It took the group that consisted of the vampire, the witch, the human doppelganger, and the werewolf another hour of driving along with another hour of Damon and Tyler arguing over Black Sabbath's best album before they finally reached Chicago.
Emily groaned in relief once she was released from the back seat of the Mustang and got the chance to move her cramped body after such a long road trip.
The Radkova witch stretched her arms above her head before she turned her neck a few times to get rid of any sort of tightness. Emily then bent her knees and shook out her legs to make sure she could actually walk without any aching or soreness.
Once Emily's body felt more relaxed and normal again, the Radkova witch finally looked around her surroundings. Everything seemed very plain, Emily realized. There was only dull-looking buildings all around them.
"Where are we?" Elena curiously inquired after she rounded the Mustang and moved to stand beside Damon, who quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and brought Elena into his chest.
"Welcome to Stefan's palace," the blue eyed vampire sarcastically exclaimed as Damon used his free hand to point towards the grey building in front of them.
Emily silently took a few steps forward until she was standing in front of the building's sign. It read 'Chicago's East-Side Complex' in thick black letters.
It definitely wasn't a place that the Radkova witch would ever imagine seeing Stefan living in. It was all very dull and boring and not very homey at all. It didn't help that the apartment building wasn't in the safest of areas in town, either.
"Stefan could live anywhere in Chicago," the Lockwood werewolf began as he moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Emily before he asked as he voiced the Radkova witch's own confusion, "why did you chose a dump like this?"
Damon released an amused chuckle as he led the group into the apartment building. "There used to be an all-girls high school around the corner," the Salvatore vampire recalled as the supernatural beings climbed the staircase to the second floor.
Damon looked over his shoulder towards the Radkova with a wide smirk before he uttered, "it shut down for attendance issues." The Salvatore vampire released a loud gasp once they stepped out on the hallway before he murmured, "I wonder how that happened."
Emily rolled her green eyes at the Salvatore vampire. "I know what I signed up for," the Radkova witch exclaimed as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared over at Damon. "I know old Stefan wasn't the avid animal eater that he is today," Emily muttered.
Damon turned around and took slow steps towards the eldest Gilbert girl. "It doesn't make your skin crawl that he has killed a lot of young girls? Someone's innocent daughter?" The Salvatore vampire taunted.
Emily didn't back down one bit like most people would against Damon. "If Lena can look past all of your murdering ways, I think I'm fine," the Radkova witch snarked.
The Salvatore vampire stared deeply into Emily's green eyes for a tense moment before Damon carelessly shrugged his shoulders. "Touché," Damon murmured with a grin before he turned around and continued to lead the group down the hallway.
"If you think Stefan's old stories are going to scare me, then you are sadly mistaken," Emily uttered in annoyance as she followed after the Salvatore vampire with Tyler glued to her side and Elena walking ahead of her.
Damon stopped walking once the group reached the correct door before he looked over to the Radkova witch with a heavy sigh. "I'm not trying to scare you," Damon promised before he informed the brunette girl, "I'm just preparing you for the shit show you are about to see."
Emily swiftly shook her head before she insisted, "I'm not backing down."
The Salvatore vampire carelessly shrugged his shoulders before he muttered, "I did warn you."
Damon turned back around to face the brown door before he tightly grasped the doorknob. The Salvatore vampire used his enhanced strength as he completely ripped the knob off of the door to break the lock.
"Here we are!" Damon exclaimed as he pushed open the door before he led the Gilbert twins and the Lockwood werewolf into his brother's apartment. "Welcome to Stefan's second personality home," the Salvatore vampire muttered.
The Radkova witch parted from the group as she slowly looked around Stefan's old apartment.
It wasn't a big space but it seemed like it had everything a single person would need during the twenties. A twin sized bed underneath the window in the bedroom that doubled as a living room with a small couch and a kitchenette across from the front door.
Emily quickly noticed how every single item in the apartment was covered in a layer of dust. "It doesn't look like he has been here in years," the Radkova witch commented.
"Stefan might have not but the stories are still here," the Salvatore vampire muttered as he headed into the kitchen. Damon walked past the refrigerator before he headed over to a wall shelf that was filled with cans of different vegetables and glass containers.
Damon ignored the contents of the shelf as he ran his right hand along the side of the white paneling. It took a few seconds before the Salvatore vampire found the small opening before he grabbed ahold of it.
The shelf slowly squeaked to life as Damon pulled the hidden door open until it was leaning against the refrigerator with a loud clank of the glasses bouncing around on the shelf.
