"My brother fancies you, you know?" Iliana turned to the girl besides her and gave her a half smile. "I know you are still sad over Elijah, but Nik..." She trails off and smiles gently at her.
"I have noticed, Bekah. I just don't know if I am ready at the moment." She sighed and stared blankly ahead. It had been a few months since Elijah had broken her heart. What hurt her more was the fact that he didn't give her any explanation, only told her that he couldn't do this anymore.
"Well, if you ever feel ready, Nik is right there. He's been in love with you since the moment he saw you." She chuckled and Iliana turned to her confused.
"He has? I... I thought he only started fancying me a few months ago." She said staring at Bekah.
"He only has eyes for you, my dear Iliana." A voice came from beside her and she felt someone sitting next to her. When she turned to that direction, she saw Bekah's brother.
"It's rude to eavesdrop, Kol." She narrowed her eyes.
"I was hoping we could practice some magic." He shrugged.
"You're gonna have to wait. She was with me first." Bekah snapped at his brother.
"You have spent too much time with her, sister. It is my turn!" He exclaimed and Iliana opened her mouth to tell them she could spend time with both. She quite enjoyed the time with both siblings, but they tended to be very territorial with her, not wanting the other to spend time with her.
"But-"
"Kol, leave us alone!"
"Shut up, Bekah!"
They kept bickering, annoying Iliana. She stood up and dusted herself, both siblings looking up at her in confusion.
"Where are you going?" Kol asked her.
"You two are insufferable right now. I will find someone else to be with. Maybe Henrik wants to play." She shrugged and walked away, Bekah and Kol standing up quickly and following her, trying to get her to come back. But soon, their voices faded away...
Nat opened her eyes and abruptly sat up, looking around the room, recognizing everything. She sighed in relief when she realized she hadn't had a memory lapse. She had been taking Jonas' herbs all week, but she still couldn't help but associate the dreams with the lapses. This had been the first dream she had since the decade dance a few months ago and it made her heart beat loudly in her chest. Even though this particular dream wasn't scary, she was afraid that the coming ones would be.
Although she did wonder about the two people from this dream. Bekah and Kol, that's what she called them, and if she was right, then they were Klaus and Elijah's siblings. She turned to the clock on her nightstand and saw it was 6:10 AM. She sighed loudly and was about to lay down again when her door opened, Damon coming through it.
"You're awake. Good." He said walking to the window and opening the curtains. She squinted and put a hand over her eyes.
"What the hell, Damon." She groaned. He turned around and went to her wardrobe, opening the doors and going through her clothes.
"Start packing, we're going to Chicago." He took out a black bra and held it up nodding.
"What? Why?" She stood up and walked over to him, taking the bra from his hands. "Don't touch my stuff." She warned.
"We're gonna get Stefan." He said and leaned on her wardrobe door. She turned to him confused and he sighed. "You may get to see your hybrid lover."
"Okay, first of all, he's not my lover, so don't say that again, please." Nat told him. "And second, don't you think it's too risky to go after Stefan? Klaus could kill you in a second." She said matter of factly.
"That's where you enter, Nat." He smirked and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Right, you're using me as your shield. Gotcha."
"Exactly. Points for you." He smirked and got closer to her. She kept staring at him, not backing down from his stare. She knew he was trying to get under her skin, but she wouldn't let him.
"Okay, give me some time to get ready then." He nodded and looked her up and down before turning around and walked away. She rolled her eyes and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower and brush her teeth. After she finished there she went to her wardrobe again and went through some of her newest clothes. She spotted a black and white plaid slip on dress and decided to wear it. It wasn't something she would normally wear, so she decided it would be perfect for this roadtrip. She put it on quickly and found black slip on vans to pair it with the dress. After that, she grabbed a shoulder bag and put her phone, keys, charger and some other essential things. Nat was about to leave the room when she saw a pair of red frame sunglasses and smirked, grabbing them quickly and walking out of her room. When she got down she found Elena already there with a purse waiting for her.
"Damon?" Nat asked.
"Already on his car." Elena said and she nodded, opening the front door and walking out, her sister right behind her. Elena got in the passenger's seat while Nat went to the back. When she sat, she found a box filled with notebooks, and when she got a closer look, she realized they were journals.
