Steroline: Even Now

Discovery Through the Eyes of Another

Stefan's POV~

Black. That is all I can see. Then a blurry light, it feels warm, a feeling I'm pretty sure I haven't felt for a while. I decide not to open my eyes just yet, wanting to lay in that feeling for a while more. I'm trying to remember how I got here, but I can't seem to figure it out. Then I remember hellfire, Katherine, pushing Damon out of hellfire's range.

'Is he okay? Is he alive? How am I alive?' These questions spin around in my head until I decide not to dwell on them, opening my eyes, squinting because of the brightness of wherever I am. Attempting to pull myself into a sitting position, I use all of the strength I have to push myself up, groaning as I struggle to sit up.

Suddenly, there are two people helping me up, I can't make out who they are yet, only seeing two blurred blobs. When my eyes finish adjusting to the newfound brightness, I realise I'm looking at my brother. "Damon," I exclaim hoarsely, noticing from my voice that I have been gone for a while. 

He looks at me, beginning to shed tears. "Hello little brother," he declares softly, as if he spoke too loud I would shatter like a mirror. He pulls me into a humungous hug, and I grab onto him as tight as I possibly can, neither of us letting go. At least not until Elena shoves him out of the way exclaiming, "It's my turn now!"

She holds onto me as if she was a koala holding onto its tree. "Hi Elena," I remark, my voice still hoarse. "Welcome back Stefan," she replies, pulling back from our brief but meaningful hug. She sits on the ground in front of me while Damon sits next to me on the couch. "Here's some water," Elena says sweetly, passing me the cup of water. I drink all of it, and then she passes me a blood bag and blurts out that they weren't sure if I was a vampire or not. I look at the blood feeling a hunger that once consumed me, grabbing it as fast as I can and drinking every single drop. 

"I guess that answers at least one of our questions," Elena remarks turning to look at Damon. I feel my strength coming back to me and proceed to ask the most important questions that were running around in my now fully functioning brain. "Did I die? " "Yes, you used your stupid martyr move and pushed me out of hellfire's range. I am going to torture you until the day I die for doing that," Damon replies. I laugh at his slight outburst; he was always so dramatic.

"How long has it been since then?" That question was where everything went to shit. 

"Stefan, it has been seven and a half years since yours and Caroline's wedding night," exclaims Damon. 'What? Seven years. How? I think I remember seeing Lexi in peace, but that's it, then it's just black. Oh my god, Caroline.' "Where's Caroline? Why isn't she here, where is she?" I ask desperately. Damon an Elena look at each other then turn to look at me solemnly. "None of us have seen Caroline in over seven years." 

'What the fuck is happening? She can't have of just disappeared.' "What happened? When did she leave or go missing or whatever happened. When was she just gone?" I ask them pleadingly. "It all started two weeks after your death," begins Elena.

"Just after your death Caroline cried and cried, but then she realised that you wouldn't have wanted that for her. That you would've wanted her to live her life in your honour and be happy. She showed up to your funeral with all of us and she cried again, but she knew that either way you were always going to be with her. Then at the two weeks mark after your death we all noticed that she was acting weird. A day later we got attacked by one of your old enemies, since most of us were human, we only had Bonnie and Caroline to protect us at that point. They fought as best as they could, but throughout the whole fight Caroline was fighting weirdly, I guess that's the best way to explain it. While fighting she made sure that her opponent didn't get any hits on her and mainly stayed on the defensive while Bonnie was on the offensive. It may not seem out of place to the untrained eye, but-"

"Knowing her she would always fight on the offensive," I remark, finishing her sentence.

"Exactly," Elena replies, nodding. "They eventually beat the damn guy, but as soon as he had retreated Caroline fainted. She woke up 3 hours later murmuring that she felt sick, and vampires don't get sick. Anyway, the next day when Alaric went to check on her, her stuff from the Salvatore house, now school, was gone. She had left him a note that said that she and Bonnie had taken Lizzie and Josie on a trip and would be back soon. They did eventually come back a month later, but without Caroline. Up until the girls were fifteen Bonnie would stop by and take the girls on a trip about three or four times a year. When they were fifteen they would go on trips themselves frequently throughout the year and return ranging from a few days to a few weeks, once they were even gone for 5 months straight. We're pretty sure that they know why she left, but every time we tried to follow them, they'd either find us and approach us or see us and disappear from our sight. That's all we know."

"Yep, Blondie disappeared so we'll have to go to the Salvatore School to find out where she is," Damon proclaims dramatically. Ignoring Damon, I ask them what the 'Salvatore School' is. "Well little brother, the Salvatore School is a school for the supernatural that Vampire Barbie and Ric opened, they named it in honour of you. Along with the Stefan Salvatore Memorial Library, which is inside the school," answers Damon. "Why would we need to go there?" I ask, overwhelmed by the whole situation. "To talk to the only people who know where she may be."