i'm on the highway to hell (rp for nosuchthingasfate)

[myherohair]

(Set after Stefan emerges from the bar in episode 5.3, ORIGINAL SIN.)

There was fire everywhere. Fire in his veins, on his skin, in his brain. He was boiling, burning, and charring all at the same time, and he knew it was the end. It felt like the end, it felt like Death closing over his head. Over a century, and Stefan knew he was going to die. He would never see her again, never say goodbye...never get to warn them about Silas...

Then it ended, and there was nothing.

* * * * *

His eyes were still shut when he became aware again. He felt dry and feverish, restless and sore as his veins scraped together with every beat of his heart. Stefan didn't want to wake up, didn't want to burn again, but it was the hunger that made his eyes open. Even that was an effort, to focus, to function was more than three months of drowning and starving could allow him.

It was still dark. Dim, blissfully dim and cool. The cold sweat on his skin helped, and as he tried to make his eyes work he was eternally grateful for the absence of the sun.

He knew he should be dead. Through the hunger, the headache, the fever of bloodlust, he knew he should be dead. The only question was...how was he alive?

He could feel the softness of a flannel blanket under his back...a bed. The fuzzy outline that was coming into focus indicated sun through a window, perhaps, and a form...

A girl. A human. Blood.

Blanching, Stefan came instantly alert, holding himself back as his body surged up and forward, stopping by force of will alone. His movements were jerky, clumsy, as he fought not to jump at the pale, dark haired vessel of blood right within reach, promising an end to his suffering with the hot, sweet, sticky ambrosia of human blood.

"I don't wanna hurt you, so get away from me before I rip your throat out." he panted, breathing hard with the effort of not falling on her like an animal. It helped that he was still weak, still starving...

Christ, now he was starting to wish he was back out in the sun without his ring.

Comments

[nosuchthingasfate]

Allison, you can't be serious.

I am. We all knew Darkness was coming to us but we can't let it escape. I have to do this.

What is your Dad going to say?

I'll deal with it when I get back. Just try not to say anything to anybody until I'm too far for them to find.

Allison...

I know, Lydia. I'll be safe, I promise.

***

Of course those things were easier said than done, weren't they? It was a fact that both Allison and Lydia had been aware of despite the promise made but saying it out loud had appeased the redhead enough to have her help Allison get out of trouble without too much trouble. Lydia had been the only one she could count on after all, especially since she knew Scott and Stiles would have tried stopping her. Isaac too.

Though, in some ways, she almost wished they were with her. Especially in the small motel room that she was currently sharing with a guy she didn't know beyond the fact that she knew he was supernatural. Something she hadn't really come across before she had 'met' him.

Turning around as she heard him then, she watched as he surged upwards before stopping himself, looking sick and scared all at the same time.

Without saying a word, she moved quietly to the mini fridge, pulling it open before removing two blood bags and tossing them onto the bed. "Here, these would be better for you."

[myherohair]

He froze as the blood bags came into view, the viscous red calling to him. Her scent was more appealing, the blood was hot and fresh, and the body in his arms, going slack as life fled, would be so much more satisfying than a fistful of plastic...

His hand moved in a blur, snatching the bags from her grip. Letting one fall into his lap, he tore the end of tubing off the other and began to drink, greedily suckling and growling as the blood coated his tongue. With every passing moment, that sweet taste of human life was easing the burn in his veins, cooling his fever as his body started working and that dry scrape of tissue began to fade. He could breathe again, slowly but surely as he shut his eyes and lost himself in feeding until he'd sucked the blood bag completely clean of every single drop.

Tossing it down, he tore the second one open with less urgency. It only took half the bag this time before Stefan felt safe lifting his head for a deep, ragged breath. His head was spinning and his heart was racing...he was drunk on human blood and still weak, his body still trying to remember the act of breathing and functioning normally after three months of constant drowning.

