𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐘 | 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 [𝟭]

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

Stefan glared toward the two girls. "Well, maybe you should listen this time."

"Or maybe we should do this." Klara grabbed hold of his head and slammed it into the car window that was behind him. The impact caused him to fall unconscious at their feet, while the two exchanged smirks. "I am so glad to see you."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Klara and Lexi hauled Stefan's unconscious body to the city jail where they tied him to a chair based in the center of one of the cells. It was the perfect place for Lexi to work on getting Stefan's humanity back without being interrupted by unwanted visitors. Klara had called Elena the moment the two had restrained Stefan and she wasted no time hurrying to meet him.

Once Elena arrived, it was time to begin. Lexi walked in the cell first, followed by Klara and then Elena. "Klaus really did a number on him, huh?"

Elena nodded. "He compelled him to turn off his humanity."

"Okay, so we're just going to have to convince him to turn it back on." Lexi turned her eyes to both girls who stood beside her. "I have to warn you both, it's not gonna be pretty." 

"I'm staying." Klara breathed out instantly. She wanted to stay by Stefan's side throughout all of it. After all, what sort of a friend would she be if she wasn't here for him when he turned his emotions back on.

Lexi nodded. She stepped forward and forcefully kicked Stefan's chair in an attempt to wake him. "Wake up, sleepyhead!" She yelled just as he slowly lifted his head up. Stefan's eyes met Lexi's. "How you feeling?"

Stefan's eyes dropped down to his wrists—they were bound to the chair, as well as his feet. He began thrashing at the restraints before a sinister chuckle left his lips. "What is this? Let me out of here!"

"Sh. Inside voices, please." The oldest vampire raised her hand up to silence Stefan. "I'm trying to get inside your head."

In that moment, Stefan felt panicked. He turned his eyes to Elena and Klara who stood a little behind Lexi. "Elena, Klara, get her out of here, please."

"No chance. We're getting you back, Stefan—the real you." Klara crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. She knew that he was going to beg for his freedom, but she had to resist it. She had to resist him.

"First step: drying him out. Starve away the bloodlust. Strip away the temptation." 

"This isn't going to work, Lexi." Stefan chuckled up toward the blonde.

With her eyes fixed on the Salvatore chained up in front of her, Lexi spoke toward Klara and Elena. "You heard the not pretty part?"

Elena's face hardened with determination as she nodded. "We heard you."

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked Lexi, but he soon began to gasp uncontrollably. His eyes dropped down to his hand that began to desiccate. "What are you doing, Lexi?!"

"Doing what I do best, sweetness. I'm saving your life." 

Stefan's screams of agony were hard to listen to. Both Elena and Klara winced every time they heard him cry out in pain while Lexi made him think he was drying out. Sweat began to build on his face as he stared at the girls. "I'm starving. I'm starving. Let me out! Let me out. Please, let me out."

"What's happening?" Elena gasped out, though her eyes barely moved away from him.

"He's hallucinating. That's three months without any blood." Lexi explained for the benefit of the two girls. She had gotten inside Stefan's head in an attempt to starve him because they didn't have much time. "Nine months."

Stefan screamed viciously toward Lexi. "Let me out!"

"Two years." Klara began to feel her heart pound in her chest. "Five."

"Did I ever tell you how glad I am that you're dead?" The Salvatore spat toward Lexi, his teeth were clenched together while he spoke between grunts.

Lexi feigned happiness as she tilted her head. "Oh. I missed you, too, friend."

The doppelganger began shifting on her feet beside Klara as she raised her hands up to her ears to block out the sound of Stefan's cries. "I—I can't do this..." She eventually ran out of the cell, leaving Lexi and Klara alone with Stefan.

"Klara... Klara..." Stefan's weak voice called out for the blonde. She took a shaky breath as her eyes met his. Klara could see that he was weak and broken. She felt guilty. "I'm hurting. Please, help me."

"Don't listen." Lexi's voice rose louder than Stefan's. "Shut him out."

"I'm so sorry for trying to make you feed on that girl. I do care about you, I really do." Stefan rambled on toward the girl, and Klara swore that she could see a hint of the old Stefan, her best friend, within his eyes. "I'll change, I'll help you, just like we did before."

"It's a lie. He'll say anything right now."

"If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done it. I just—I don't believe you." The blonde took a deep breath and shook her head toward Stefan, but his eyes instantly grew darker and the glimmer of hope was lost.

"You know, what? I don't want your help, anyway. I wish I'd never met you. Every single moment that I've spent with you has been a complete and total waste!" Stefan viciously growled toward Klara. The blonde knew that wasn't how he truly felt, it was how the Ripper felt. The Ripper cared about nobody but blood.

"You see that right there, Klara? That's the Ripper talking." Lexi saw the look of sadness in the girl's eyes. "Once he's weak enough, you have to cause him pain. Make him feel things. Anger, rage, anything. You have to make him see past the blood." Lexi grabbed hold of a stake and stabbed it into his arm, which caused him to scream in pain. "Think of it as a regime. Day in and day out. Like running the treadmill. Like making coffee. Until he's ready to be saved."

Lexi lunged toward him to stake him again but halted. "I will rip you apart, Lexi!" The Ripper yelled at the blonde just before the stake made contact with his flesh.

"You can't, I'm already dead!" Lexi smirked and plunged the stake straight into his abdomen. The scream of her best friend caused Klara to wince, too. As if she were hurting just as much.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Lexi didn't have much time left before Bonnie sent all of the ghosts back to the Other Side. The two girls left Elena to speak with Stefan, while they wandered back up into the moonlit street of downtown Mystic Falls. 

"You'll get him back, you know?" Lexi spoke out with a sure nod. She knew that Klara was worried about him, and she knew that what Stefan said hurt her. "And, he doesn't mean anything he's saying to you right now. You have gotta remember that."

Klara nodded. "It's just hard." 

"Believe me, when he comes out from the other side, he's going to need you just as much as you need him." Lexi grabbed hold of Klara's hands and held them tightly within her own. "I see you, Klara."

"What?" The blonde furrowed her eyebrows toward Lexi. "What're you—"

"You don't think that I haven't watched over you two?" The woman chuckled lightly. "Come on, Klara, there's not much to do on the Other Side. I've seen you both. I know you care about him... and I know that he cares about you, too."

"We're just friends, Lexi." 

"Just friends don't look at each other the way you do." As the words left Lexi's lips, she disappeared into thin air. Klara exhaled. She knew that with Lexi gone, that must've meant that Bonnie had sent all the ghosts back to where they belonged.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───