"Say hello to the dark side of Stefan," the Salvatore vampire muttered as he walked into the small room. Damon stretched his left hand up and pulled on the cord above him before light quickly flooded the room.
Emily furrowed her brows in confusion as she slowly followed after her sister's boyfriend into the unknown room. It didn't seem to hold any secrets when the only thing Emily could see was a shelf filled with different brands of alcohol.
"It looks like we found Stefan's secret stash," the Radkova witch mumbled. Emily looked over at the blue eyed vampire with her right eyebrow raised in amusement. "I would think you would respect that," the Radkova witch joked.
Damon shot the Radkova witch a wide grin before he quickly lost it as he sarcastically muttered, "funny." The Salvatore vampire shook his head before he stated, "but that wasn't what I was talking about." Damon pointed his finger towards the wall beside the rows of alcohol. "Look at this," Damon instructed.
Emily slowly walked further into the secret room before she followed where the blue eyed vampire was pointing towards. The Radkova witch quickly notice the white wall that was covered in names.
Emily brought her hand up to the wall before she ran her fingers across each name as she read them out loud, "Giuseppe Salvatore. John Beach. Randy Smith. Danah Leach. Terrilyn Henson. Catherine Marid. Matthew Wagner. Michael Reddinton. Christian David. Dianne Wilson. Ashley Holiday."
The Lockwood werewolf placed his hand onto Emily's hip as he looked at the wall with her. "What do all of these names mean?" Tyler inquired in confusion.
The Radkova witch swallowed thickly as she continued to stare at the rows and rows of names. "It's his victims," Emily mumbled as she answered the werewolf's question.
Emily knew what the wall was as soon as she read Giuseppe Salvatore's name at the top of the list. The Radkova witch had heard stories about how Stefan and Damon's father despised vampires and how he had also tried to kill the brothers when Giuseppe thought Katherine had turned them.
It was only a given that their father had been Stefan's first kill as a vampire.
Elena's brown eyes quickly widened as she looked over to her boyfriend. "Is it really?" The human girl asked in surprise.
"Yup," Damon muttered as he tightly wrapped his arm around the Gilbert girl's shoulder and brought Elena into his chest. The Salvatore vampire looked over to Emily before he asked her, "are you scared yet?"
"I'm fine," the Radkova witch muttered as she defensively crossed her arms over her chest before she went back to staring at the long list of names on the wall.
While Emily refused to show it in front of Damon, she was quite shocked after finding out just how many people her boyfriend had killed. The Radkova witch, of course, knew Stefan was far from innocent. It was a given that Stefan would have to kill people as a vampire over the past hundred plus years.
Emily was just confused as to why Stefan would write down the names of his kills. Did he feel guilt after they happened or was it for a whole other reason?
Damon tsked as he slowly shook his head. "I don't know about you," the Salvatore vampire began before he taunted, "but I wouldn't want to be with someone who spent decades killing and maiming with abandonment."
Emily could have broken her neck by how fast she turned to glare at the Salvatore vampire. "Oh, yeah?" The Radkova witch taunted right back as she took slow steps towards her sister's boyfriend.
"Why don't you share with the class with what you spent the twenties doing," Emily suggested before she snarked, "I'm sure you weren't out there fighting for women's right to vote."
Damon wasn't even phased as he smirked at the Radkova witch. "I was out there being a killer, I won't lie," the Salvatore vampire admitted with a careless shrug of his shoulders.
"You wanna know the difference between my brother and I?" Damon asked. "I loved the thrill of it for a couple of minutes," the Salvatore vampire uttered as he continued before Emily could interrupt him, "while Stefan would go full on psycho ripper until the point he let every single kill consume him."
There was nothing Emily could say after that. She knew the argument was over. The Radkova witch realized Damon was right, no matter how much Emily hated admitting that.
Stefan was just a whole other person whenever he was in his ripper state. He was a machine only out for blood. Emily could only hope and pray that they got to Stefan before he got too bad to help.
"It's nice to know I can silence you like this with only a few words," Damon murmured with a wide smirk stretched across his face after a few minutes had passed of complete stillness throughout the Chicago apartment.
Emily rolled her green eyes before she forced herself to move away from the wall of victims. "Ass," the Radkova witch muttered as she shouldered past Damon and exited out of the secret room.
The human Petrova doppelganger released Damon's arm before she quickly followed after her twin sister. "Hey," Elena called out as she grabbed Emily's arm to stop her from walking anymore. "Are you okay?" The brunette girl worriedly asked once Emily turned around and faced her.
