CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
___________________
(hadiya's pov)
AGAINST MY VIOLENT and persistent manor, me and Stefan are now going back to Mystic Falls instead of killing Klaus. He is right, though. Elena is a new vampire and is still figuring things out. There is still some unresolved tension between me and Stefan from the way we left things in 1864. I have no right to act on those feelings. He's with Elena.
Stefan decided to take me to the Mystic Grill. For whatever reason, I have no idea. As we're sitting at the bar, his phone rings.
"Hey, you just missed the mandatory school assembly." Caroline says through the phone.
"Who died? And did I kill them?" I ask.
Stefan shakes his head. "Tyler's mother and surprisingly, no. Sorry, Caroline we're a bit busy with day drinking. My brother slept with Elena. It kinda puts a damper on things."
It takes everything in me to not go and beat Elena's ass. Instead, I shove another shot down my throat at the newfound information.
"First of all, you weren't supposed to know that, and second of all, Tyler is already spiraling, and he gets top priority." Caroline vouches for her boyfriend.
Stefan sighs. "His mother just died. What do you expect?"
"I'm his girlfriend. I expect him to talk to me. Instead, he's all angry, and it doesn't help that everyone keeps referring to his mother's death as an accident, which is just a really polite way of saying she was drunk."
"You think Klaus killed her?" Stefan inquires. I roll my eyes at the sound of his name.
"Hmm, I don't think she drowned in her martini glass. Just, get it together. I can't do it alone." Caroline hangs up the phone.
"Just another reason for me to kill him." I say in a sing-song tone.
"You're not helping." He replies. It's just a few moments later when his phone rings again. I hate new age technology.
Rebekah's voice sounds from the device. "Guess who? I'm back, dagger-free, and I'm holding Elena hostage at the high school. Just thought you should know."
"Who the hell was dumb enough to pull that dagger out of you?" Stefan asks.
I avoid my eyes from his. I totally did not use the excuse of apologizing to a friend to go pull the dagger out of Rebekah. She's done nothing wrong and didn't deserve to desiccate in the Salvatore's basement.
"I'll be asking the questions today. See you soon." She hangs up the phone. Stefan downs what's left of his drink and calls Caroline.
"I'm only ready to talk to you if you're ready to rejoin civilization." The blonde vampire says.
"How would you like to drive the white oak stake through Rebekah's heart?" Stefan questions. I laugh. I don't interrupt him though. I would love to see him attempt to stake an original.
"If it means that you're not drinking your way through the Mystic Grill, sure."
Stefan hangs up the phone. "Let's go."
"Yes, sir." I salute him. He doesn't appreciate the attitude, dragging me by my arm.
—
STEFAN ADVISES THAT WE split up in order to target Rebekah. With having no intent of harming the original, I just walk around the high school aimlessly.
I enter a room to find Rebekah, Stefan, Elena, and Caroline sitting at a table together.
"Ah, Hadiya. You're more than welcome to join us." Rebekah says. I give her a nod, sitting down at the table. "Class is in session. You've all been compelled, except for my lovely friend Hadiya. Answer my questions honestly, no disobedience, no one leaves. April, my sweet, take notes. This is how you get answers in this town. Let's start with a little quiz. In the year 1114, my brother learnt, thanks to yours truly, about a brotherhood of vampire hunters with tattoos that grew with each kill. These tattoos revealed what, Elena?"
"A map." Elena answers against her will.
"Which led to...? Caroline?"
Caroline sighs. "A cure for vampirism."
My interest is immediately piqued. Stefan has yet to reveal a cure to me.
"Perfect, so we're all caught up. Stefan Salvatore, the last time we saw each other, you had a vampire hunter, but in order to decode the map, you needed the location of the hunter's sword, which you got out of me using some very dirty tricks. Assuming you found the sword, you also found the cure, and yet, you're all still vampires, which means something went wrong."
Stefan interrupts. "You're wasting your time. We don't know anything."
"So, you just gave up? I thought you would do anything to save Elena? Even if it meant taking the cure yourself, so you could grow old and die with her?"
I bite my lip, keeping me from saying anything. It does hurt a little, hearing that Stefan would want to spend the rest of his life with Elena.
Elena looks at Stefan with a shocked look on her face.
"Why do you look so surprised?" No one answers. "I'm missing something. What is it?"
"They broke up, okay?" Caroline replies. This takes me aback. The last time I checked, they were very much together. Apparently not.
"Broke up? Wait, I'm confused. I thought Elena was your epic love, Stefan?" Rebekah inquires. "I asked you what happened. You have to tell me."
"She slept with Damon." Stefan answers. I can tell by the look on his face how much that pained him to say.
Elena looks at Stefan, surprised, and then she looks at Caroline who looks remorseful.
"So, vampire Elena is a trollop who likes bad boys, which explains why Stefan reeks of alcohol. But what it doesn't explain is why sweet, loving, innocent Elena could be so heartless towards Stefan." Rebekah teases on. "How could she hurt you like that? Answer, please."
"She didn't know it at the time, but she was sired to Damon." Stefan replies. I put my chin on my palm, soaking in all of the information.
Rebekah sits on a chair between Stefan and Elena. "A sire bond. That's fascinating. And what do you think about that, Elena?"
Elena faces the original. "I think you're sad and bored and in desperate need of a hobby."
Rebekah compels Elena. "You're hiding something. Fess up."
"I didn't sleep with Damon because of the sire bond. I slept with Damon because I'm in love with him." Elena says with no regret.
Stefan looks up and at Elena. He seems visibly hurt by what she said. Elena looks shocked at what she said. I glare daggers into the doppelgängers head, my finger anxiously tapping on the table.
"What does any of this have to do with the stupid cure?" Caroline shouts.
"You're right. We got off the point. Stefan, how do I find the cure? Unless, you'd rather talk about Damon and Elena all day."
Stefan answers immediately. "There's a professor. He knows where the cure is."
After a few more minutes of a torturing game of truth or dare, Rebekah decides to compel Tyler to turn. In result, he almost kills us but we're able to make him turn back into his human form.
Me and Stefan return to the Salvatore boarding house, immediately pouring ourselves a drink.
We sit on the couch in silence, allowing my presence to be his source of comfort.
I pat my hand against his thigh. "We're going to be okay. As long as you let me kill Klaus."
This makes him laugh, in return making me laugh. I love his laugh. I don't know how Elena could ever hurt this boy.
cutesy little chapter to get everyone caught up
~c