"Ready?" Damon asked looking at Nat through the mirror. She looked up and nodded, putting her sunglasses on and looking out the window as he drove away.
"So, what are we having for breakfast?" She asked sitting closer to the edge, looking at Damon. He turned to her and frowned.
"What, you want me to buy you breakfast?" He scoffed and shook his head.
"Well, you got me out of my bed at 6:30 in the morning." She said matter of factly.
"To get Stefan back."
"Correction, you wanted me to come along because you don't want Klaus killing you." She reminded him and he sighed.
"Wait, what?" Elena asked. Nat turned to her and smirked.
"He didn't tell you? Damon brought me on this little roadtrip to be his human shield against Klaus." Elena glared at him while he shrugged.
"She wants to see him, so I figured it would do us no harm to bring her along and use her as protection against the hybrid freak."
"Hey!" Nat hit his shoulder. "Anyways. You're buying us breakfast." She said and he turned to Elena.
"What she said." Her sister said and Nat smiled smugly at him.
"Fine." He grumbled.
They had been of the road for a few hours now, and would soon arrive in Chicago. Nat put on her earrings and her ring before taking out her compact mirror and a red lipstick Katherine had given her a few weeks ago. She started applying it but felt Damon's eyes on her.
"What?" She asked, not looking up from her task.
"Why are you putting on lipstick?" He asked. She finished applying it and looked up.
"Well, if we're going to see Klaus, might as well look good. It'll be the first time I see him in almost three months." She shrugged, a cheeky smile on her face. Damon scrunched his face in disgust and shook his head before turning to Elena.
"I sure hope we find him, 'cause it would suck if the last memento of Stefan was that crappy old necklace." Elena glares at him and touches her necklace.
"It's an antique, Damon. Like you." He rolls his eyes and reaches back to take a journal but accidentally puts his hand on Nat's leg. She swats it away and hands him one of the journals on the box. He grabs it and gives it to Elena.
"Read this. Paints a pretty little picture of Stefan's first experience in Chicago." Elena looks at it for a second before turning to Damon.
"It's Stefan's diary. I'm not going to invade his private thoughts."
"You need to be prepared for what you're about to see." He tells her but she shakes her head.
"I've seen Stefan in his darkest periods. I can handle it." He takes the journal and opens it, placing it on the steering wheel so he can read.
"Here's one. March 12, 1922." He starts reading and changes his voice, mocking Stefan's. "I've blacked out for days. I wake up in strangers' blood, in places I don't recognize with women I don't remember." He then turns to Elena and fakes a surprised face. "Ahhh! I'm shocked! Stefan's not a virgin?" Nat bursts out laughing and Damon smiles amusedly at Elena, who just rolls her eyes and takes the journal from him.
"Eyes on the road, grandma." He looks at Nat through the mirror and laughs again.
"Fine. Back to my game. Tell me if you see a Florida plate Nat." She nods and looks out the window, trying to pass the time till they got there. From the corner of her eye she sees Elena opening the journal and reading a page of it. Poor Elena, she thought. She was still under the impression that Stefan was like he used to be, but she hadn't seen him that night. Frankly, it scared Nat a little seeing Stefan drink all that blood, but she swallowed all that fear and stayed calm through all of it.
After an hour and a half, they arrived in Chicago. Damon drove through the streets until he parked outside of an apartment building. He turned the car off and opened his door, Nat and Elena following him to the building.
"Where are we?" Elena asked him.
"We're going to Stefan's old apartment." They entered the building and went up a flight of stairs before they walked along a hall. The place seemed old and abandoned, as if no one had lived there in years.
"Stefan could live anywhere in Chicago and he chose this?" Nat asked in disgust.
"There used to be an all-girls high school around the corner, but it shut down for attendance issues." He explained to Nat before turning to Elena. "Weird."
"If you're trying to scare me into giving up and going back, it's not going to work." She told him. He put his index finger on his lips, motioning for both girls to be quiet.
"Shh." He breaks the lock and opens the door. "Here we are. Stefan's second personality home." He entered and walked around, Nat and Elena looking around the apartment curiously.