Emily looked up to the white ceiling as she released a heavy sigh. "It's not exactly fun to hear that my boyfriend is a mass murderer," the Radkova witch mumbled as she moved her head around until her forehead was leaning down onto Elena's shoulder.
While Emily wasn't visual shaken with tears and screams, it still felt wrong to hear that Stefan, her sweet and kind boyfriend, was this psycho who enjoyed killing people for his own thrill. It was just a difficult pill to swallow for the Gilbert girl.
Elena softly ran her palm across her twin sister's back. "Hey, we'll fix this," the human girl murmured as she tried to comfort Emily as best as she could during a time like this. Elena knew she definitely wouldn't be holding it together like her sister was if the roles were reversed.
"I hope so," the Radkova witch mumbled as she slowly wrapped her arms around Elena's waist and accepted her twin sister's sympathy.
The Gilbert twins embraced each other in the middle of Stefan's apartment in a moment of tranquility before the silence was broken up by the sound of Damon's voice and heavy footsteps.
"Lockwood, let's go," the Salvatore vampire ordered as he began heading towards the front door.
Elena quickly pulled herself out of the embrace with her sister as she looked over to her boyfriend in confusion. "Where are you going?" The Gilbert girl inquired.
Damon had his hand on the doorknob before he turned around to face the group. "Stefan's old stomping ground," the Salvatore vampire responded.
Damon's answer quickly gained the Radkova witch's attention. There was a huge possibility that Stefan could be there and Emily definitely wasn't going to miss out on that. This could be their only chance in locating Stefan in the large city.
"I'm coming with you guys," Emily announced as she quickly walked after the Salvatore vampire and the Lockwood werewolf to join them at the apartment door.
Damon almost immediately shook his head as he denied the Radkova witch's statement. "I don't think so," the Salvatore vampire exclaimed. Damon pointed his index and middle finger at the Gilbert twins as he ordered, "you two are to stay here."
"If this has to do with Stefan, then I'm coming," the Radkova witch argued. Emily refused to back down when it had to do with her boyfriend, especially when Damon was involved. Emily didn't trust the elder Salvatore to not lie to her again.
"It's just a searching mission," Damon told the Radkova witch as he held up his hands in innocence. "If I see him, I'll come right back for you guys," the Salvatore vampire vowed.
"I don't see why I have to stay here, then," Emily stubbornly mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"There is no point for us to all be out there," Damon countered the Radkova witch's argument. "It will be a bigger chance that Klaus will find out you both are still alive," the Salvatore vampire explained his reasoning.
"He's right, Emmie," the Lockwood werewolf murmured as he walked up to Emily and softly began stroking her lower arm. "The more you guys are out in the open, the more of the chance Klaus will figure out our plan," Tyler uttered as he added strength to Damon's argument.
"If you won't stay for yourself," Damon began before he pointed his head over to his girlfriend and continued, "then stay for Elena." The Salvatore vampire knew it was a low blow to go after Emily's weak point, her twin sister, but it was needed to keep Emily in the apartment. It was common knowledge to everyone that the Radkova witch would never jeopardize Elena's life and safety.
Emily released a loud groan as she threw her head back and looked up to the ceiling. The Radkova witch didn't want to admit it but she knew Damon and Tyler were right. It was dangerous for them all to be out there. For all they knew, Klaus could have compelled humans looking out for any new people coming into the city.
The Gilbert girl just hated playing the waiting game. Emily wished she could be out there on the front lines doing something, especially when Stefan was so close.
However, Emily knew she had other people to think about. While Emily usually would go running out that door to find her boyfriend, she also had to worry about her twin sister. The Radkova witch would rather wait impatiently here than put Elena in anymore dangerous than she already was in.
"Fine," Emily muttered once she moved her green eyes back to the Salvatore vampire with a deep pout glued to her lips.
Damon widely smirked as he stared across at the Radkova witch when he finally got her to agree with him. "Good girl," the Salvatore vampire cockily murmured.
Elena could feel the annoyance coming from her twin sister. It wasn't something they needed right now, for Damon and Emily to be at each other's throats, so Elena broke the cocky and annoying stare down as she walked in front of her boyfriend. "Be careful," the human girl told Damon as she wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck.
Damon smiled down at his girlfriend before he pecked her lips. "I will," the Salvatore vampire swore as he softly stroked Elena's hip. "I'll be back as soon as I can," Damon vowed before he leaned down and kissed Elena's lips once more.
"Hey," the Lockwood werewolf cooed as he squeezed Emily's lower arm to gain her attention. "Call me if you need anything, okay?" Tyler murmured as he went back to stroking the brunette girl's arm in a comforting motion.
