Stefan Salvatore was tired. He was tired of all of the feeding from humans. He was tired of being pushed and ordered by Klaus. He was tired of getting no answers to his questions about the reason why Klaus brought him to find werewolves to turn. He was tired of constantly traveling to a new town every other day. Stefan Salvatore was just tired of it all.
It didn't help that Stefan knew his hunger was getting worse and worse everyday that Klaus made him feed right from the veins of the humans in each of the towns. The Salvatore vampire could feel that monster building under his skin just begging to break out and let loose. Stefan had been trying his hardest to keep that feel at bay but it was getting more difficult every day that passed.
The only thing that has been stopping Stefan from letting that emotionless and hungry monster come out was the thought about what was waiting for him at home.
Home, the Salvatore vampire silently thought as he released a heavy and miserable sigh. Stefan wanted to go home more than anything in this world. Stefan wanted to go home to his girlfriend and hold her close. He wanted to go home to his brother and argue over meaningless crap. Stefan never thought he would miss that old boarding house more than he did right now so far from home.
"Keep up, Stefan!" The vampire-werewolf hybrid shouted through the forest of Middlesboro, Kentucky which immediately knocked Stefan out of his thoughts. The Salvatore vampire quickly looked ahead at Klaus before Stefan realized that he had stopped walking and he was now forty yards behind the hybrid.
The Salvatore vampire mentally cursed himself for not paying attention when he knew he should always keep his guard up around Klaus. The hybrid was someone he couldn't trust and Stefan didn't want to anger Klaus, so the Salvatore vampire quickly picked up his speed to shorten the distance between them.
Stefan walked stiffly behind the vampire-werewolf hybrid for a few minutes before the Salvatore vampire finally relaxed when he realized that Klaus wasn't paying attention to him and wasn't planning on to berate him anymore. The Salvatore vampire didn't let his full guard down like last time but just enough that he could think without worrying that Klaus would snap at him as they treaded through the woods to find another pack of werewolves.
This felt like an endless cycle of hell for the Salvatore vampire. They were constantly walking through the woods, mountains, and caves searching for werewolves for Klaus' cause as the hybrid liked to call it. Stefan felt like it was all pointless, though, since every single werewolf has died in a few short hours after Klaus would try to turn them.
The Salvatore vampire figured the reason why the werewolves kept dying had something to do with the fact that Emily was currently alive back in Mystic Falls. Stefan swore he would protect that secret with his life from the hybrid, though. The Salvatore vampire would rather die than ever let Klaus find out that Emily is still alive and hurt his girl.
Stefan released heavy sigh as he continued to follow the vampire-werewolf hybrid through the wooded area in Kentucky. It felt like they had been walking for hours. If Stefan was a human, he was pretty sure he would have passed out by now. Stefan was honestly growing bored, so he started counting the flowers on the ground to pass the time.
The Salvatore vampire had just counted his twelfth flower in forty minutes before Stefan suddenly heard a soft whisper of his name. Stefan glanced around the dark woods with his brows pulled together in confusion. However, when he didn't see anyone around them (it's not like anyone would know who he was, anyway, in this unfamiliar town), Stefan glanced ahead at Klaus and saw that it seemed like the hybrid didn't say or hear it either.
Stefan shook his head as he mentally told himself that he was just imagining and hearing things because he was so bored. The Salvatore vampire continued to follow after Klaus through the Kentucky woods for about thirty seconds more before Stefan heard that same whisper again as it murmured, "Stefan, baby, I hope you can hear me."
Stefan immediately recognized the voice this time around. It belonged to the one person who was keeping him sane at the moment. It belonged to the one person who owned his heart. It belonged to the love of his life, Emily Gilbert.
A soft smile instantly pulled onto the Salvatore vampire's face at the gentle sound of Emily's voice that he had missed so much. However, Stefan quickly remembered where he was and who he was with when he heard Klaus kick a branch out of his way and Stefan heard it snap in half against a tree trunk.
Stefan didn't want the hybrid to get suspicious, so the Salvatore vampire hurriedly got rid of his smile and tilted his head to the ground as Stefan soon grew confused as to how he just heard his girlfriend's voice in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky. There was no way that Emily could be in the woods, so Stefan didn't understand how he just heard Emily's voice.
I must have imagined it again, the Salvatore vampire told himself as a crestfallen expression quickly took over his face. Stefan silently shook his head in disappointment. He knew it was too good to be true. Stefan knew it was for the best that Emily wasn't here, though, but he just missed her so much. He would do anything just to be able to see or hear his girl right now.
The Salvatore vampire's mood got even worse as he continued to follow Klaus through the woods after he realized that Emily's voice was just a figment of his imagination. Stefan was constantly worrying about Emily and missing her almost every second of the day. Stefan craved to have a lazy day with Emily in his arms, so it pained Stefan to have that reminder that she wasn't actually here with him.
Stefan heavily slumped his shoulders and dragged his black boots across the wooded area with a deep frown imbedded on his face. Stefan's whole body language displayed his emotions but Stefan didn't care right now when he felt miserable and disheartened that he couldn't hold his girlfriend and take care of her after all the trauma that the hybrid in front of him had brought onto their lives.
The Salvatore vampire stomped on a beautiful white aster before Stefan suddenly stopped moving when he heard Emily's voice again as he heard her nervously utter, "I really hope you are getting this."
