Warrior | Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 22

Graciela was spared from the Crescent Curse.

Elijah had called Klaus, ensuring he hadn't been lying about her being exempt from the spell Dahlia had cast on Hayley. He promised he was truthful the first time around. Elijah hung up rather abruptly.

Freya had been making her several soothing teas. They were currently staying at a hotel, and Stefan was with them.

Many things had gone wrong the night of the wedding. Bonnie and Matt had been attacked in the Salvatore House, which was why they never made it to the ceremony. Kai and the Heretics (who were now with Lily, hiding out somewhere) had escaped the prison world. Damon had decapitated Kai when he nearly killed Bonnie and Elena, and injured Caroline with his magic. Before going to call Elijah, Stefan had helped distract the Heretic to allow his brother a chance to make the killing strikr. They got lucky, that much was true.

Almost everyone was gone. Damon, Elena, and Bonnie followed Alaric to Europe, keeping him company as he escaped all the pain that Mystic Falls and Whitmore brought to him. Tyler decided he needed to leave, and had decided to go run with a wolf pack somewhere in another state. Caroline and Matt were coordinating with Sheriff Forbes to find out where the Heretics were staying, and to determine whether they were going to be a threat anytime soon. Enzo wasn't being helpful despite clearly knowing where they were and what they were up to. Graciela thought Caroline was blinded by lust because of his stupid little accent.

Stefan was glad that Lily was nowhere to be found. After learning about how she'd hurt Graciela before the wedding, he didn't want them anywhere near each other. Elijah and Freya agreed.

"Don't worry," said Stefan as they waited in front of Graciela's laptop to print out their boarding passes for a flight back to New Orleans. Elijah and Freya were outside, presumably calling Klaus to warn him not to say anything rude to Graciela. "We'll find my mother and her Heretics, and we'll keep anyone else from getting hurt. How are you feeling?"

"I don't know," Graciela admitted, gliding her finger over the trackpad, urging the window to load. "I came to terms with what happened, what I had to do to save my own life. I know I can't change it. I accept that I'm a killer now, and a werewolf. I won't have to turn if I don't want to. But I can't help but wonder if maybe... maybe I would have been fine. Maybe I didn't need to kill that woman."

"Graciela," said Stefan gently, "what would you have done if you didn't kill her? Where would you have gone?"

"I would have stayed in the barn, I suppose. Until you woke up to heal me."

"Kai would have woken up first. He might have killed you, feeding on you to transition. Or he could have just snapped your neck for fun. You would have died."

"Maybe," she murmured.

He took her hand. "You'll never forget what it's like... looking at the body of the first person you killed. Even if you become used to it or desensitized to murder. It sticks with you. But it doesn't have to haunt you."

"I don't want to kill anyone ever again," said Graciela softly. "I killed that woman, those campers... I don't want anyone else to die at my hand."

"Let that be the goal, then. To help you learn to control your abilities. But know that if you're ever in another life or death situation, and you need to kill to stay alive... you do it. Provided you kill solely to survive and not because you like it, not because you enjoy killing innocents... then I don't think it makes you a bad person."

Graciela stared at the computer screen, clicking 'print.' "I'm going to miss you. I don't know how long it'll be before I see you again. We didn't even get to..." she blushed.