Emily nodded her head in agreement as she shot her best friend a small smile. "Okay, I will," the Radkova witch promised.
Emily quickly sobered up as she ordered the Lockwood werewolf, "you better not do anything stupid out there and you have to keep your head on a swivel." The Radkova witch shook her head as she mumbled, "we don't know if Klaus will be close by."
Emily would feel so guilty if something happened to Tyler when he was out there. The Radkova witch wasn't sure if Klaus can sense a werewolf close by but she would hate if her best friend got wrapped into Klaus' hybrid mess because Tyler was trying to help her.
The Lockwood werewolf released an amused chuckle as he stared down at the brunette girl. "I won't do anything stupid without you," Tyler jokingly promised.
Emily playfully rolled her green eyes before she lightly slapped the Lockwood werewolf's chest. "I'm being serious," the Radkova witch mumbled with a pout.
However, either of the witch or the werewolf could say anything more, they were interrupted by the Salvatore vampire. "Lockwood, let's get a move on!" Damon shouted as he clapped his hands together.
Tyler completely ignored the vampire's command as he kept his brown eyes locked onto the girl in front of him. "I'll be careful," the Lockwood werewolf promised as he brought his right hand up to Emily's cheek. "I'll come back for you," Tyler vowed before he leaned down and placed a feather-like kiss onto the Radkova witch's forehead.
The Lockwood werewolf stared deeply into Emily's green eyes for a couple extra seconds as he soaked in her touch before Tyler swiftly turned around and quickly followed after Damon, who was already halfway down the hallway.
It didn't take very long after Damon and Tyler had left before the Radkova witch began pacing the small length of Stefan's apartment. Emily couldn't help it. She didn't like standing around and being helpless like this.
The Radkova witch felt like she had been doing that all summer long after being in the dark about Stefan's whereabouts, so this was the last thing in the world Emily wanted to be doing right now. Emily wanted to be out there doing something useful instead of hiding away.
The Radkova witch knew Stefan was getting worse every second he was stuck with the hybrid if his victims were anything to go by. Emily wished she could just whisk her boyfriend away from everything bad in this world and protect him and heal him.
Elena could tell her twin sister was worried for Stefan, so she didn't interrupt Emily's pacing. The human girl knew she would have felt the same way if it was Damon instead of Stefan. She knew this was just something Emily needed to process.
Instead, the human Petrova doppelganger curiously began looking around Stefan's apartment. There was really anything else to do while they waited for Damon and Tyler to return with news, so Elena figured she would see what Stefan had collected during his time in Chicago.
The apartment wasn't exactly big, so there wasn't really too many places for Elena to look through. The Gilbert girl quickly became bored after a good fifteen minutes of gazing at Stefan's collections of books and old knick-knacks.
Elena huffed out a sigh before she noticed Stefan's bed in the corner of the bedroom/living room. The Gilbert girl guessed the only thing she could do now was to rest until Damon and Tyler returned or until her sister needed her.
Elena removed her navy blue jacket before she went to toss it at the end of the twin sized bed. However, the Gilbert girl ended up missing Stefan's bed by a few inches before the piece of clothing slid down onto the ground.
Elena rolled her brown eyes before she squatted down to pick up her jacket. The Gilbert girl had barely grasped the navy blue clothing when she suddenly spotted a shoebox underneath the bed.
Elena curiously grabbed ahold of the shoebox before she brought it with her as she sat on top of the twin sized bed. The Gilbert girl pulled off the lid before Elena found a single leather book inside.
Elena couldn't help but to be inquisitive to what was inside, so she quietly unwrapped the string before she carefully opened the leather book.
It was another one of Stefan's diaries, the Gilbert girl quickly realized once she flipped past a blank page and to the first page of words. Elena briefly scanned through the writing before she found out that it was dated back to two years into the nineteen twenties.
Elena just knew this was something her twin sister had to see when it had to deal with Stefan's ripper days, The Gilbert girl's inner debate of showing this to Emily became even stronger when the human girl noticed Lexi's name quite a few times in Stefan's writing.
"Emmie, come here," the human Petrova doppelganger called out from her spot on the bed. "You should see this," Elena murmured.
The Radkova witch quickly stopped her pacing when she heard Elena's voice. Emily had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even know where Elena was at in the apartment. It took Emily a few seconds of looking around before she spotted Elena on the twin sized bed.
"What is it?" Emily inquired as she headed over to her twin sister's side.
