To Be Or Not To Be » Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 10 - Blood and Betrayal

Skye used the quiet to do what she should've done the moment she got here—figure out a way to get the hell out of Mystic Falls.

She couldn't stay forever. Not when her siblings could barge in at any moment.

Even if she was furious with them, she wasn't about to be seen as a traitor.

They were still family. A dysfunctional, murderous, centuries-old family, but family nonetheless.

Hours slipped by with her hunched over Stefan's laptop, scouring bus routes and ticket prices. The best she had so far was a ticket out of town to some nowhere city. She didn't have a car, couldn't just drive off and vanish.

Seattle or Chicago. Those were the options for now. She'd travel more later, but she needed a starting point—somewhere to get an apartment (compelled, at first) until she found a stable job to pay her own way.

A normal, human life. No compulsion, no supernatural crutches. She'd made that promise to herself. Humans didn't have the luxury of taking what they wanted, so neither would she.

She was leaning toward Chicago.

Nik would find her eventually, but she wasn't running from him—just creating distance. Space to figure out who she was without him.

Maybe, in a few decades, she'd return to the family. When she was ready.

If something that broken could even be fixed. It could take centuries before she felt like she could be part of them again. Maybe she'd reach out to Rebekah before then, but she was determined to stay away from Niklaus for a long, long time. She needed to breathe, to live for herself.

The silence of the Salvatore house was louder than it should have been.

Technically, she wasn't alone—Stefan and Alaric were downstairs, talking about God-knows-what—but the house felt empty. Damon and Elena had probably landed by now, wherever it was they'd gone. Skye had been curious, but she knew better than to ask.

She wandered. Touched framed photos, traced over antique decorations, flipped through books she had no real intention of reading. She avoided anything too personal—she already felt like enough of an intruder.

She was flipping through a book on medicinal plants when she felt it.

Another presence.

Her back was turned to the room, but she didn't need to see to know.

Still, she turned, half-distracted, an apology already on her lips. "Sorry, Stef—"

The words died instantly.

Niklaus stood there. Blank-faced, tense-shouldered, eyes dark with something between rage and confusion.

Skye froze.

Her mouth wouldn't open. Her limbs wouldn't move. The book in her hands grew heavier by the second.

She just... stood there.

"I thought you left town," Klaus said. Calm. Too calm.

Skye swallowed. "I'm still deciding where to go." Her voice came out rough, unsteady.

"And in the meantime, you decided to reside here?" His tone dipped lower, laced with something sharp and dangerous.

She straightened. Forced herself to. "This was the only place I could go."

Fury flickered across his face, and he stepped forward.

"You really want to live with the people who killed your brother?"