Gabriella Gilbert Three || Vampire Diaries

Chapter Twenty - Two

Third POV

The only thing that kept Stefan somewhat optimistic during his capture was seeing the bandage on Markos's neck. It doesn't mean much, especially since his friend failed to rip out his throat, but it was oddly pleasant to see.

He'd been bleeding out for who knows how long. He was weak, nauseous. Knowing his friend was able to sink her fangs into their enemy's neck gave him hope that they'd make it out of this.

When Stefan was released from the metal slab he was strapped to, he couldn't see his savior. When his savior abandoned him only moments after freeing him, Stefan knew it would be up to him to free Gabriella and Elena.

Which sucked because he was incredibly weak.

It was sad to see how Elena shrank away from him, thinking he was a traveler or worse, Marcos himself. She calmed down and even let out a sigh of relief once she was freed and saw it was him.

"Where's...Gabby?" She rasped out.

If anything, she was probably in the next cell over. He hadn't been able to hear her like he could with Elena, but her blood isn't needed. Hopefully, they held off on cutting her heart out.

The thought made him sick.

"Come on," he says instead, providing a shoulder for Elena to lean on. "Let's get her."

They peered outside the cell's door to reassure themselves that all the travelers had left. Once they were certain no one else was nearby, they struggled their way to the closed cell next door.

"I haven't—" Elena swallows to fix her dry throat. "I haven't heard her." Well, that's concerning.

It took their combined, weakened strength to push the cell door open.

On a dirty metal slab, much similar to the one Stefan was strapped to, was an unconscious Gabriella.

Like Stefan and Elena, Gabriella was wearing the same clothes she was kidnapped in. She too looked pale, but not as weak as the other two. Her blood wasn't drained and there was no indication of open heart surgery.

The only concerning thing was that she wasn't reacting.

"Gabby," Elena sighs in relief. She hasn't realized it yet. Elena pushes herself off of Stefan to get closer. "Wake up," she says, shaking her sister's shoulder.

Stefan notes how Gabriella isn't bound to the slab.

"Stefan, she isn't waking up," Elena says and Stefan can feel her panic beginning to form.

She's still alive, he notes. She's breathing. She hasn't desiccated. She's just...asleep.

"We gotta go," Stefan reminds.

"Stefan, we can't leave her," Elena scoffs.

"We won't," he promises. He moves next to Elena to assess the best way to do this. "Grab her other side."

Elena glances at Gabriella worriedly before obliging. The two grunt at the dead weight they'll have to carry while being blood-deprived.

This was going to suck.

————

Two painfully slow and agonizing hours later, Stefan and Elena found a payphone. Gabriella still hadn't woken up and was propped against the dirty wooden wall.

"They did something to her," Elena says, feeling a little better now that they had managed to drain a few squirrels. Still, it would never be as good or as refreshing as human blood. "They had to have."