"He obviously hasn't been here." Elena states.
"Tour is not over yet." He tells them and goes toward a wall shelf panel next to the refrigerator, putting his hand to the edge of the panel and pulling. The panel opens and reveals a dark back room. Damon looks at the girls and motions to it, walking inside and pulling a light cord. Both girls walk closer and see that there's a bunch of alcohol bottles on shelves against the back.
"Stefan hid his alcohol. What a monster." Nat told him rolling her eyes.
"Look harder." Was all he said as he looked to the wall on the side. They got behind him and turned to the wall on the side, seeing a list of names, starting with Giuseppe Salvatore, their father. Nat furrowed her brows and looked at Damon.
"It's a list of names." She told him.
"Mhm." He nodded.
"These are all his victims?" Elena asks him, shocked at the amount of names written on the wall.
"Still handling it?" He asks her and walks out of the hidden room. Nat was shocked and horrified by the discovery. She couldn't believe Stefan would do this, that he could kill all these people. She turned around and crossed her arms.
"What were you doing in the 1920s? Paving the way for women's liberation?" She scoffed.
"I was around. Chicago's a big city. Stefan was a cocky ripper douche. But I could avoid him and still indulge in a few Daisy Buchanans of my own."
"I did not need to know that." She said in disgust.
"You asked." He shrugged and turned around, walking to the door.
"Where are you going?" Elena asks him.
"His old stomping ground."
"We're coming with you." She says quickly.
"No. You two stay here and whip up an actual plan. I'll come back when I find him." Nat tries to convince him to take them with him, but before she could say anything, he walks out of the door.
"Great." Nat sighs and walks over to the bed, flopping down on it. Suddenly, dust fills the room, making her cough in the process. "God, I had forgotten that this was old." Elena sighed and sat down next to her, a frown on her face. Nat sat up and stared at her. "Are you okay?"
"Not really." She says and puts an arm around her shoulder. "I just want Stefan back. But even if we manage to get him back, he's not gonna be the same."
"Look, you love him and he loves you. He never gave up on you and I know neither will you." Elena nods. "It's probably gonna be hard, but you're strong, Lena. If anyone is gonna be able to bring him back, I know it's you."
"Thanks, Nat." She smiles at her, but her sister looks worried still. "Do you... do you think I should keep reading his journal?"
"I agree with Damon. You should be ready. The Stefan you know and love is not the same as this one." Nat says while gesturing to the apartment. Elena bites her lip, deep in thought, before nodding and taking the journal from her purse. "You keep doing that. I'll just find something to do in the meanwhile." Elena nodded and started reading the journal. Nat stood up and walked around the place snooping around. After a while, she got bored and sat down on one of the chairs.
She had been playing on her phone for at least 40 minutes when she heard voices on the hall. She immediately perked up, recognizing Klaus' voice and looked at Elena, who was already staring at her in fear. Nat stands up quietly and beckons Elena over, taking her purse with her and walking towards the panel. She opens it quickly and lets Elena enter before she does and closes it quickly and quietly. They press against the wall face to face and try to slow their breathing, hoping the hybrid wouldn't hear them.
"What a charming little homestead." He says, pausing for a second. "Do you feel that? Is anybody here?" Nat closes her eyes and hopes he doesn't notice they're here.
"It's been vacant for decades. People must break in all the time." Stefan's voice comes from outside and Elena and Nat look at each other surprised. "Why'd you bring me here?"
"Your friend, Liam Grant, the one who drank his wife's blood...I never could figure out why you wanted his name. And then you told me your little secret. It was all part of your special little ritual." Klaus explains. Nat turns to the wall and spots Liam Grant's name in the middle. Shit.
"To write it down." Stefan finishes.
"And relive the kill... over and over again." Suddenly, the panel opens and Nat widens her eyes, scooting quietly to the corner of the wall hoping Klaus wouldn't see her. "You believe me now?"
Both girls turn to the door nervously as they see a shadow but exhale in relief when they see Stefan entering the closet. He turns his head and widens his eyes slightly when he sees Elena and Nat there. He stands motionless for a second before speaking again.
