Aurelia took a sip of water, smiling as she spoke with Nora. Matt wasn't too happy about her choice to invite two other Heretics, but she thought otherwise. "So, when are you due?"
"I think it was April 1st." She answered. "I hope these two aren't jokers like Fred and George were." She mumbled, making Nora look at her in confusion. "Right, you haven't read 'Harry Potter' yet." She said. "I have the books. You like reading, don't you?"
"Of course, yes." Nora answered. "Would you be fine with letting me borrow them?" Aurelia smiled, nodding.
An arm on her shoulder made her jump, before Nora looked behind her.
"Stefan, I didn't realize you were coming." She said, making the blonde let out a breath of relief.
"Stefan." She said, turning around to face her boyfriend. "Hey, you actually came."
"Hey, I need to talk to you." Aurelia nodded, before looking at Nora.
"I'll be off, and look for Bonnie." She assured. "I'll take that for you." She took the empty glass of water, and Aurelia smiled, before walking out of the dorm hall with Stefan.
"Yeah, what happened?" She asked. Stefan looked around, frantic and panicking.
"W-Why didn't you answer your phone?" He asked. Aurelia frowned, noticing the overwhelmed expression.
"Sorry, it shut because of low battery." She apologized. "Are you okay, Stefan?" She asked in concern, placing an arm on his shoulder.
"Has Damon been here?" He asked hurriedly. She shook her head.
"No, he hasn't." She replied. "I thought he was...with you."
"I don't know where he is." He said in panic. "I thought he was with me, and then he wasn't... and then—" Aurelia held his arms.
"Stefan, you're shaking." She remarked in more concern. "You need to calm down first. Keep a cool mind, alright?" He closed his eyes. "Take a deep breath." He obliged, and she took his hand, brushing her thumb over his knuckles. "Now, tell me what's happening."
"It's happening again, the hallucinations." He said, making her knit her eyebrows together. "Look, I was talking to Damon, and I thought he was there, but he left, and I don't know when."
!
"I need to go find Damon." Stefan said hurriedly as Aurelia closed the door of her dorm door. She turned to face him.
"No." She said. He looked at her in surprise. "We're going to focus on you first."
"How are you going to take care of me, Aurelia? My soul was literally trapped in a rock." He said in irritation.
"Yes, it was. From what I know, the stone puts you through tests, and you need to pass them in order to earn your freedom." She said. "So, what did you do to earn yours?"
"You pulled me out with the spell." He said, not wanting to disclose information. She rolled her eyes.
"Stefan, you need to tell me what exactly happened in that damn stone!" She exclaimed. "You were put through Hell, and you did something that you're not willing to talk about! I would respect your privacy in some cases, but not now. You're going to tell me what you did." She said, frustrated.
Once his eyes finally met hers, her own softened. "I can't—"
"Yes, you can." She said in a softer tone. "Stefan hiding will only make it worse. You can't do that. It'll only bring you pain and misery. We'll get through it if you address the problem at hand, okay?" He closed his eyes. "Stefan, please, just tell me. If you're afraid I'll hate you for it, then don't be. Nothing could make me hate you." She said, placing her hands on either side of his neck. "God, seeing you like this eats away at me. I want to help you." She muttered, looking up into his eyes.
She finally closed hers.
He wasn't going to say anything.
"I-I was living in a repeating loop of misery." He began, making her open her eyes. "It was horrible." She listened to him, guiding him to sit on her bed. "Every loop ended with Damon dragging me down into the quarry. The water was black and freezing. We were drowning together. Every single time I tried to pull him to the surface, he dragged me back down."
Stefan gripped onto his brother's hand at tightly as he possibly could, kicking through the water to pull him to the surface.
"Every time I tried to save him, I died, too. I finally realized that there was only one way to escape. If I wanted to survive, I had to go on without him. So, I let him go."
Damon's hand left his as the blue eyes he was familiar with grew darker and distanced. The man who they belonged to sunk further and further into the quarry.
He looked up, and began to swim upwards with all of his strength.
"That was what the last step was, before you pulled me out. I abandoned him. I let my brother drown so I could save myself."