Stefan hurriedly glanced around him once more as he tried to figure out how in the hell he was hearing Emily's voice when Klaus wasn't even reacting to it. The Salvatore vampire stared holes into the back of Klaus for any signs that the vampire-werewolf hybrid did hear the Gilbert girl's voice.
"Glaring at me isn't going to get us there any faster, Stefan," the vampire-werewolf hybrid called out to the Salvatore vampire with a hint of amusement in his voice when he felt like Stefan was staring hard at him from behind. Klaus glanced down to the map app on his phone before he muttered, "we're only about ten minutes away now."
"Okay," the Salvatore vampire quietly responded to Klaus before he moved his green eyes back to the ground as he quickly realized that Emily's voice hadn't been out loud but in his head. Stefan didn't really know how it was happening but he wasn't going to question it. Instead, the Salvatore vampire slowed down his walking pace as he hoped and prayed to hear Emily's soft voice again.
Stefan almost immediately got his wish when he heard Emily's soft voice murmur through his mind, "I love you. I need you to know that. I love you and I'll always wait for you." The Salvatore vampire quickly looked up to the nighttime sky when he felt tears swell up in his green eyes from Emily's comforting words. Stefan knew he was constantly fighting the monster inside of him, so it felt good to know that Emily hadn't gave up on him.
"I know... I know it might be difficult right now but I need you to take care of yourself and stay strong, baby," Emily's soft voice echoed through the Salvatore vampire's mind. Stefan felt his hands tremor as the vampire was overcome with so much emotion because someone was actually believing in him when he's at his lowest right now.
"Don't let Klaus get to your head," the Gilbert girl told her boyfriend as Emily's voice entered Stefan's mind once more. "You can fight this. I believe in you," the Salvatore vampire heard his girlfriend's strong words echo through his mind. Stefan immediately looked ahead of him with a new feeling of determination. The fact that Emily was rooting for him and believing in him, Stefan wanted to make Emily proud by being strong for her.
There was a short pause in Emily's words and Stefan could tell that his girlfriend was hesitating from the way he could hear her shaky breathing. The Salvatore vampire grew worried for a second before he relaxed when he heard Emily's voice murmured, "just... Just focus on yourself, okay?"
Stefan furrowed his brows at his girlfriend's words. Stefan was immediately overcome with worry once more. Did something happen? Is Emily hurt? Did the vial of magic not work? Was there side effects to the sacrifice?
However, the Salvatore vampire's worrying instantly went away at Emily's next words as she told him, "I'm doing okay, so don't worry about me." Stefan felt his body slowly relax as his girlfriend added, "Damon and Bonnie are helping me out a lot." Stefan was relieved that Emily was being taken care of while he wasn't around. Stefan knew Damon cared about Emily like a little sister, so he knew his girlfriend was in safe hands.
"I'm more worried about you," the Gilbert girl's voice echoed through Stefan's head once more, "I need you to fight it. Fight whatever Klaus is making you do." The Salvatore vampire quietly sighed to himself. Stefan wished it was that easy. Stefan couldn't exactly escape the hybrid when Klaus is so much more older and stronger than him.
However, Stefan knew he could internally fight the monster inside of him. Stefan couldn't do much for his girlfriend right now but Stefan swore he would fight his inner demon for her. Stefan knew he didn't have the best track record when it came to that inner demon inside of him but Stefan swore he wasn't going to let it come out no matter how much the monster begs for it.
"You are so, so strong, baby. You got this," the Gilbert girl's soft but confident voice uttered through Stefan's head. There was a brief pause for a minute or so that Stefan thought the voice of his girlfriend was finished. Thankfully, Emily continued once more as she quietly whispered that Stefan almost didn't hear it if he wasn't paying close attention, "I love you so much. Please come home soon."
A sad smile slightly creeped onto the Salvatore vampire's face as he listened to the end of his girlfriend's message. Stefan craved for more of it --- more of Emily, more of her voice. However, Stefan knew he couldn't be greedy about it when the Gilbert girl was supposed to be dead right now.
Stefan knew the most important thing for him right now, though, was to fight. The Salvatore vampire already had been fighting that monster inside of him everyday he spent with Klaus but Stefan felt even more determined to fight it after actually hearing Emily's voice and knowing that she was doing okay. Stefan would rather be there with his girlfriend but he felt better knowing that Damon was taking care of Emily when he couldn't.
The Salvatore vampire was, obviously, still worried for his girlfriend but now it didn't take up all of his thoughts after knowing that Emily was safe in Mystic Falls. Stefan could focus more on fighting and surviving this journey with the vampire-werewolf hybrid. Stefan honestly didn't know when Klaus would stop trying to turn werewolves all around the world. That was the scary part because Stefan wasn't sure how long he could hold the monster inside of him at bay.
Stefan wasn't going to give up, though. Stefan was going to fight and fight no matter what happens. The Salvatore vampire didn't want to let down his girl when Emily was putting so much trust into him to come back to her. Stefan swore to himself as he and Klaus slowly approached the cave of werewolves that he was going to come back to Emily as the same man she has always loved. No one was going to take that away from him.
***
Thank you to mrs. morgan 35 on Fanfiction.net for this idea!
I hope I'll start updating regularly now
xoxo