𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 | 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 [𝟏]

𝐓𝐖𝐎

CHAPTER TWO | THE HYBRID

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

RILEY WAS STILL ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED FROM STEFAN'S OUTBURST AT ELENA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY. The minute that Damon found Riley slumped in the corner of their bedroom, he hadn't let her go. She remained in his hold the entire night. She put so much faith into getting her best friend back when he clearly didn't want to be saved. It broke Damon to see Riley so upset and heartbroken, and all he wanted was to make everything okay for her.

The entire night, Damon and Riley had been screening Elena's calls. Riley didn't want to speak to anyone, and his girlfriend was Damon's top priority— Elena had to wait.

"You've been dodging my calls." Elena's voice carried as she sauntered, uninvited into Damon and Riley's bedroom. "You both have."

"Been a bit busy, Elena." The strawberry-blonde quietly responded as she finally lifted her head upright. The minute that Riley spoke, Elena knew there was something very wrong.

"What happened?" Elena tilted her head, fear within her eyes as she gazed at the witch.

"Stefan came here last night. He— he made it very clear that he didn't want to be saved. I swear I have never seen him like that before."

An exasperated sigh escaped Elena's lips as she threw her hand up to her forehead in distress. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't do that to you, not last night." Riley simply shrugged in response. "It was your birthday, Elena. You deserved to spend the night without drama, you know?"

"What was she supposed to say, anyway?" A small scoff of disbelief left Damon's lips as he rolled his eyes. "Happy Birthday, Elena. Stefan came dropped by and threatened Riley. Cake?"

"He called me. Stefan called me last night." The doppelganger blurted out once more. "He didn't say anything. But, it was him. I asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call's origin."

"Okay. Did she find anything?" Riley's eyes widened as she tossed the fuzzy blanket off of her shoulders.

"It came from Tennessee."

"Where he's binge drinking on the country folk. We've been through this, Elena. Stefan's gone. If last night wasn't already an indication of that, he'd never hurt Riley. Ever." Damon sighed once he got up to his feet, grabbed the paper from Elena, and tossed them into the fireplace.

"If he was gone he wouldn't have called."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Apparently, Elena had taken matters into her own hands once she knew that Damon and Riley didn't want to continue looking for Stefan. She enlisted Alaric to help her hike up the Smokey Mountain to find Stefan, though Alaric had called Damon and Riley— which Elena was completely unaware of.