"Look what I found." They watch him in fear but he takes a bottle and turns back to Klaus. They look at each other in relief and Nat closes her eyes, relaxing a bit. "1918. Single malt." Stefan then closes the door.
"My favorite. Let's go and find someone to pair it with." Is all Klaus says and a few seconds later they hear the front door close. They wait in there for a few minutes, scared that they would come back, but after no sign of them, Nat opened the door and looked around cautiously. She turned back and nodded at Elena, signalling that it was okay to come out.
"Call Damon." Nat told Elena and ran a hand over her face.
That was too close.
Nat and Elena had been waiting for Damon to arrive for almost an hour after Klaus and Stefan left. Elena was holding a vervain dart in her hand while Nat had a small stake on hers. Suddenly, they heard footsteps and held their breaths, prepared to attack. The door opened and Damon came in holding a bag. They exhale in relief and come out of the wall.
"Finally! We called you an hour ago!" Nat exclaims angrily. He tosses Elena the bag and she catches it quickly.
"Make yourself presentable. I know where Stefan's going to be tonight." He smirks at her sister and sits down, turning to Nat and looking her up and down. "You look okay." She crossed her arms and glared at him.
"I told you that I was practically discovered by Klaus and you're worried about what I'm wearing?" Elena asked him in disbelief.
"I had an hour to realize what a bad idea it was to leave you two here alone, process it, and move on." He shrugged and Elena sighed. "Are you okay?" He asked them, now concerned about the whole thing.
"Yeah." Elena said and Nat nodded.
"Okay, good. Get dressed. You're all road-trippy and gross." He looked at Elena and wrinkled his nose.
"So you know where he's going to be?" Elena asked him eagerly. Nat walked over to the loveseat by the bed and sat there, waiting for her sister to get dressed.
"Yes, with Klaus. So Nat and I will distract Klaus and you deal with Stefan." He said and pointed at Nat. Elena looked at her questioningly and she nodded.
"Okay. Thank you."
"But you're going to have about five minutes tops before that hybrid freak rips my heart out. So please, tell me you can do this." He stands up and walks closer to her, making Nat frown at his words. She wasn't dumb enough to think that Klaus would restrain from hurting Damon because of her, but she at least hoped he wouldn't kill him.
"I can do this." Elena confidently says and he nods.
"He's not gonna rip your heart out, Damon." Nat told him and he turned to her. "He's only gonna hurt you." She shrugged.
"Wow, how reassuring." He sardonically told her before turning back to Elena. "Go." She nodded and went to the bathroom to change out of her clothes, Damon walking over to Nat. "Scoot." She rolled her eyes and scooted over so he could sit next to her. He put his right arm behind the seat and stared at her. "So, how do you plan on distracting Klaus?"
"I don't know, Damon." She turned to him and stared right into his eyes. "I guess I'll just have to improvise." She shrugged and crossed her arms, tossing her head back and closing her eyes.
"Well, it better be one hell of a distraction." She hummed and kept her eyes closed. After a few minutes in silence, Damon spoke again. "You're different." She opened her eyes and raised her head, turning to him confused. "You seem... stronger, sassier."
"Well, after everything that's happened I've had to toughen up."
"You sure it has nothing to do with you being so close with Katherine?" She smirked at him and tilter her head.
"That too." He nodded and smiled at her.
"It looks good on you. All that confidence." He motioned her body and she smiled at him earnestly.
"Thanks, Damon." He nodded and turned his head away, looking through the apartment. After a few more minutes, Elena came out wearing a purple dress paired with nude flats and her hair down.
"I'm ready." Nat stood up and grabbed her purse. Damon stood up too and gestured for them to leave the apartment. They went down the stairs and then walked out of the building, finding Damon's car parked right outside. They got in and he drove away. After a while they arrived at a street and Damon parked outside of a place called Gloria's Bar.
"Let me guess, the owner is called Gloria." Nat said as they got out of the car. He turned to her and nodded. "How original."
"Okay, you two stay out here. I'll get Stefan to come out." They nodded and leaned on his car as he went inside the bar. Nat turned to Elena and saw her biting her lip nervously.
"Hey, calm down." She told her gently and Elena sighed.