"That's why you were hallucinating?" Aurelia asked. "Because of something you did in a fake reality?"
"The hellstone is trying to tell me something." He said. "I will never be happy until Damon is out of my life for good." Aurelia looked at him in shock at his words.
"Stefan... you can't possibly believe that." She said.
"Then what should I believe, 'Rel?" He asked, his voice shaking. "I can't just—" He choked on his words, tears welling up in his eyes. Aurelia's heart broke and fell to the bottom of her stomach, before she pulled him into a hug, letting him cry on her shoulder as she consoled him and occasionally pressed feather light kisses into his hair.
The two remained in that position for much longer than it seemed.
!
Aurelia changed out of her dress in something more comfortable as she quietly ate a sandwich and walked around her room, her eyes focused on her boyfriend.
Stefan had fallen asleep after a long time. It was from exhaustion, and everything else put together.
Aurelia smiled in satisfaction at the sight of his calm expression while he slept. She saw that exact face a long time ago, before the hellstone came into the picture.
She finally looked away from him to the open window that had cool air blowing from it. She sighed in content, watching the colors of the sky change since it was already dusk.
Her phone buzzed, and she looked at the message.
Valerie:
Hello, Caroline's gone out to buy something. I don't really have anywhere to go right about now and the moon won't be out for another half hour. Mind if I come to your dorm?
Aurelia licked her lips before quickly typing in an answer.
Me:
Yeah, of course. You know where it is?
Valerie:
Yup.
Me:
See you here!
She switched off her phone and took the last bite from her sandwich. She then proceeded to keep it down on a table near what was Elena's bed.
A stabbing pain made her gasp. Her hand flew to her mouth so as to not make any noise. The phone fell from her other hand, hitting the ground.
Yet another surge of pain hit her, making her collapse as she clenched her jaw, holding in a scream. Her knees hit the ground as she took support of the bed.
The next surge that came didn't leave, and Aurelia was left fisting the sheets and squeezing her eyes shut in agony. She let out a small cry, unable to hold her pain in.
Stefan began to stir awake at the noise, looking around the room before his eyes landed on Aurelia, who was going through torture. "Aurelia?" He asked. "Aurelia." The blonde looked at him, before groaning loudly and holding her stomach, where the waves of discomfort came from.
"Stefan." She got out; her breaths uneven as she yelped again. Stefan shot up and was at her side in an instant, holding her in his arms as she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "God, please, kill me!" She begged.
"Aurelia, where does it hurt?" He asked, unable to hear her answer through her gasps. "Aurelia, tell me. I'll help you." She arched her back, sobbing, at her hand was on her stomach. Stefan looked at her hand, before his eyes widened at the sight of it turning dry and gray.
She was desiccating. "Stefan, please, get it to stop!" She gasped through her tears. He looked at her, caressing her cheek and comforting her as much as he possibly could, all while he looked for her phone.
The door of the dorm room suddenly opened, revealing Valerie, whose eyes landed on the cry blonde in an instant. "Oh God, Aurelia!" She sped to the older vampire, looking over to Stefan. "When did this start?"
"A few minutes ago." He answered, hurriedly. He closed his eyes as she let out a scream, squirming in his grip. "Valerie, please, help her." He pleaded.
"Alright, you'll have to take her to the main dorm hall, where the baby shower was earlier." Valerie said, before glancing down at Aurelia's phone on the ground. She scrambled to take it, before looking at Stefan. "What are you waiting for? Go!" Stefan lifted Aurelia up, and ran out of the dorm room.
Valerie stood up and dialed Caroline's number. "Aurelia, I'm at the grocery store right now. Can I call you back?"
"Caroline, this is Valerie." She said.
"What are you doing with my sister's phone." A pause. "Wait, is she okay?"
"She's not, Caroline! You need to get to the dorm hall right now. We have to do the transferal spell right now!"
"Okay, I'll call Bonnie. I'm on my way. Just... if she's in pain, please take it away."
"Just come here, and bring Bonnie."
!
"Where is she?" Caroline asked, before Valerie looked down at the couch. Stefan sat by Aurelia, comforting her from the magnifying pain. "Aurelia!" Caroline and Bonnie ran around to look at her, before expressions of shock overcame their faces.
