From Blood and Bone

Chapter 25

I hurried the best that I could to make my way home. It was almost midnight; I had gotten a call just an hour ago from Stefan saying he needed a friend. I hopped in Caroline's car and drove from Georgia to Mystic Falls; she had let me borrow it when I left since I didn't have a car of my own. Thankfully I got to work on a few spells and charms. Some of the one's on my list were waiting on me to cross them off, but they were risky. Most of them required lots of space where no one would see me or hear anything for miles. They were no joke; Magic was quite the attraction.

Eventually I got to the Salvatore's house, I was going to knock but decided against it and just barged in. I ran up to Stefan's room where I found him on his bed, laying on his back starring up at the ceiling. "He's never going to change, Hangelina. No matter how hard I try, Elena is right. Everywhere that I go, pain and death follow." I jump on the bed kneeling at his right side and pull him up by the shoulders to force him to look at me.

"You don't know how wrong you are. You can't see how happy you make others, can you? You made Elena better, she was in deep depression for so long after her parents passed away, then you came and made out group better. You coming back to Mystic Falls, your home, was for the better. You're my best friend, Stefan, and I can never blame you for anything that Damon does, because it was his choice. Whatever he did, I'm sure there was a reason, and yes I know that not everything is solved by killing someone, but that's not gonna change that fact that your brother is the problem. Not you."

Stefan stared up at me with tears in his eyes. I took his face in my hands and gave him a smile. "He killed my best friend." Suddenly my heart dropped as a tear spilled from his eyes. I gasped, now feeling completely ignorant. He must have got a clue of what I was thinking, he quickly shook his head at me, "You didn't know. I hadn't told you over the phone, it completely slipped my mind." He took my hands and pulled then away from his face.

"I'm gonna kill Damon one of these days." He forces a smile dragging his ring covered hand over his face to wipe away the tears. "I'm sorry for not getting here sooner."

He scooted to the edge of the bed, "Don't apologize. Like you said, it's my dear 'ole brother's fault." He got up with a deep frown, one I didn't know how to help get rid of. I don't know how to help. Though his eyes were red and puffy he forced a smile, in attempts to make me feel better when it should be me comforting him. "Thank you for coming, Hangelina, but I think I'm going to sleep now. I appreciate you coming all the way back to Mystic Falls from Georgia for me."

"You'd do it for me. I know you would." He nods then sits on his bed waiting for me to leave, his gaze stuck to the hard wood floor of his room. "Goodnight, Stefan." He keeps quiet not raising his head or moving even an inch making my heart break more by the second. I was reluctant to leave, there was no guarantee that I would be seeing him tomorrow, but I doubt he'll stake himself, or provoke Damon enough to kill him.

There was no way I can just head back to the motel in Georgia, I only had a few hours left from renting the room, so I headed back home. Mom was barely parking in the driveway when I rolled in. "Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" I shrugged, quick to covering the emptiness I felt, and the pit in my stomach.

I ran to her wrapping my arms over her shoulders giving her a tight squeeze. "Dad ended up being a bit busy, so I made plans to see him some other time. All I did was mostly go around and eat tons of food." She laughed pulling back and getting a good look of my face. "How was your day?" As I asked her that, I instantly saw a shift in her stance. Mom swallowed before letting out a small cough.

"Today was good. We had a few drunks and fights at the Grill, but nothing out of the ordinary." I let out a laugh as we walked to the door. "What's so funny?" She stared at me taken aback.

Realizing she was caught of guard I stared at her confused and lied. "When has there been anything out of the ordinary. Nothing ever happens here, and I doubt it'll ever happen. I don't think we'll every be attacked by Vampire's and Werewolves." She laughed with me, but her laugh was nervous too fake, but I pretended not to notice.

We walked in and I head up the stairs, "Sweetheart, would you like to have some tea with me? We haven't had time to talk in a while."

I turn to her and after a second I nod following her to the kitchen. She pulls out a kettle and set it on the stove once it was filled with water. I watched her as she took out an herb and crushed it. My eyes caught the purple petals. "What herm is that?"

"Just something Carol let me try once, I really liked it and drink it almost every day." She sat a cup in front of me then prepared one for herself. I hummed sniffing the tea first then taking a gentle sip. The moment I burned my tongue I jumped and cried. "You have to be careful." She laughed, her hand shaking as she walked to the fridge and took a few cubes of ice out from the container. I tapped the tip of my tongue and thanked her when she dropped them into my cup. She stared intently until I took another sip. That's when it hit me, she thought I was a vampire, this must be vervain. The liquid was no longer hot so I gulped it down.

"Crap, I like how it smells, not how it tastes." Letting out a shaky breath, she laughed taking the cup from me.

"Alright, fine. You can go to bed; this is the last time I let you taste my stash of tea."

I crossed my arms over my chest and teased her. "You can keep your nasty tea. I thought Carol Lockwood of all people would have better taste." Mom shook her head at me, with a sigh and I ran up to my room shutting the door. Completely forgetting about my things in Caroline's car.