"I know you said you didn't want to read Stefan's private thoughts but you should really look at this," the Gilbert girl stated as she held out the diary to Emily. "If we are ever to bring Stefan back to his old self, you need to really understand what happened last time he was like this," Elena reminded her twin sister.
Emily released a heavy sigh as she accepted the leather book from her twin sister's hand. The Radkova witch really did hate the idea of reading something Stefan wrote for himself and himself alone but then again, she knew Elena was right.
If something inside of that diary could help Emily bring her boyfriend out of this funk that Klaus has forced him in, then the diary could be very beneficial in the long run.
Elena gently place her palm on top of her twin sister's hand. "If you get uncomfortable, we can whatever you want," the Gilbert girl promised.
"But don't you think it would be wise to know everything we can before we walk into this?" Elena inquired before she added with a small and comforting smile, "better to be safe than sorry, right?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Emily mumbled as she gently ran her fingertips slowly across the warn leather. While Emily did despise the idea of invading her boyfriend's private stories, she did know it could also be the key to bringing Stefan out of his ripper stage.
"Here goes nothing," the Radkova witch uttered before she carefully opened Stefan's diary.
"April nineteen twenty-two," Emily began to read out loud as she took seat on the edge of the twin sized bed beside her twin sister. "Lexi found me last night," the Radkova witch murmured Stefan's words, "dragged me off the train tracks. Thinks she can make me care again."
Emily couldn't help but flinch at what she read. It was hard for Gilbert girl to imagine Stefan in this careless way. It was the complete opposite of the person who Emily has come to love. Stefan was one of the most caring person Emily had ever met, so it was difficult to see him in this light.
"Hey," Elena called out as she placed her hand on top of the diary. "Are you okay?" The human girl worriedly asked when Emily had become abnormally quiet after reading those few short sentences.
The Radkova witch roughly cleared her throat as she was forced out of her nightmarish thoughts. "Yeah. Fine," Emily mumbled before she picked the diary up from her lab before quickly flipped past a couple of pages until she reached a different year.
They couldn't all be so bad, right?
"June nineteen twenty-four," Emily continued to read about her boyfriend's journey two years into the future. "Lexi's driving me crazy. More animal blood, more misery," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she recalled Stefan's memories.
"Well, that's good," Elena commented as she bumped her shoulder into Emily's as she tried to console her twin sister. "At least he stopped drinking from humans," the Gilbert girl murmured.
"Yeah but after two whole years," Emily reminded her sister as a deep frown appeared on her face. "If Lexi, Stefan's own best friend, had to try that hard, how the hell am I supposed to do it?" The Radkova witch asked in defeat.
Emily, of course, would never give up on her boyfriend just like he never gave up on her during her emotionless state. However, the question was at the forefront of the Radkova witch's mind. How long would it take for her to get the old Stefan back?
"Hey," Elena cooed as she placed her hand on Emily's knee and gave it a light squeeze. "Lexi may have been his best friend but you are the person Stefan loves more than anything. Lexi may have known Stefan for decades but your connection is so much stronger," the human girl consoled her twin sister. "You just have to believe in yourself," Elena softly murmured.
The Radkova witch released a heavy sigh before she roughly ran her hand through her brunette hair as she took in Elena's words. Emily knew she was just being irrational. The stories of Stefan's past had her on edge. It was a lot to take in. Emily knew she just needed to stray strong and fight through it all.
Emily knew she had just needed to keep believing in herself and believing that she would be the one to bring her Stefan back.
"Yeah," Emily uttered as she looked over to her twin sister before she stated, "you're right."
Elena hated to her twin sister like this. The human girl wanted to show Emily that there was a sun on the other side of this dark cloud. Elena grabbed the diary from her sister's hands before she began flipping through the pages.
Elena flipped and flipped until she found something positive. "Here, look," the Gilbert girl uttered as she pointed to the page that was about fifty pages into the diary. "Nineteen thirty-five," Elena began to read off from the page, "cravings are there but it's easier. Lexi's on to her next project; getting me to laugh."
The Gilbert twins giggled together from the Salvatore vampire's statement. It was almost like they could hear Stefan's humor flying off of the page.
"See?" Elena exclaimed as she squeezed her twin sister's arm. "It's possible," the Gilbert girl told Emily with a wide grin, "you just have to push through all of the negative stuff to find the good parts."
"And you won't be alone in this," Elena reminded her twin sister before she vowed, "we will all be right there beside you to help bring Stefan back."
Emily looked over to her twin sister with a soft and relaxed smile. "Thank you," the Radkova witch simply murmured as she leaned her head onto Elena's shoulder while Elena wrapped her arms around Emily's waist.
