The Bourbon Diaries ✢ The Vampire Diaries FanFiction ✢ TVD FanFic ✢ TVDU FanFic

Chapter Forty-Two - Stefanie Salvatore

Present day

Border of NC and VA

It was nearing midnight when Gabe and Zakariah left the Halfway House with Dimitri because Phoenix wouldn't stop complaining about being hungry. Not that it was going to be easy to remove a ward from a hospital and stock up on blood bags at night, but Gabe knew he was also going to need them now that he was back together with Winifred. He guessed hundreds of years hadn't changed her opinion on him feeding on humans.

While they waited, Winifred continued to repair her relationship with Ava, and Stef continued to interrogate Raid on the phone conversation with her father.

"So you didn't mention anything about vampires?" she checked, standing close to him, resting one elbow on the counter. She didn't suspect he had, given her father hadn't exploded over the phone, but she'd already asked a hundred questions and she still wasn't any closer to finding out why Raid was now acting like her father was his new BFF and potential golfing buddy. She didn't have the heart to tell him that her dad's golfing buddy was already Alaric.

"Of course not," Raid confirmed from the seat next to her.

"Or witches?"

"No."

"Or werewolves?"

Raid's head spun towards her. "There are werewolves?"

Stef shrugged. "Sometimes. They keep to their packs."

"So werewolves have packs... witches have covens... what do vampires have?"

"Alcohol," Phoenix answered, tipping back his drink next to him. He slammed the empty glass down on the counter. "When's the take-out getting here? I'm so ready to leave."

"You're not leaving until Stef makes peace with the Coven," Gideon replied, "particularly Cristian. Calling a truce means nothing unless you prove it can work."

"You want me to forget everything he's done?" Stef shot. "I watched a man die because of him. He killed---"

"A drug dealer," Gideon finished, silencing her. "Lyle was a drug dealer, ruining lives daily and only an overdose away from killing someone himself. Don't act like you're going to mourn him." When Stef resentfully gave him a conceding huff, he turned in the direction of where Cristian was standing across the room and gestured for his attention via a nearby witch. Cristian then responded with a nod of acknowledgement as Gideon waved him over, but continued a conversation with a member of his Coven, in no hurry to jump to his request.

Raid could tell Stef was dreading it. She stared towards Cristian, her jaw set, her nails pressing into her palm, as he slyly smirked at her between breaks in his conversation. Then, when Cristian finally started heading over, she suddenly placed a tense hand over Raid's forearm. Somehow, she needed him right now, whether it was for comfort, security, or just to stop her from slapping the shit out of the guy again. Raid's heart sank. In the state he was in now, Raid had never felt more useless.

"Would more vampire blood help me sober up?" he whispered to Phoenix. The whispering didn't matter; Stef still heard, a look of surprise spreading across her face.

"Not how it works," Phoenix replied. "If it's already in your system when you start drinking then you won't feel the effects of alcohol for a while, but it doesn't sober you up once you're drunk. You'd be better off using one of the bathrooms in this place to take a freezing cold shower---get a burst of adrenaline in you."

"The adrenaline would wear off before it made enough of a difference," Stef countered. "Though another dose of vampire blood might speed the elimination process up during that time."