Warrior | Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 11

Elijah was not pleased to hear what'd transpired.

"You should have called me," he said, appearing almost stressed knowing that something might have happened to her, and he wouldn't have gotten there in time to stop it. "I would have arrived in minutes and ensured those vampires left that house."

"You would have killed them," she argued. "And I know Stefan didn't want them permanently dead. It doesn't matter anymore, Elijah. I want to learn to fight and I need to learn to fight. As soon as we're back in New Orleans, I need you to make good on that promise and teach me, please. I need to know how to protect myself."

He sighed. "Your training can begin either when you return from New Orleans after the wedding, or when we return there, if possible. Your plane ticket is ready. The day after tomorrow, Camille will drive you to the airport. I suggest you start packing. Rebekah has a dress prepared for you to wear." He checked the time. "You ought to go to sleep."

Graciela nodded, and went to get Hope. "Come on, baby girl. Sleepy time."

She held her on her hip while she brushed her teeth, then set her on the bed while she changed into pajamas. Hope knocked out almost immediately. Graciela remained propped up against the headboard, her phone in her hands.

'I take it Elijah wasn't happy,' Stefan had messaged while she was getting ready for bed.

'He wasn't. But I knew he would have just killed Enzo. Maybe even Caroline. Who is Enzo, anyway?'

'In the fifties, Damon was abducted by a man named Dr. Whitmore, who experimented on vampires. Tortured them. He and Enzo were prisoners together for the Augustine Society. I didn't know until recently. Damon was there for five years. Enzo for much longer. They bonded. Damon turned off his humanity when he had to leave Enzo behind once he escaped. Enzo survived, they reunited and... he's enacting a promise of misery that Damon made because I never went to rescue him. I never realized he was missing.'

'That sounds awful. I can't even imagine what that must be like...'

'My brother did many awful things when he was alive. But so have I. To an extent, I deserved that eternity of misery. I should have known he was gone, those years.'

'You can't change the past, Stefan. No more than I can, to go back in time and make my siblings be better people. To stop them from hurting innocents. Whatever the reason that you didn't realize it... let it go. Otherwise, what you're doing won't be moving on. It'll be running away from the pain that comes each time you remember the things you regret.'

'You give good advice, you know. Or, at least, you don't hold back from telling people what they need to hear.'

'Every day, I remember that the reason I'm in this situation is because I was ignorant. Because things were being hidden from me and I let it happen by not looking closer. I've learned it's better to be honest even if it isn't what someone wants to hear. I wish my siblings had just been honest with me.'

'You're a good person, Graciela. You're not like them. And you're not like the Mikaelsons, either. Be careful with them.'

'They've been kind to me. I'm not in danger if I'm with Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah.'

'You say that as if there are more of them that you need to be worried about. They're all that's left. Their parents are dead, and so are two of their brothers.'

She knew he was probably suspicious, so she said, 'I can't tell you more. I wish I could. You're safer not knowing. We both are.'

'I worry that you'll get hurt.'