It was all that needed to be said. Emily was happy to have her twin sister ready to jump in when she was feeling down and defeated. Elena's assurance gave the Radkova witch the strength to keep moving forward and to keep fighting.
Emily wouldn't lie, she did get overwhelmed after coming here to Stefan's apartment and seeing her boyfriend's list of victims. It was just a lot to absorb in such a short amount of time.
While the Radkova witch had briefly felt afraid and defeated, Emily knew she could do it. Emily knew she could bring Stefan back home to her. Emily just had to reminded herself to be patient and strong as she fights her way through Stefan's inner demons.
The Gilbert twins were embracing one another in a calm and tranquil silence before Emily suddenly stiffened when she heard voices coming right in front of the apartment door.
"What a charming little homestead," one of the voices exclaimed.
Emily went into protective mode as she focused only onto the person's tone. The Radkova witch immediately ticked Damon and Tyler off of her list when she noticed an accent. Emily's chest soon tightened when she realized who that voice belonged it.
Emily quickly turned to her twin sister as she placed her index finger to make sure Elena kept quiet. The Radkova witch tightly held onto Elena's wrist while the human girl held onto the diary before Emily silently pulled them up from the bed.
Emily looked back at the human girl to make sure Elena was standing firmly on the ground, so she didn't trip or fall before Emily quickly led them into the secret room in the kitchen.
The Radkova witch released Elena's hand once they were inside before Emily carefully pulled the shelf that doubled as a door closed behind them. Emily could only hope Klaus didn't know about the secret room.
Emily quickly walked back over to her twin sister before she led Elena to the very far part of the secret room. The Radkova witch pressed Elena into the wall before she mouthed, "don't move."
The Radkova witch waited for Elena to quickly nod her head before Emily placed her body protectively in front of Elena to block the human girl from being seen. Emily would gladly take the brunt of the attack if Klaus were to locate them. Emily would gladly protect Elena to her very last breath.
Meanwhile behind the Radkova witch, Elena was scared out of her mind as she tightly held onto the back of her twin sister's shirt. Elena was still having nightmares over the sound of Klaus' voice since she came back from the other side, so this definitely wasn't the ideal situation for the human girl.
The Gilbert twins flinched in unison when they suddenly heard the front door of the apartment being kicked open. The human and the witch held their breaths as they both hoped and prayed that Klaus wouldn't be able to find or hear them.
"Do you feel that?" The hybrid's voice loudly traveled throughout the Chicago apartment. "Is anybody here?" Klaus inquired with amusement oozing from his tone.
"It's been vacant for decades," the familiar voice of Stefan Salvatore boredly muttered before he commented, "people must break in all the time."
Emily felt like her heart was going to rip itself out of her chest from being this close to her boyfriend and hearing his voice. This is the first time in months that the Radkova witch had been in the same room as Stefan. The Gilbert girl wanted nothing more than to just run into Stefan's arms and never let go.
"Why'd you bring me here?" The Salvatore vampire absently asked his hybrid companion.
"Your friend, Liam Grant, the one who drank his wife's blood," Klaus began before he released a light chuckle. "I never could figure out why you wanted his name," the hybrid admitted.
The loud sound of Klaus' boots vibrated throughout the small apartment as he walked around before the hybrid continued to recall, "then you told me your little secret. It was all part of your special little ritual."
Elena had curiously looked over to the wall of names before her brown eyes widened when she found the name Klaus had just offered. The human girl tapped Emily onto the shoulder before she pointed to a spot on the wall.
Emily furrowed her brows in confusion as she stared at the list of names. The Radkova witch was puzzled as to what Elena was showing her until she found Liam Grant's name on the list.
Emily felt her body freeze as she stared at the nine letter name. The Radkova witch did not feel good at all right now. Emily just knew the original hybrid wanted to look or show Stefan the list of names for some reason.
There was nothing Emily could do. She and Elena couldn't run or Klaus would see them. She and Elena couldn't move to the other side of the room or Klaus would hear them. The only thing Emily could do was to pray to the Radkova coven to keep her and Elena safe from being discovered.
"To write it down," Stefan slowly murmured as if he was recalling an old memory.
"And to relive the kill," Klaus informed the Salvatore vampire, "over and over again."
Well, Emily got the answer she had wanted earlier. The Radkova witch had wondered what was the point of Stefan writing down the names of the humans he had killed. Emily kinda wished she never found out the truth. It was hard to accept that her boyfriend had been this killer, who enjoyed taking the lives of humans.
