An Elemental Difference - AIR - Book 1 (Stefan Salvatore)

Chapter 19 - That's like the world's fattest man giving dieting tips, Damon!

MYSTIC FALLS HIGH

When Aella stopped screaming, she fell into Stefan, overwhelmed by the events, and the pain in Damon's head stopped, yet still reverberated. Damon glared over at Aella, who could only scowl in his direction, face wet with tears as a red lump began forming on her forehead.

Damon glanced over to Stefan, trying to ignore the pain still in his head, "Hope you finally understand now, bro."

Stefan watched his brother speed off and looked down at Aella, fingers gently stroking the bump forming, "Are you okay?"

Aella shook her head and turned into his arms sobbing, and Stefan could only hold onto her tighter, rocking her, relieved that Damon hadn't used Aella to make his point as well.

The sound of footsteps grey near, as those who heard Aella's screams, ran to make sure she was okay. Caroline, Matt, and a few football players, who were the closest to the car lot, reached them first. Caroline located her best friend curled up with Stefan and sprinted over to them, about to question what had occurred when Matt gasped in horror, "Oh my god!"

Caroline looked up from her knelt position next to Aella to see the legs of a person, sticking out from the side of a car.

"It's Tanner," Stefan told her, over Aella's sobs.

"What!" Caroline exclaimed, tears filling her eyes. "But he was jus-"

"-Damon did it to prove a point." Stefan interrupted her.

Caroline covered her mouth in horror, "And-" she motioned with her eyes to her best friend.

"I couldn't stop it," Aella confessed, pulling away from Stefan to look at her best friend. "All these powers and I couldn't stop it, C."

Caroline nodded, her heart hurting with how much pain her best friend was in. Holding out her arms, Aella fell into them and started sobbing again.

Stefan held up his phone to Caroline. She held her best friend tight and kissed her head, just as Aella had done with her following her confrontation with Damon less than twenty-four hours ago, "I'm calling 911."

Bonnie ran over just as the ambulance arrived and the paramedics looked over Tanner. She saw her cousin staring lifelessly at the scene in Caroline's arms as Stefan stood on her other side while Matt and Tyler stood next to Caroline. Bonnie had been laughing with some of the other cheerleaders when news started to spread. Stopping in her spot, she looked to the space Tanner's body laid, where she and Aella had stood in only thirty minutes ago.

"Oh no," she gasped at the sight, tears forming in her eyes.

"It's not your fault." Bonnie jumped at the voice and turned to see Stefan standing there, "You and Aella may look very different from each other, but you both have the same 'self-blame' face."

Bonnie glanced over his shoulder and saw her cousin was now missing. Stefan gestured to when Aella just was, "Caroline took Aella to her car."

Bonnie nodded, yet still said nothing.

"This was not your fault," he repeated.

Bonnie nodded, "I know." She then frowned, "Who found him?"

"Aella," Stefan confessed. "I heard her screams and quickly found her."

Bonnie couldn't explain it, be somewhere deep inside her body, she felt Stefan was lying. About what? She didn't know, but in those eight words he confessed to her, there was more to this story.

And she was going to find out.

GILBERT HOUSEHOLD

Caroline and Bonnie took Aella and Stefan home when they realized Elena and Jeremy had left already in Aella's car. Jenna took hold of a sobbing Aella as soon as they stepped into the house, Stefan having called Jenna on the way so she would be aware.