HUMANITY - A Stefan Salvatore Fanfiction

CHAPTER 13 - CLOSING

"Stefan?"

After the third missed call, Sophia had picked up the phone. She had just finished her shift at The Grill, and she was finally locking up. She told Matt to head home, and that she could close up by herself. He looked exhausted enough as it was.

"Soph, where are you?"

"I'm just leaving my shift—" Sophia struggled with her jacket as she pushed the front door open with her hip. "I know you said it's not safe, but I'm on my way home, okay?"
"It's the full moon tonight, Soph." Stefan said. "And if Klaus needs a werewolf you're a prime target. Just... stay there, stay at The Grill, I'm coming to get you."
"Are you sure? I need to—" Sophia stopped, hearing a sudden whine echo across the empty street.
"Sophia?" Stefan's voice interrupted, and she shook her head distractedly. "You okay?"
"Yeah..." She said, "I thought— nevermind... i'm just feeling all weird and jumpy, sorry."

And there it was again. Clearer this time. At first it sounded like an animal, but the more Sophia listened, the more human it began to sound.

Someone was hurt.

Sophia stopped in her tracks, looking across the square. There wasn't a single person in sight. The muffled, agonising moans still called out to her, crying in the dark. She followed the sound, reaching the top of a set of stairs, leading down to the alleyway behind The Grill.
The yellowed glow of the street lamps only illuminated so far, and Sophia struggled to make anything out.

"Stefan, I think someone's hurt..."

"It could be a trap."

"Or it could be someone that needs help."

She pulled the phone away from her ear, and turned on the torch, holding it out towards the black.
"Hello?" She took a couple of steps, squinting. "Is anyone there?"

It was at that moment, that the groaning stopped, and silence filled the darkness in an instant. Sophia took another couple of steps, holding onto the cool, metal railing for balance.

And then, she could see it.

She could just about make out a figure, slumped in the dark, the source of a sickening river of red that ran towards the stairs.

A scream rose in Sophia's throat, but it was cut short by a sudden blow that swung against the back of her head.

She fell, into the darkness. Slipping against the stone steps, until she hit the wet gravel, hard.

Sophia lay there a moment, aching, fumbling for her phone.
"Stefan?" She called out, hoping, praying that he could still hear her. "Stefan, I—" she pushed herself up, and she could see blood dripping from her face, pooling and mixing with the stream of red.
"Shit..." She winced, gently touching her brow, feeling a deep gash from where she hit the floor.

"That's a nasty cut you've got there, love."

Sophia froze, a sickening sense of dread running through her entire body. She looked around, the slumped figure now gone as she hauled herself to her feet.

She spun to face the stairs, and an unfamiliar figure stood above her.
"What's your problem, asshole?" She spat, dizzy as she fumbled to find her balance. "Who do you think you are?"

"Oh, I'm sure you can guess."

She blinked, stunned into silence. There was only one possible answer, and as she finally spoke once more, bile rose in her throat, mixing with the taste of her own blood.

"Klaus."

He looked younger than she thought he would, with short, dirty blonde curls and a menacing smile that sent shivers down her spine.