The original hybrid's footsteps continued to move around the Chicago apartment until he was standing directly in front of the shelf that would open the secret room, where the Gilberts twins were currently hiding out in.
The Radkova witch scooted back further against Elena's body to make sure the human girl was hidden in the dark corner. Emily wasn't sure if Klaus would even look on their side of the secret room. However, Emily refused to let the original hybrid see her sister and take Elena away from her again.
Klaus easily pulled onto the shelf before it opened to reveal the hidden room and the wall of names (or victims) to the person who wrote them. "Do you believe me now?" Klaus asked the younger vampire.
The Chicago apartment grew deadly still as Stefan took slow and cautious steps into the secret room. Stefan brought his hand up to the wall before he ran his palm across the first row of names that belonged to every single human he had killed.
The Salvatore vampire quietly moved further into the secret room as his green eyes went right to look at the multiple rows of names. However, Stefan quickly froze at what his gaze was drawn to. The Salvatore vampire was staring right at Emily before he noticed Elena behind her with her head tucked into Emily's shoulder.
Stefan honestly wanted to cry as he stared across the girl who meant the absolute world to him. It was the first time in months that Stefan was face to face with his girlfriend. It pained him so much that he couldn't do anything to ease the sadness in Emily's usual bright green eyes.
Stefan wished he could embrace his girlfriend and promise everything was going to be okay. In reality, though, Stefan knew he couldn't. Their lives were too just too messed up at this point. There was no fixing the shit show that the original hybrid had caused.
Emily could feel tears clouding her green eyes as she looked over at her boyfriend. Emily wanted nothing more than to grab Stefan and run away from all of their problems. However, the Radkova witch knew it just wasn't possible, especially when Klaus, who thought she and Elena were dead, was standing only a few feet away from them.
While the Salvatore vampire was teetering between his ripper state and his true self, Emily wasn't afraid that Stefan would out their location to Klaus. She could still see the love in the vampire's green eyes and that was all Emily needed to see to know her Stefan was still there.
No, Emily was more afraid that the original hybrid would hear her and Elena's heartbeats more than anything else. The Radkova witch could only hope that Klaus was too distracted to not notice the two pounding hearts in the apartment.
The Radkova witch knew she was risking everything right not but Emily couldn't stop herself as she stretched out her hand before she laid it softly onto Stefan's lower arm. Emily felt her heart swell with happiness and relief from finally feeling any sort of physical contact with her boyfriend.
Stefan knew he shouldn't but he just felt so drawn to Emily's touch that he took a step forward. Everything in Stefan's body was fighting with one another between turning around and walking away or embracing the love of his life.
The soft spot in Stefan's dead heart won out as he shakily brought his palm to the brunette girl's cheek. Stefan released a shaky breath as he gently stroked Emily's cheek while he stared deeply into her green eyes that he loved so much.
Emily felt her shoulders sag as she absorbed the vampire's touch. It almost felt like they were back at the Salvatore boarding house and they were comforting each other after a long day.
The Gilbert girl reached up and placed her palm on top of Stefan's hand that was on her cheek. "I love you," Emily slowly mouthed.
A deep pain entered Stefan's heart when he remembered where he was. This wasn't a soft moment between a loving couple. No, this was a couple hanging off the edge of the cliff into Hell with the devil watching.
Stefan had to force himself to drop his hand from the Gilbert girl's cheek and forced his body to take a step away from the love of his life. The Salvatore vampire absolutely refused to put Emily in anymore danger.
It pained the Salvatore vampire to do so, but he would rather Emily move on and live a happy life without him than for her to die (again) at the hands of Klaus.
Emily didn't have any time to react to her boyfriend's quick and detached movements when she suddenly heard the original hybrid's footsteps pick up again. The Radkova witch took a small step back to complete shield Elena's body once more before she focused her gaze back onto Stefan. "Please, help," Emily mouthed as she silently begged her boyfriend to not let Klaus find them here.
The Salvatore vampire gave Emily a single nod that she almost missed it. Stefan forcefully tore his green eyes off of the love of his life before he took a few steps to the left. Stefan looked for any sort of distraction before the Salvatore vampire quickly noticed the shelf of booze.
Stefan grabbed a dark blue bottle of alcohol before he loudly announced, "look what I found." The Salvatore vampire turned around and moved to the entrance of the secret room to block off the Gilbert twins from Klaus' gaze. "Nineteen eighteen," Stefan read off from the bottle, "single malt."
