HUMANITY - A Stefan Salvatore Fanfiction

CHAPTER 17 - STRANGER

To Sophia, the next morning was like waking up into a nightmare.

She had hardly slept. And yet, her brother was sound asleep in the next room, almost completely unfazed by what had transpired the night before.

She thought Tyler would be different.

But he seemed happy, which only served to unnerve his sister even more.

The sun had barely started to rise, when Sophia's phone vibrated at long last. She grabbed it from her bedside table, surprised to see Damon's name on the screen.

"Damon?"

"Guess who showed up in the middle of the night?"

"How is he?"

"Hard to say..." Damon mused. "Stefan without humanity is just..." there was a long pause, followed by a frustrated sigh as he struggled to explain Stefan's condition. "It's easier if you see for yourself."
"I'll be there soon." Sophia replied, clambering out of bed. "Any update on Klaus?"
"Apparently he skipped town after I name dropped Mikael."
"We know he'll be back, Damon." Sophia said nervously. "If he needs Elena's blood, he's not going to leave her alone."
"I know, and I'll protect her." Damon said. "I'll see you soon..." a moment passed, as if he were summoning the courage to speak. "I'm sorry I wasn't there, Lockwood." He said. And Sophia finally understood how he felt.

As tough as Damon pretended to be, he still cared about Stefan. More so than he let on.

"Don't think for one minute that this was your fault, Damon."

Sophia paused.

"We'll get him back."

__________

It was still early when Sophia arrived at the boarding house. It was the first day of her senior year, and she had to admit... this isn't how she pictured it.

The smell of blood was dense, and cloying. And Sophia tensed at the sight of a body slumped on the ground by the staircase. It was a girl, not much older than her, by the looks of it. She wasn't moving, blood still dripping from her neck, as Sophia knelt down beside her.

"She's dead."

Damon leant against the wall beside her. He didn't seem fazed by the body, more so perhaps by the blood that had seeped its way into the rug.
"Yup." he said. "Stefan doesn't care about covering his tracks either, if you're wondering. I had to do that."
Sophia felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She still wasn't used to being around so much death and violence, and she couldn't help but think that the girl looked like Sarah. She was taken back to that night at the masquerade, and she looked pale as she stood up to face Damon again.
"I probably should've warned you." he admitted. And Sophia shook her her head.
"I needed to see it for myself." she said. "When you said no humanity, I didn't think—"

"I was wondering when you would show up."

Stefan appeared at that moment, emerging from the living room with an expression that made Sophia's stomach twist as he interrupted her.

"What happened to you, Stefan?"

"Klaus compelled me to flip my switch." he said, all too casually. "No big deal, means I'm not burdened by feelings anymore. I can just... be whoever I want. Although..." he paused, taking a sip of blood from his glass. "Klaus did ask me to keep an eye on you and your brother."
Sophia scowled. "We can take care of ourselves."
"You're still human, Sophia. You're fragile, and you're also a hot head. Which isn't really a good mix." he said simply, almost mocking her with his tone. "But when Klaus gets back to town, he can trigger your curse, drain Elena like a blood bag and turn you into hybrid, I don't care. I'm just here to make sure you, or your brother for that matter, don't do anything stupid in the meantime."