"What if he doesn't come back?" Her sister asked exasperated.
"Then at least you tried it, okay? Just relax and do your best. Damon and I will try to hold Klaus off for as long as we can. But it won't be for much, he'll notice something's up." Nat warned her and Elena nodded. Suddenly, they notice Damon coming out and looking sideways. But Stefan then rushes at him and pushes him against a car, holding him by the collar. They exchange a few words and soon, they turn to Elena and Nat, Stefan frowning at them and walking over. Damon nods towards the bar and Nat leaves Elena, catching up to him.
"You ready?" He asks.
"Nope." She says and opens the door, spotting Klaus sitting at the bar. Damon goes to his right and Nat goes to his left.
"Last call. Drink 'em up." A woman yells and people start leaving.
"I see they've opened the doors to the riff-raff now." Klaus tells Damon and Nat shakes her head. "No offense to you, love." He turns to Nat and she smiles.
"Oh, honey, I've been called worse." Damon says from beside him.
"You don't give up, do you?" Klaus tells him. "And you bring Natalia along for what? To serve as your shield against me?" He scoffs and Nat stares at Damon.
"Give me my brother back... You'll never have to see me again." Damon shrugs and Klaus smirks.
"Well, I am torn. You see, I promised Stefan I wouldn't let you die and Natalia here clearly... appreciates you. But how many freebies did I really sign up for?" He asks the younger vampire. "And clearly you want to die, otherwise you wouldn't be here, so..." Damon stares at him and shrugs.
"What can I say? I'm a thrill seeker." Klaus extends his hand and grabs his throat tightly. Nat immediately reaches for his other hand, but he grabs her wrist firmly.
"Sweetheart, you know how I feel about you, but if you try to intervene I will rip his heart out and feed it to you. So you better sit quietly and leave us alone." He warns and Nat takes a deep breath, nodding after.
"Just don't hurt him much." She tells him. "He's my friend." She softly says. Klaus pays her no mind and lifts Damon off the floor by the throat and holds a toothpick with his other hand.
"Oh dear, what was that? I'm boozey, so you'll forgive me if I miss your heart the first few tries." Klaus stabs Damon and he grunts in pain. Nat purses her lips in frustration. "Ohh! No, that's not it. Hmm." He stabs him again on the other side and Damon grunts again. "Ohh. Almost."
"Nik..." He angles the toothpick upwards towards his heart and Damon looks down.
"You want a partner in crime? Forget Stefan. I'm so much more fun." Damon croaks out and Klaus throws him backwards, the vampire crashing on top of a table, breaking it in the process. He lands on the ground on his back and Nat immediately stands up. The hybrid walks over to him and rips a part of a chair off as a makeshift stake, crouching over Damon.
"You won't be any fun after you're dead." He says and holds Damon down with one hand, the other raised holding a stake. Nat looks around desperately trying to find something to stop him, but notices the woman from earlier coming out and raising her hand. The stake Klaus was holding lights on fire and he throws it away with a grunt.
"Really?"
"Not in my bar. You take it outside." She snaps and leaves the room. Nat sighs in relief and walks closer to them. Damon tries to sit up but Klaus pushes him back down.
"You don't have to negotiate your brother's freedom. When I'm done with him, he won't want to go back." He takes his hand off Damon and stands up, turning to leave, but Nat grabs his hand quickly. He turns to her and watches expectantly.
"It was nice seeing you, Nik. Even if you tried to kill my friend." She half smiled and he smirked, nodding at her and rushing out of the place. She turned to Damon and noticed he was already up.
"Let's get out of here." She nodded and they walked out of the bar. Outside, Elena wasn't anywhere, but when they spotted Damon's car, they noticed she was already sitting in it, looking through the window and touching her necklace. They looked at each other and quickly walked towards her, knowing that things didn't go well with Stefan. They got in the car and looked at her.
"You okay?" Damon asks her but she doesn't turn.
"Just drive." He nods and starts the car, driving away immediately. Nat looked at her sister sadly and looked out. It seemed Stefan was gone and Elena had given up on him. Even if it would hurt at first, Nat thought it was for the best. He wasn't the same and if Klaus was right, then he would never be the same again.