Emily's green eyes immediately fluttered closed in relief at the fact that Stefan didn't reveal her and Elena to the original hybrid. The Radkova witch remembered Damon telling her that Stefan was becoming emotionless the more he was in his ripper state. Emily was very pleased to know that their love was fighting through all of the pain that Stefan was experiencing.
Maybe Elena was right, maybe she would be the one to bring the real Stefan back.
The original hybrid hummed as he grabbed the alcoholic bottle from Stefan's hand. "My favorite," Klaus exclaimed with a wide grin before he told the younger vampire, "let's go and find someone to pair it with."
"Sounds good," Stefan murmured as he exited out of the secret room before he swiftly closed the shelf/door behind him. There wasn't much Stefan could do with the hybrid constantly watching his every move, so at least this time he could protect Emily unlike the last time Klaus came face to face with the Gilbert twins.
The Radkova witch kept her green gaze locked onto the secret door while she focused all of her senses on the movements of Klaus and Stefan moving around the Chicago apartment.
It took a few more minutes of hearing the hybrid and the vampire's footsteps before Emily immediately released a sigh of relief once she finally heard the distinct sound of the front door closing.
Emily turned around before she looked to Elena, who was anxiously standing behind her. "Stay," the Radkova witch mouthed to her twin sister.
Emily waited until the human girl nodded her head in agreement before the Radkova witch cautiously stepped away from Elena and slowly walked over to the door. Emily pressed her ear against the door before she counted to thirty in her head.
After Emily couldn't hear a single voice or footstep in those thirty seconds, the Radkova witch slowly pushed the door open. Emily walked on her tippy toes as she moved around the apartment. Emily checked every corner and under every piece of furniture until she was sure no one was still here.
The Radkova witch released another sigh of relief once she was a hundred percent sure that she and Elena were alone in the apartment. Emily's adrenaline had been pumping during that whole exchange. She was just glad that it was finally over. Emily didn't like how close Klaus had been to her twin sister.
"It's safe!" The Radkova witch called out to Elena after she slumped her body down onto Stefan's twin sized bed with a heavy sigh. Emily honestly felt so drained at the moment.
Elena didn't even think twice before she was rushing out of the secret room and into the living room area of the small apartment. The human girl felt safe and thankful when she only found Emily. However, Elena quickly grew worried for her twin sister when she saw how Emily's body was doubled over on the bed.
Elena quickly kneeled in front of her twin sister before she grasped both of Emily's hands in her own. "Hey, are you okay?" The Gilbert girl worriedly asked as she gently stroked the top of Emily's hands with her thumbs.
Emily pulled her right hand free before she carelessly waved it as to silently erase Elena's worries for her. "Call Damon," the Radkova witch instructed, "tell him they need to get back here right now. Tell him that Klaus and Stefan showed up."
Elena quickly nodded her head as she stood up straight instead of kneeling down before she pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket. "I will," the human girl promised as she gave Emily's hand a short squeeze before she focused down onto her cell phone.
Elena pulled up her boyfriend's contact information before she looked back to Emily with her brows deeply furrowed. "Are you sure you're okay, though?" Elena worriedly asked as she couldn't help but to be concerned for her twin sister. "I know that couldn't have been easy," the human girl mumbled.
Emily gave her twin sister a tiny smile. "I'm fine," the Radkova witch promised before she nodded her head to Elena's cell phone. "Call Damon," she ordered once more.
The Radkova witch was honestly glad that Elena finally listened to her this time as the human girl walked into the kitchen to call Damon. She didn't know how long she could have held in her emotions.
Emily felt tears cloud her green eyes as she released a shaky breath once she was all alone in the makeshift bedroom/living room. Emily's mind was in a whirlwind right now.
The fact that she saw Stefan for the first time in months had been a great surprise but also hell on Earth. Emily hated being inches away from her boyfriend but not being able to embrace him like she wanted or tell Stefan all the things she had wanted to say since the beginning of summer.
Emily had not been prepared at all to be in the same room as Stefan and Klaus. It was honestly just by chance that it even happened.
Emily's heart had been in pain when she had to witness her boyfriend walk away from her. It was a horrible feeling when Emily only just wanted to have Stefan back in her arms again. However, Emily knew it would have been a death wish if she had tried to keep Stefan here instead of leaving with the original hybrid.
Emily could only wish that she will get a second try in bringing the younger Salvatore back home. The Radkova witch knew she just needed to get Stefan alone without Klaus watching his every move.
The Gilbert girl just prayed that Damon's trip to Stefan's old stomping ground was successful if she was ever going to be able to get that chance to bring Stefan home to Mystic Falls.