Warrior | Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 31

Graciela was genuinely afraid.

She and Stefan were in her room, having moved the dresser in front of the window. They could hear movement outside the building, but no one dared knock. A few figures passed by the window. Stefan mimed a motion of them having no heartbeats. Vampires were watching them.

The wolf had her arms wrapped around Stefan, resting her head on his chest, trying to remain calm and quiet. The Strix were either waiting them out or making a plan to force them to exit the building. Graciela's mind was running a million miles an hour trying to make note of all possible escape routes. Weapons that could be used to buy them some time to get away.

But it dawned on them fairly soon that The Strix weren't trying to get them as bait. They had a bad feeling they already had the bait, and were just keeping them inside to make sure they couldn't go on any rescue missions.

There was a point where several 'woosh' sounds rang outside, as if the vampires were leaving at a high speed. They peeked out the windows and saw no one was out there anymore. Graciela messaged Elijah to let him know. He didn't respond.

"Something is wrong," she said, pacing in the living room. "Something is very, very wrong..."

"No news is good news," Stefan said, trying to be helpful. "Maybe it means Elijah and the others are battling The Strix. Not a lot of room to text back on a battlefield."

"They could be dead," she continued. "They could be dead or locked away or worse... tortured..."

"We shouldn't make any assumptions, and just wait to hear back. Maybe everything is okay. Don't let it get to your head. Breathe and think. Think of literally anything else."

She bit her lip. "Okay... okay... Cami is in transition. At least, that was the last thing we heard. Cami is going to be a vampire, she's going to need someone to help her. Maybe... maybe I can put together a little care package."

"That's good, what will you put in it?"

"Um... hot cocoa packets. A new mug. Some socks. Maybe a couple of bourbon shooters. Some nice gel pens..."

"All good things I'm sure she will appreciate."

They both jumped when Graciela's phone started to ring. "It's Elijah!" she said anxiously before answering. "Hello? Is everyone okay?"

"There is something I need to tell you," he said quietly. "Two things, actually."

"Someone died," she deduced, mentally preparing herself.

"Yes."

"Just... tell me who's alive."

"Niklaus and I are alright. Freya is alright. On a better note, Tristan is now locked away in a shipping container that will be dropped in the sea. He will drown over and over for eternity."

Graciela noticed that Stefan seemed almost uncomfortable to hear this. She recalled him explaining the summer that he'd been locked in a safe, drowning repeatedly in the falls. No one came to rescue him. No one even knew he was gone.

"Who is dead?" asked Graciela more simply when she didn't hear Hayley's name. Or Jackson's. Or Rebekah's. Or Cami's.

"Jackson."

Her eyes shut tightly. "What happened?"

"He and Hayley were kidnapped. They were the bait. Jackson was killed to hurt Hayley, because she aided me in torturing Tristan. You would have been the bait, but Tristan asked The Strix to spare you. You proved yourself when you advocated for his release. Aya wished to take you from us, to torment me. Tristan did not allow her to. Marcel agreed with him. You are safe, that is all that matters..."