Runaways

1:Encounter

Stefan never like being in big cities.

Back then, he probably would have had fun in a place like New York City, mainly because of the fact that people would be too busy in their own lives to see someone else mysteriously disappear. So the big cities were a perfect place for a vampire looking for an easy meal.

The only way Stefan would come to a city like this is as a passerby. Stefan rode through the streets on his motorcycle, trying to ignore the noise around him.

"Just get through and you'll be fine," he said to himself. He had been driving for four straight days, trying to get as much distance from Mystic Falls and anyone who would try to follow and he was now low on blood.

As Stefan was close to reaching the train station for an exit, he started to think about her, Elena. Stefan wondered what it would have been like if he had brought to a place like New York. She probably would have been thrilled to see the sites with him.

Then Stefan was brought back to reality, and the reality was that Elena disappeared. Stefan shook his head and focused on leaving. He then exited from the city and continued driving.

As he reached far enough, Stefan hit the brakes and stopped. He pulled out a blood bag and drank a little from it, trying to save the remaining bags he had left.

As he got back on his bike, he started to hear a commotion. He started driving and listened to where it was coming from.

Eventually, Stefan saw a stopped train and a crowd of people. He approached the scene. "Excuse me," he asked one of the train employees. "What's going on?"

It was terrible," the employee said. "It seems one of the passengers, a woman, was taking drugs in the train. Another passenger saw her unconscious and called for help. We had to stop the train as a result."

Stefan had a look and saw two train medics carrying a woman out of the train. She had very fair skin and blonde hair. Stefan could hear that she was still breathing but very weakly. He looked at the two medics and saw that they did not have the sufficient medical tools to help her.

Stefan stepped towards them. "She needs to get to a hospital."

"Sir, we know that. Please calm down," one of the medics said. "Unfortunately, the closest hospital is back in New York. We're going to have to go back."

"I t could take hours for the train to get back." Stefan said. "I have a motorcycle. I can take her to the hospital faster with it. Let me help her. "

"Sir, unless you have proof that you know this woman, we can't just give her to you." The second medic said.

Stefan looked at the first medics. "Give her to me now!" Stefan commanded, using his compulsion. "If anyone asks, tell them that I'm her brother."

The medic nodded and stepped aside.

"What are you doing!" the second medic shouted, shocked.

"It's okay, he's her brother," the first medic responded.

Before anything else could be said, Stefan started carrying the woman and got on his motorcycle. He put her arms around his waist and he started driving back to New York as fast as he could.

"I'm going to make it this time!" Stefan said. He could hear the woman's heartbeat, there was still time. "I won't see someone else die in front of me!" He revved his engine and started speeding up.

Stefan finally saw a hospital and sighed with relief. He hit the brakes and brought the woman inside.

Serena opened her eyes and saw that she was in a hospital bed. She had no idea what happened. The last thing she remembered was taking the cocaine she bought.

"I must have overdosed," she thought. Serena tried getting up but she was too tired. She then noticed that she was not alone in the room. She saw a young man sleeping on a chair next to her. He had short, dark brown hair and Serena could see that he was very handsome.

"Hello?" Serena said, causing the man to wake up.

"You're awake!" the man quickly got up and called the doctor.

As the doctor came in, Serena started asking some questions. "What happened?" she asked.

"You passed out from a drug overdose," the doctor answered. "Your brother over here rushed you to the hospital as fast as he could."

Serena turned to the man with a confused look. The man gave her a look that most likely meant to just go along with it.

"I'll let you have your rest. Your brother just needs to sign a few papers and you'll be able to leave tomorrow." The doctor soon left.

Serena turned to the man. "My brother?"

"They would only allow family members inside. I couldn't leave you alone," the man said.

Serena smiled. "Well at least let me know the name of my knight in shining armor."

The man gave a small smile and extended. "It's Stefan. Stefan Salvatore."

Serena took his hand. "Serena," she said. "Serena van der Woodsen."

You should probably get some rest," Stefan said.

"Yeah. Is it okay if you leave for a while, I sleep better if I'm alone," Serena requested.

Stefan then gave a serious look. "I don't think I should leave you alone."

"And why not?" Serena asked.

Stefan then stood up. "Because it's not a good idea to leave someone who had a drug overdose alone. Can you explain why a girl like you is doing something stupid like taking drugs?"

Serena's face turned sour. "I don't think I need to explain myself to a complete stranger."

"A complete stranger who just saved your life," Stefan argued.

Serena looked away from him and said nothing.

Stefan sighed. "Look, I can imagine that the only reason a person like you would be taking drugs is to forget something painful. Trust me, I understand."

After hearing that, Serena faced Stefan with an angry look. "No, stop right there! Do not start giving me the 'I understand how you feel' crap!" Tears started to fill Serena's eyes. "You have no way of understanding what I went through!"

"Believe it or not, I do understand!" Stefan responded. "I know you've someone in your life. You feel that without that person, you have nothing left to live for. The guilt you feel is making you wishing that if you had made a different decision, then you wouldn't have made that mistake. You think that running will help you forget. You just want to do whatever it takes to make the pain go away, even if it kills you."

Serena looked at Stefan as she wiped away her tears. "How could you possibly know all that?"

"Because," Stefan began, "I've been through all that. As many times as I can remember, most recently actually. I know that the guilt your feeling is eating at you from the inside, but trust me, it's going to get better."

"What makes you so sure?" Serena asked.

"Well, I haven't killed myself yet," Stefan answered.

Serena gave a small laugh. "Are you always this funny with the girls you save?"

Stefan smiled. "Only when I have to pay for their hospital bill."

Both of them soon started laughing.