"Oh my God, what's happening to her hand?!" Bonnie asked, looking at the half-desiccated arm.
"We need to start the spell." Valerie said.
"But the moon hasn't even fully come out yet." Caroline said.
"Which is why I'm here to help." All heads in the room turned to look at Nora, who walked into the room. "You need all the strength you can get."
Caroline and Bonnie exchanged looks. "But—" The latter began to say.
"Can we please start the spell?" Stefan asked, looking at Caroline. "Caroline, I don't care who helps. This is your sister!"
"He's right." Valerie agreed. "Now, I need samples of your blood. Both." She looked between the sisters. "Here." She walked to a table and picked a small knife up.
Caroline took the knife and drew it over her palm, hissing in pain before Nora walked to her with a large plate. "Here, let your blood fall on this."
Large drops of Caroline's blood fell into the center of the round plate, spreading slightly before completely stopping and staying in the form of a filled circle. Stefan watched as Caroline took Aurelia's hand and cut it open. Nora lowered the plate, before holding Aurelia's shaking wrist and directing where the blood fell.
The plate's edges were covered in the Heretic's blood, surrounding Caroline's comparingly smaller pool of blood.
Soon, Bonnie walked towards Valerie with Nora, before the three held the plate. "Do you both know the spell?" Valerie asked, earning nods from both brunettes.
"What are you gonna do now?" Caroline asked.
"We'll start the spell, and then—" Stefan's phone rang, interrupting the conversation. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID, before groaning and declining the call.
"Who was that?" Bonnie asked.
"It was, uh, Damon." He said. "It doesn't matter. He can go wherever he wants to." He mumbled.
"Wait, what?" Caroline asked.
"He just left, and I was searching for him." Stefan hurriedly explained. "Start the spell." He said, before Aurelia suddenly began to speak. "Hey, hey, you're okay." He assured. "I'm here."
"I-It's—" He shook his head. "You need to go." He looked at her as if she was crazy.
"Valerie, have you started the spell?!" He asked.
"Yes, we have!" Valerie exclaimed.
"Stefan, just-just go!" Aurelia said, before she inhaled sharply. "Damon will need you before he gets himself killed. You need to talk to him, tell him about everything." She added, making him shake his head.
"I'm not leaving you." He said. "I promised you that I would stay—"
"And now I'm telling you to put your brother before me!" She yelled, before her grip on his hand tightened considerably at the feeling of another surge of pain. "GO! I'll be fine!" She said. "Please!" He looked at her, tears forming in his eyes.
"N-No." He said, making her glare at him.
"Do you want me to repeat what I said?!" She asked. "Go help your brother, I have my own sister with me!"
"Stefan, listen to her." Caroline said. "I'll take care of her." Stefan looked at his friend. "Trust me."
!
"Where were you?" Stefan asked, walking into the Lockwood Mansion to see his brother. Damon looked at him, hiding the guilt in his eyes.
"Out." He answered. "I had to clear my head." He then looked back at the fireplace. "Where's Aurelia?"
"She's at Whitmore, where I just came from because of you." Stefan replied. "She's dying."
"You told me that."
"Well, she's on the brink right now, and Valerie, Nora and Bonnie are performing the spell on her." Damon frowned. "Yeah, I was resting in her dorm. I woke up to see that she had collapsed."
"What?" He looked back at his younger brother. "Then why are you here?"
"Because she told me to talk to you." Stefan said, walking into the living room.
"And you just left." He shook his head.
"She told me to talk to you." He said. "About everything." He paused. "In my virtual hell... we were, uh, drowning together. And the only way for me to escape was to turn my back on you. And everything I've been hallucinating since was to drive that point home."
"Of course it was." Damon said, not seeming to show any form of hurt reaction. "The only way for you to be a hero and have a happy ending is to leave me in your wake."
"Damon, I know you think that. I know you think that you're dark, that you're manipulative, and that you're selfish. It may be true, but that doesn't matter to me, because you're also my brother." Damon looked at him in shock. "I'm not gonna give up on you, brother. Not now, not ever. You're stuck with me. And you need to know that." He finished, before letting out a breath.
