We'll Go Down In History

Chapter 53

 A few seconds of silence pass by. That silence is broken by Rebekah, who lets out a loud huff of disapproval. "Nik, that's not how the game is supposed to work!" she complains.

Slowly, Stefan turns towards my mom. His eyes turn into black vampire slits as he does so.

I stay where I am, refusing to move so that I can better protect my mom. To my surprise, however, my mom pushes me out of the way.

My first thought is that she's making me move, so that I won't be put in harm's way. But when I glance at her a second time, I can't help but notice the strange gleam of lust in her eyes.

But of course. Love can make you blind. Love can make you want crazy things. My mom is willing to put her life on the line, just for the sake of being near Stefan again.

Before, back in 1642, I watched by and let the same thing happen to Hope. I did nothing as her love for her father grew so much to the point of no return.

Not this time, though. This time, I'm going to put an end to all this lovey dovey madness before it even begins.

"Corporis Impetus," Hope whispers in a low voice from behind me. Her voice is so quiet that her words could be brushed off as nonsense mumblings by an ordinary vampire. But as a witch who has been trained to recognize spells, I hear what she says.

A petrification jinx.

I suddenly find that I can't move any of my limbs. I'm frozen in my own body- God, I'm going to kill her!

"Can't have you ruining all the fun, sweetheart," Hope breathes into my ear.

She's trying to get my mother killed.

I try to siphon the jinx off, but I know that this will take time. Time that my mom doesn't have.

I watch, unmoving and helpless, as Klaus picks my mom up by her hair. Wincing from the pain, my mom gives Klaus one last look of defiance, before turning to Stefan.

Stefan approaches her slowly, as if he is confused by her existence altogether. But perhaps I am imagining this. Because when Stefan pauses to blink, all the small traces of emotions I could see in the back of his eyes have disappeared.

"Feed on her, Stefan. We don't have all night," Klaus says impatiently, his hold on my mom's hair as strong as ever.

Stefan bares his fangs, and that's when the confident and defiant expression my mom has had on all night finally breaks. A choked sob of fear escapes her lips, and she begins to fight against Klaus's grip.

"Wait," Klaus tells Stefan, a frown deepening on his face.

"Well, that isn't something you see every day," Klaus says, turning my mom around so that she's facing him. "You're afraid, as you should be. But not of me... Of him," he says to her, pointing his finger at Stefan. "Do you not know who I am? Why do you fear Stefan Salvatore more than you fear me?"

Rebekah scoffs, muttering something about 'men and their egos'. Ignoring her, Klaus continues to stare deeply into my mom's eyes.

"Answer me. Truthfully," he compels her.

"I don't fear you because I know who you are. You may be a monster, but I know what you're capable of, what lengths you're willing to go to. But it's the complete opposite for him," my mom says, staring at Stefan with a half sad, half scared look in her eyes. "I don't know what kind of man he is. I have no way of knowing what he's going to do next, and that frightens me. The fact that I have no measure of the lines he will cross scares me," she says.

Unpredictability. Stefan's ripper nature has always been unpredictable, and that terrifies my mom more than any of Klaus's threats and physical attacks do.