Still trying to catch his breath, he finally risked a look at the girl who had given him the blood...who had, he assumed, saved him from the sun.

"Thank you." he managed, turning back to the blood bag in his hand. Drawing a shaky breath, he brought it to his lips and started sucking again...this time more slowly, less greedy as he swallowed a few more mouthfuls of blood before he forced himself to stop again, to take a breath before he tried again.

[nosuchthingasfate]

With all the things she had seen since becoming a hunter, it was still strange to see someone drinking blood even from a blood bag and so she turned away as he drank the first bag like his life depended on it. Or maybe like her life depended on it since he had told her he would attack her otherwise.

Wetting her lips, she moved to pick up her bottle of water, cracking it open to take a sip before finally glancing over at him, seeing him toss down the first bag before picking up the second. Already she could see that he was steadier, that he could breathe easily now as the color came back into his cheeks and a light came back into his eyes.

He was cute, she could see that, but there was something else in him that she recognized. Something that had stopped her from killing him the first night.

"You're welcome." She murmured, wondering if once again she was being weak and stupid where she should be smart but she had told her Dad that their new law would be helping those who couldn't help themselves and it was clear this guy needed help. It made her wonder what had happened to him.

"Are you feeling better?"

[myherohair]

Stefan nodded while taking another sip from the bag, a true sip this time as he swallowed twice and stopped, resting the hand holding the blood bag against his knee.

"Yeah, I...you still shouldn't be here." he replied, trying to get his breathing under control again. Lifting his gaze, he took her in again. She was tall and fragile looking, very pretty, but there was something in her wide, dark eyes that both reminded him of Elena and...didn't at the same time.

"It's not safe to be near me." he finished simply, turning back to the blood bag for another long swallow, more to reassure himself than anything that his thirst wouldn't end in her death.

[nosuchthingasfate]

"I can handle myself." She informed him, glancing over again as he looked up to study her. The quiet look had her lifting her chin almost defiantly as she stared him down, making it quite clear in a look that she wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

"Anyways, you needed help." She informed him before taking another sip of her water, leaning back against the dresser as she did.

[myherohair]

There was steel in her, the tilt of her head and the level coolness in her eyes. For one irrational moment, he was reminded of the early days of working with Alaric, before losing Jenna had crippled him, when he was still honed by pain and obsession. There was nothing fanatical about her, just...driven.

And she had pulled him out of the sun.

After one more swallow of blood, he sighed and nodded.

"Well...thank you. I'm Stefan, by the way."

[nosuchthingasfate]

"It's nice to meet you." It was also nice to finally have a name to go with the face of the guy she had saved. "I'm Allison."

There was something in him that almost made her think of Derek though she didn't know if that was a good thing or not, especially considering her history with the once-alpha. It was a shadow, a pain, that told her he was haunted by something but also that he could be dangerous and not just because he drank blood.

"So, now that you're awake, do you mind answering some questions? Like where you're from? ...Can you tell me about vampires?"

[myherohair]

Stefan huffed with silent laughter at that, looking down at the blood bag in his hand before lifting his gaze again, gesturing with it.

"Well, you figured this much out on your own." He quipped without malice. "Seriously, though, there's a lot to know...and you may not want to know it. Pick someplace to start if you're sure, and I'll explain what I can, as best I can."

[nosuchthingasfate]

"Trust me, I learned awhile ago that being informed is the best. Being in the dark just leads to people getting hurt." She told him, moving to sit down in the nearby chair, watching him still.

"So..." She fell quiet for a moment before plunging into it. "Do you kill innocents? Drain them dry?"

[myherohair]

She was keeping her eye on him, and Stefan was both glad for it and conflicted. He didn't want to be here again, the one who was feared, the one who was dangerous...

"We can. Many do." He replied. "But it's not necessary to survive. Human blood makes us strong, but we can survive on animal blood." He gestured with his blood bag again, smiling grimly. "And blood banks are always ripe for the picking."