Well, that changed fast.
He then noticed Damon with a guilty expression. "What is it?"
"I, um, I..." Damon trailed off, unable to admit whatever it was he had to admit.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me." Damon looked at the almost empty glass in his hand.
"...We're out of bourbon." He said.
"Is that it?"
"...Yeah..."
!
Stefan sat on the bed, closing his eyes and resting his head in his hands as he waited for a call, a text or anything from Caroline or Aurelia, or anyone involved with the spell.
He glanced at his phone, looking at the fourteenth message he had sent Caroline.
Me:
Is the spell done yet, Caroline?
What about Aurelia? Is she okay?
And you?
He sighed, before turning his phone off and keeping it on the nightstand. He laid down on his bed before his head hit the pillow.
He closed his eyes again, and kept them closed for several minutes before they opened again, accompanied by a huff that left his lips.
What was he even doing?
He wasn't going to get sleep. He knew that fact well. It was an old habit of his, being unable to rest if he didn't know how Aurelia was.
It was why he'd go off to her room to speak to her late at night back in 1863 and 1864.
"Stefan, it's almost midnight. Aren't you getting any sleep?" Aurelia asked in confusion, throwing her braid over her shoulders. She sniffled once, and Stefan knew that she had been crying.
"I couldn't sleep without knowing that you were alright." He said, placing his hand on her door as he looked down at her from the crack she had made by opening the door.
"I'm fine, my love." She said softly. He shook his head.
"You've been weeping." He said, making her look down at the candle stick she was holding. "Aurelia..."
"You really could not sleep because of me?" She asked, looking back up at him. He nodded once, making her smile softly. "Would you get some if you knew I was fine?"
"You are not. I can tell." He said. She sighed, opening the door a little more so that she could see him better.
"You know me so well, don't you?" She asked. He simply placed his hand on her cheek, caressing it. "Why don't you come in? A good night's rest together may be the best option right now." He smiled.
"I would love to." He said, before she gently pulled him inside her room.
His phone buzzed, and he sat up instantly, looking at the message.
Aurelia:
I know it's late, but are you awake?
His fingers rapidly moved along the keyboard.
Me:
Yeah, of course.
Aurelia:
Can you come to meet me?
He smiled softly.
Me:
Whitmore?
Aurelia:
No. The first place we kissed.
He stood up, and went to go search for his jacket.
!
Stefan walked towards the quarry, looking around for any signs of Aurelia near the water. He knitted his eyebrows together, before sighing in relief as he finally noticed a head of long, blonde hair. "Aurelia." He said, before jogging over to her.
He stopped several meters away from her, before noticing the peaceful expression on her face. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted back to enjoy the breeze.
His eyes went to her stomach, before her looked at it in surprise.
There was no large belly anymore. It looked a little weird, but it meant that the spell had worked. She would live.
"Aurelia." He said again, making her open her eyes and turn her head to look at him. "What's this?" He asked, looking around her, having noticed the small mattress she was sitting on with a large blanket.
"I thought to spend the night here. When I got here, I thought to call you." She said, before sighing and patting the seat next to her. He walked to stand next to her and then sat down, too.
"How are you?" He asked. She shrugged, before looking down at her rings. She played with them. "Hey, you can tell me what's going on."
"I-I don't know." She answered. "I really don't." She closed her eyes again. "When the twins were pulled from me, I could feel it." She began. "It felt like the life was being pulled out of me. It hurt, and I felt empty."
"You carried them for eight months, Aurelia." He said, making her chuckle.
"Exactly." She acknowledged. "I guess I forgot that no matter how much a mother may dread being pregnant, she'll fall in love with the children eventually." She looked over to him. "I-I remember when I was pregnant as a human. There was one point where I was scared."
"Why were you scared?" He asked. She bit her lip.
"I was about six months into my pregnancy, and I was handling everything pretty well. Then, one day, when I was speaking with... the father of my children, my own father saw us." She swallowed hard. "I-It was the first time he had seen me in six months."
"And he was mad?" He asked. She nodded.
"First of all, he hadn't seen me in months, second, I was with the one person who I was forbidden to be with, and I was showing." She said. "So, he pulled his sword out and came at me first."
