening in front of her, like she was trying to grasp and reel in the wispy tendrils of their power.
But it was Stef who gave her what she needed.
Stef thrust both hands towards Winifred, causing Cristian to fall to the floor. All the power from the invocation flowed from Stef directly into Winifred, hitting her like a storm, sending her crumpling into the ground, balling up into the fetal position, the power terrifying her. Magic flowed within and around her like wind, ripping through her, devastating her. She screamed into the air piercingly.
Then everything stopped.
All was eerily calm.
Cristian remained on the floor as the Coven cautiously began to approach.
It was Winifred who spoke first. She realized the change that had occurred within her immediately. "She took away my powers," Winifred whispered, getting to her knees and looking down at her hands. Her face contorted in grief and anguish at the loss. She could have lost all her limbs, all her senses, her sanity, and it wouldn't have compared to this. Her head finally shot towards the Coven and she screamed, "She can remove our powers!"
That was all Dimitri needed to hear to decide that this was over. They were defeated. "Get to the cars! Remove the young girl, give her back! Everyone leave now!"
As the Coven ran from the field, Winifred shuffled to her feet, leaving with them. She had been cursed twice in her lifespan, both times trying to help others. She looked back at Cristian, who remained helplessly on the ground, Stef towering over him. She would not make the same mistake again. So, with that, Winifred decided to leave him to his fate.
Stef took a step closer to Cristian, her jaw twitched, still undecided what she was going to do with him.
"Please, Stef, I'm sorry," he begged her, his hand held outwards, urging her to stop.
Stef slowly raised a finger to him, capturing him in a magical grasp, then she thrust her finger towards the large oak tree on the field, sliding Cristian's body at top speed towards it, stones and twigs slicing into him as his back dragged along the ground. His feet, kicking at the dirt, did nothing to slow him. As soon as he reached his destination below a large tree branch that was the width of himself, Stef made a chopping motion with her hand, and the branch instantly snapped, falling in his direction.
Cristian gasped. He thought it was his last.
All the air was knocked out of his lungs with the impact. But then he turned his head to see the fallen branch beside him. Then he gasped again in relief.
Standing to his feet, he took a final look back at Stef.
"Next time," Stef warned. "I'll let it crush you."