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⭒❃.✮:▹
Mystic Falls was a town steeped in blood and tragedy, a place where many met their untimely end and where others lost themselves, only to find their way back again, drawn by the love they held for the hometown that had been raised in.
Among those who lost themselves was Stefan Salvatore, born on November 1, 1846, and tragically killed when in September 1864, when he was just seventeen years old. But it wasn't just his infamous persona as the Ripper of Monterey or his struggle to control his bloodlust that led to his downfall. It was the grief of losing the woman he loved.
Love was Stefan Salvatore's greatest strength—and his greatest weakness.
That love was for a girl named Arabelle Petrova, or as he knew her, Arabella Pierce.
The boy had no idea that the girl was a vampire when she first came crashing into town with her two older siblings. Let alone that she was a heretic.
When Arabella first arrived in Mystic Falls with her two older siblings, Stefan had no idea she was a vampire, let alone a heretic. To him, she was simply the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. It wasn't until later in their relationship, when she became his fiancée, that he discovered her true nature—something he was supposed to despise, as his father had instilled in him time and time again.
Arabella was slow to trust, and it wasn't until they began their secret relationship—hidden from everyone in the Salvatore household except for Emily Bennett, Arabella's only trusted friend—that she began to open up to him. Stefan was aware that even after revealing her real nature as a vampire and a witch, Arabella still held back, burdened by secrets that had plagued her for far too long. But Stefan, in his deep affection, never pressured her to share more than she was ready to. He knew she would confide in him when the time was right.
But she never got the chance.
Months after their actual marriage was when trouble began to stir. Arabella's older sister, always scheming, made deals with George Lockwood to secure her siblings' safety, indifferent to the consequences for others like Stefan and Damon. This betrayal, unknown to Stefan and his brother Damon, set off a chain of events that would shatter Stefan's heart.
In a misguided attempt to protect the girl he loved, Stefan turned to his father, trusting him against his better judgment. Something that his brother warned him not to do. The decision led to his third heartbreak: Arabella, along with her siblings, was moved to the tomb, and Stefan was left to bear the pain of her loss for a hundred and forty - five years. The agony deepened even more when he and Damon discovered that the Pierces were not in the tomb as they had believed.
Stefan's hope for reunion with Arabella surged when he learned of Damon's plan to open the tomb. While Damon changed his love for Katherine into hatred, Stefan couldn't bring himself to do the same with Arabella. The thought that she hadn't suffered for over a century in the tomb without something - or in her case someone to eat, brought him some peace, but the pain of her absence, of her not seeking him out, raised tormenting questions in him.