"How dare you?!" Aurelia quickly backed away with Maurice as she saw her father approaching her. "You disappear for six months, and today, I see you with him!" He pointed his sword at her lover. "And you're with child?!" Aurelia's hands went to her slightly swollen stomach. "You've brought enough disgrace to me as a siphon, and now this?!" He stared at her, fire in his eyes.
"Father—"
"Quiet! You've lost your father!" He shouted, making her look at him in fear. He then ran at her, his sword ready for attack. She cried, closing her eyes, bracing for impact.
It never came. She suddenly heard a gasp, making her eyes fly open to see Maurice in front of her, his body shaking slightly. She covered her mouth, a gasp of her own emitting as she saw the sword sticking out from his back. "MAURICE!" She screamed.
Before she knew it, her father drew back his sword and swung it at the teenager's neck with full force. Aurelia's blue eyes widened in horror as she let out an ear-piercing scream, watching as Maurice head was dismembered from his neck.
"NO!" She cried, looking at the dead body as it collapsed. "MAURICE!" She knelt down net to him, before her hands went to her neck, trying to grasp the magic-filled pendant that hung from the string surrounding her skin.
She began to siphon from it, before mumbling spells in and shaking in terror as she tried to bring him back to life. When she couldn't, she sobbed loudly, tears falling onto Maurice's headless corpse.
"Maurice!" She sobbed, before she looked up at her father, who had his sword raised and ready to kill her, too. She scrambled back in fear, holding her stomach as she prayed to God for a miracle to happen.
"I got lucky." Aurelia said. "Elijah saved me right on time and threatened him." Her hand went to her stomach. "I didn't sleep or eat for a few days after that." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "There was this space in me for over two centuries after that... until I met you." She looked at Stefan. "I felt better."
"I'm glad I could help you, Aurelia." He said, gently rubbing her back.
"But that feeling came back. It wasn't nearly as much as it was before because of you, but it came back, and it's still there." She added. "And it's not the twins."
"Then what's it about?"
"Karissa." She answered. "Stefan, I have this bad feeling. I pray that she's safe, but I can't help but feel that she's in a lot of danger." She said. "I want to go find her, but I can't with everything going on. I can't just leave Care to deal with eight months' worth of hormones, morning sickness, and cravings." She finally kept quiet.
"Okay, I have something." Stefan said, making her look at him, keen to listen to him. "After the twins are born, we're going to Canada to look for your daughter." She pursed her lips. "Together."
"W-What?" She asked. He nodded.
"We'll fly there and find her." He assured. "I promise." She smiled.
"Thank you." She said, a small tear trailing down her cheek. "You're the best person anyone could ever ask for, y'know?" She asked. He smiled, wiping the tear away, before placing a long and lingering kiss on her lips.
When he pulled away, he saw a small glint in her eyes. "What?" She shook her head.
"Just kiss me." She said, making him chuckle as he gladly obliged and gently fisted her hair, pulling her closer to him as he crashed his lips onto hers, moving them in sync as her fingers played with the light brown hair at the back of his head.
Another tear left her eye as she parted her lips so that the kiss could deepen further. Her hand went down to the hem of his shirt, before slowly pulling it upwards, letting the cool air hit his abdomen.
He fully pulled it off, closing her eyes again as his lips were on hers once again. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him closer so that the taste of his lips could make her forget her problems, even if it was just for one night.
She soon felt his hand on her lower back as he lifted her up slightly and laid her down on the mattress completely, climbing on top of her right afterwards.
He finally broke contact, knowing that the both of them needed air. He took a moment to look into her stormy blue-gray eyes and inhale the overwhelming scent of lavender.
She looked at him with equal, if not more love, smiling ever so softly with his played with his hair. "God, you're too beautiful to be so sad." He mumbled, pecking her lips before nuzzling his head into the joint of her neck and shoulder.
She closed her eyes, her lips parting to let out a gasp at the feeling of his lips on her skin and his teeth slightly nibbling at her skin.
She tilted her head back, letting him mark her, even though it would disappear instantly, anyway.
Soon, the sound of his name from her lips made themselves into music for his ears.
"Stefan..."
~