Vampire Diaries Blood Brothers

~Chapter Seventeen~

Dear Diary,
   It's true. Stefan Salvatore is a vampire. I am dating a vampire. Oh my goodness, this is nuts. A few days ago I didn't believe in immortals, or witches, or magic or anything supernatural. But now? The evidence was all around me, everywhere I went. Things were finally starting to make sense, in a weird, crazy sort of a way.
   In a few hours I'll know all the tricks of the trade so to speak. Stefan has promised me honest answers and I hope he's telling the truth. I'm willing to give this relationship a chance, but only if he's honest. Besides, he deserves a chance. It wouldn't be fair if I started treating him differently just because he's a vampire. He's still the same guy as before. Let's just hope he stays that way.

~~~

Tapping my finger on the glass top table outside the small Mystic Falls Cafe, I peered around anxiously. Stefan had agreed to meet me here at twelve o'clock sharp, and excluding his recent disappearances, he was never late to meet me for anything. In fact, he was usually early. I had though being supernaturally fast made being late almost impossible, but I must have been wrong. Unless he wasn't planning on meeting me at all.
   "Unbelievable," I murmured under my breath as half an hour had passed, still with no sign of Stefan. 
   Grabbing my handbag from the arm of the chair, I stood to leave when Stefan I caught sight of Stefan jogging across the street, waving for me to stop. 
   "Eva," he smiled apologetically. "Sorry I'm late. I had, um, some things to do."
   "Oh really?" I folded my arms across my chest. "Like what?"
   Motioning for me to sit down, Stefan sat across from me and leaned close, glancing around to ensure nobody else could hear him. "Damon's gone."
   "What do you mean, Damon's gone? I thought you locked him in the basement?"
   "I did, but his compulsion over Caroline was stronger than I originally thought. When I came back from hunting in the woods I could smell her scent. It was strongest in the cellar. She had walked in and out. No snooping or wondering, just straight in and straight out."
   "How do you know?"
   "Vampires have an acute sense of hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell. It was like I could see her walking in, what she touched, where she walked... I still don't know how exactly he got her to free him but I'm looking into it."
   "Looking into it?" My mouth dropped open. "What are you gonna do? Google it?"
   "Eva, you have to understand, animal blood makes a lot weaker than Damon. His power of compulsion is a lot stronger than mine because he drinks human blood. I had no idea anything like it was possible, if I tried to compel someone it might not even work, but Damon is very familiar with it."
   "So... What? You're gonna find Damon and ask him how he managed to compel Caroline from across town?" I demanded, infuriated. "How could you keep this from me?"
   "I'm sorry Eva, I really am. I wish I didn't have to lie to you, but having this information is very dangerous, not just for me, but for you too. There was a time this town was very aware of the existence of our kind and believe me, it didn't end well for anyone. Not the vampires, not the witches, and definitely not the humans."
   "You've lived here before?" He nodded. "When?"
   "I lived in Mystic Falls for seventeen years before I was turned."
   "How long have you been seventeen?"
   "I've been seventeen since 1864."

Stefan proceeded to tell me about his life before vampires moved to Mystic Falls. He told me how Damon was his best companion and, despite the seven year age gap, the two were best friends. His father, Giuseppe was killed by a vampire and his mother, Lillian died of consumption. Hearing the tragic loss of his family broke my heart. I could tell by the way he spoke of his parents - especially his mother - that he missed them. 
   He also told me about Katherine. "Katherine was orphaned after a tragic fire killed her family, or so she told us. She was travelling with a woman named Pearl and her daughter, Anna as well as a witch named Emily Bennett."
   "Bennett?" My eyes widened. "As in Bonnie Bennett?"
   "Yes. Emily was an ancestor of Bonnie. I know you're not into the whole witch thing, but its all true Eva. All of Bonnie's female ancestors are or were once witches. Including her Grams."
   "Does Bonnie know what you are?"
   He shook his head. "Witches are one of the few species that has the ability to kill a vampire, because of their magic. I know Bonnie already doesn't like me, but I think if she knew she'd probably try and kill me."
   "Oh, I don't think-"
   "Eva," he placed his hand over mine, tilting his head. "You don't have to promise me anything, at least not until you've heard the whole story. But please, until you do, you need to keep this a secret."
   After reluctantly agreeing, he carried on. "Katherine took a fancy to both Damon and I. Our father let her stay with us at the Salvatore Estate because we thought she had no family. Over the weeks she spent with us we all grew close. At the time it wasn't so obvious, but she was stringing Damon and I along the entire time, leading us both on, pretending to love us both."
   "Did she?" I queried.
   "No. Love requires sacrifice and selflessness, two attributes Katherine did not possess. I loved her, for a long time, as did Damon."
   "Do you regret being with her?" I asked wearily. "I can't imagine giving my heart to someone who didn't want it."
   "No," he said finally, appearing to be deep in thought.
   "No?" I asked in disbelief. "Why?"
   "Because if she had never come to Mystic Falls, I never would have met you," he smiled. "She, along with her non-witch companions, were vampires. She turned both Damon and I and if she hadn't, I would have died a long time ago."
   All this time I pictured Katherine to be a conniving snake, just as the Salvatore brothers had described her. But if she hadn't gotten involved with them, they wouldn't be here. They'd just be distant memories of the Mystic Falls archives, unimportant and insignificant.
   "How does one become a vampire?"
   "To become a vampire a human must die with vampire blood in their system. You see, throughout our relationship Katherine compelled me to drink her blood. Damon did it willingly which, I think, is sick but he loved her. More than I ever did."
   "How did you die?"
   "When the men of the founding families heard there were vampires in town they rounded them all up using an ancient watch, crafted by a witch, that would point any human, vampire or other to another vampire. All the vampires, including Katherine, were rounded up and trapped in the church and burned. Damon and I didn't want Katherine to die so we tried to free her, but our father saw us trying to help and he shot us, not knowing he had just killed his own sons."
   "What was it like?" I leaned close, interested. "To die?"
   Grinning, Stefan shook his head. "It was... Inexplicable. Everything suddenly turned cold and black and... The weirdest bit was waking up. I mean, we had been dead. But then we weren't."
   "What happened next?"
   "While the vampires were being loaded into the church Emily Bennett moved our bodies from the woods to the grassy bank below Wickery Bridge right outside Mystic Falls. She needed a safe place to explain everything without the threat of being overheard.
   "Before she had died Katherine had Emily make us special rings out of a blue stone known as lapis lazuli - Katherine had a necklace made of the same stone. Mine has a silver S and Damon's, a silver D. Emily had enchanted the jewellery with a spell which, as long as we were wearing them, would protect us from burning in the sunlight. See?"
   Stefan held up his right hand to remind me of the large stone which was fixed to the base of his middle finger. "Unlike Twilight," he grinned. "We don't sparkle."