Blood Enemies • The Vampire Diaries [2]

I. DREAMERS OFTEN LIE

It started like it always did ; moments after I laid my head onto my pillow, moments after I fell to sleep, he was in my dreams all over again. Where they had once been happy dreams, they were now replaced with nothing short of nightmares, although just the sight of him - real or not - comforted me ; warmed me in a way that nobody else ever could.

This certain dream started out with a beautiful blue darkness, blanketing the night sky, and there was a wet, stickiness to the air that night, a humidity that just wouldn't break. A home came into view - white, antique and southern looking , which explained the heat - somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

I walked up the porch steps, to the front door, and I stood there, waiting, but as I put out my arms, hands resting against the sides of the door, I realized those weren't my hands ; that wasn't me. On their hand was a familiar ring with an oval lapis lazuli stone, the Salvatore family crest glistening ; Stefan. It was Stefan.

I watched as out came a blonde girl - who reeked of patchouli oil, cheap booze, and hairspray - from a nearby hall way, screaming as she opened the door and saw who was waiting outside for her, but I still couldn't see him yet. It was like I was him, like I was seeing everything through his eyes.

And then, from out of the kitchen walked Klaus - whom I'd seen a few times in these nightmares - with another girl. He was always the one that brought the victims, always the one that forced Stefan to feed, before he walked away with his hands clean.

The second girl had dark, curly brown hair and when she met up with the blonde, it was almost like I was looking at two older versions of Bonnie and Caroline. The blonde was dressed in pink, and panic, while her friend seemed to be more relaxed, more mature in a way.

"I love it when they run!" Klaus mused, smirking as he followed her.

"He's in Toll." The girl finally told him, and I noticed she had a slight accent ; something Southern. "It's near the border. A bar called Southern Comfort. It's on Highway 41."

"Thank you my love." Klaus replied, moving to touch the blonde's hair. "Now, may my friend come in?"

"Yes." She said, giving into his compulsion, sobbing. She knew what was coming next.

I stepped in - or Stefan stepped in - and Klaus shoved the blonde to me, ordering, "kill this one quickly." He glanced back at the brunette. "And make that one suffer. I'll be in the car."

And just like in the few other dreams I'd had, he walked out and left Stefan with the crying, sobbing women, to kill them. "Please don't!" One cried out, and it was the first time in that dream that I saw his face, in the reflection of the mirror hanging on the wall across him.

I watched as he simply looked at her, without any response, without any sliver of emotion, as the veining beneath his eyes began to break through, his vampiric visage coming to. Suddenly, he snapped into her neck, a shriek that could be heard from miles away escaping the girl.

And just as suddenly, I awoke, sitting straight up in my bed, shaking out of fear, out of how intense my dream had been. I let out a sigh, running my hand through my hair, as everything hit me all at once.

Stefan was really gone.

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I stepped out of my bathroom, tying my hair up in a bun to get it off my shoulders, as I padded across my room to grab my phone, ringing non-stop from on top of my desk. I sighed, once I picked it up, finding that it was Caroline, already knowing what she was calling about. I'd tried to avoid the subject since June had rolled around, what felt like months ago. That entire spring - into summer - had just dragged on, every month somehow feeling like way more than thirty-some days.