Night 50: M21-M30 Hallway

[toxicspiderman]

O.K., what had made it back with him. Pipe, flashlight, toolbox? All present and accounted for. The kit had a few new dents in it, courtesy of one exploding lab bench, but the hinges still open and shut. He didn't need it tonight. A bottle of mixed pharmaceuticals extracted from it was enough in case something tried to eat them or Scarecrow's

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M26

[broodings]

It was cold when Stefan awoke - strange in the midst of summer, stranger still in contrast to the rushing fires of his dream (moving and receding before him, as though they were alive) - and he sat up slowly, confusion clouding his head. He'd woken up to this dullness before. For almost a century and a half, Stefan had risen every morning feeling less than awake, less than complete, with the knowledge that each day only brought more of the same. Hunger and guilt, longing and regret.

Elena had changed that. By instinct, Stefan looked for her beside him in the bed, but wherever he was, it wasn't home. And this sluggishness, he realized, wasn't just in his half-asleep thoughts (how did he get here?), but also his body. He'd experienced weakening by vervain just a couple of weeks ago, and weakening by hunger, or just... being able to compare the paucity of his usual diet against the high that came with imbibing human blood. He was far too familiar with the sensation of suddenly feeling slower, weaker... but even on the animal diet, he remained stronger than any human. As much as he loathed what he was, that strength was second nature to him.

Something was wrong.

Where was he? The details of his dream came rushing back to him again, but Stefan was certain that the events of the festival was no dream. He remembered grabbing the burning doorknob to the basement, recoiling from the heat against his skin, feeling the smoke filling his dead lungs. He'd seen his brother on the floor and had called out his name; heard Damon answer in kind as he rushed to pull him to his feet, and then...

Stefan slid soundlessly out of bed, his every sense now awake, if blunted. Even his vision wasn't as sharp as usual, but his eyes could still make out the rough cloth under his hands, and the pale walls and stifling closed space - all of it so unlike his room in the old boarding house. This was nowhere he immediately recognized as being in Mystic Falls, and it wasn't like there a lot of town to explore. His apprehension, if possible, grew worse.

Someone had changed his clothes. Stefan tugged at the yellow happy face emblem on his shirt in confusion, then dropped his hand to search the room for some hint of what was going on. He was alone, but there were two beds, two desks, two closets. His fingers traced the unbroken spine of the journal on top of one of the desks, not needing to flip it open to know it would be empty, but he did so anyway. The rifling of blank paper in his hands was the only familiar thing in his surroundings. It settled his anxiety for a second, reminding him of Elena and their shared habit.

Elena.

Damon.

If he was here now... then where were they?

Stefan tossed the journal back onto the table and headed for the door, taking nothing with him but a pair of shoes he'd found in the closet. He had to get out of here. He had to find them.

Re: M26

[broodings]

His situation became no clearer as Stefan stepped out into a dark, silent hallway outside his room. A row of identical doors lined one long wall of the closed corridor, like a dormitory or - as he eyed the grimy tile under the rubber soles of his borrowed shoes - a hospital. His shoulders tensed automatically at the realization. If he could help it, Stefan tended to avoid hospitals, unable to completely trust himself when bleeding wounds and blood banks were involved. Especially now, so soon after falling off the wagon, after everything he'd done...

But then, the reason he'd let himself go out into the Founders' Day crowds was because he trusted himself to be able to control his hunger. Because Elena believed he could. Elena. It was at her behest that he'd left her with John Gilbert, and at the time, he hadn't been thinking far beyond the unexpected fear of losing his brother. One nod from her was all the encouragement he'd needed to run after Damon - if he'd been a little more careful, if he'd taken the time to wonder what John had planned-

No, "Uncle" John wouldn't have hurt Elena. Stefan didn't really know the man beyond a few awkward words exchanged at the Gilbert house, but he couldn't imagine a father wanting to harm his child. At least... not unless that child was a vampire.

Or in love with one. Stefan's eyebrows drew together as he pushed the thought down, along with the memories it dragged out. Elena had to be safe. The Founders' Council could do anything with him, being a vampire, but John Gilbert had to have kept her safe. And if what the Council had chosen to put Stefan here instead of letting him burn up in the fire, then maybe... Damon...

The cheap shoes squeaked as Stefan turned and broke into a run, having only one direction to go.

Re: M26

[broodings]

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