Vampire Diaries Imagines

In The Shadows - Stefan Salvatore

I always knew YN would come back to Mystic Falls one day. I just didn't expect her to stay in the shadows this long.

She had always been good at that-watching, waiting, analyzing from a distance until she was ready to strike. But she never had to hide from me. Not then. Not now.

Yet, here she was, keeping herself just out of reach, her presence lingering like a whisper in the wind. I felt her before I saw her, sensed the sharpness of her gaze every time Elena took my hand or leaned against me in that effortless way she did. It was only a matter of time before she made her move. If she had planned to make one at all.

I found her in the cemetery, the place where the past was always a little too close for comfort. Moonlight cast long shadows over the headstones, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and aged stone. She stood in front of an old crypt that bore the Forbes name, arms crossed, chin lifted in defiance, just as I remembered. The only thing different was the fire in her eyes-still the same fire, but now, fueled by a fury I had no way of taming.

"I knew you would come find me sooner or later," she said, voice laced with irritation.

I exhaled slowly, stepping closer. "You weren't exactly subtle, YNN."

"Didn't plan to be." She tilted her head, studying me like she was searching for something she might've lost long ago. "Tell me, Stefan. Why? Why her?"

I knew exactly what she meant. Knew that she had spent countless nights, countless years, letting the memory of Katherine Pierce haunt her. Knew that, no matter how much time had passed, the betrayal still stung.

"She's not Katherine."

She scoffed, arms tightening around herself as if trying to hold something back. "I know that. I did my research. Elena Gilbert, the sweet but tragic damsel of Mystic Falls." Her voice was laced with sarcasm, but there was something else beneath it. Pain. Anguish. "But you can't tell me you don't see it, Stefan. Her face. Her voice. It's her. Every moment I've spent watching has been like reliving the nightmare. Watching as history seems to be repeating but if only in looks."

I stepped closer, gently. "I wouldn't be with her if she was anything like Katherine."

Her jaw clenched. "And yet, here you are. With someone who looks exactly like her."

"I know how it looks." I let out a breath. "But Elena-she's different. She's everything Katherine could never be."

YN laughed, a bitter sound that barely resembled the warmth I once knew. "That's a comforting thought, isn't it?" She turned away, but not before I saw the flicker of something deeper in her eyes. Fear. Anger. Resentment.

I reached out, hesitated, then let my hand drop. "You don't have to stay in the shadows, YNN."

She glanced at me over her shoulder. "I wasn't hiding from you, Stefan. I have always been there. You just had other things on your mind than to come for me."

Something about the way she said it sent a chill down my spine.

I swallowed. "Katherine's still out there, isn't she?"

Her lips pressed into a thin line, and for a moment, she didn't answer. Then, with a slow nod, she confirmed what I already knew.

"She never really left," she murmured. "Like myself, she has kept her distance. I've seen her a few times. Didn't trust myself to get any closer than I already was. If I did, she wouldn't be. But I am no cold, heartless killer. She'll make her return but I'll be sure she regrets it."

A silence stretched between us, thick and unspoken. There was no need for more words. We both knew what came next.

YN had spent years running from ghosts, and I had spent years trying to move past them. But the past had a way of catching up.