CHAPTER ELEVEN | THE LIES WILL CATCH UP TO YOU

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KLARA LAID IN BED WITH HER EYES FIXED TO THE CEILING ABOVE HER. Since Stefan had headed out the previous night to speak with Bonnie, she hadn't heard from him since. When she woke up the next morning, he wasn't beside her so she assumed that his conversation with Bonnie went awry. So, she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and attempted to call Bennett girl, who hadn't returned any of her calls since Enzo died.

All Klara was met with, was Bonnie's voicemail greeting— which she half expected. "Hey, Bon. It's me. I know that Stefan wanted to come over and speak to you last night. I just— I guess I wanted to know how that went. Look, I really miss you, and I'd love to hear the sound of your voice. But, I completely understand why you stopped answering. If you need some time, space whatever, I'm here for you. I love you."

"Still nothing?" Caroline asked with a raised eyebrow as she appeared in Klara's doorway. The blonde vampire sat upright as Caroline stepped into the bedroom.

"Absolutely nothing." Klara sighed heavily. "I haven't heard from Stefan, either. I just— I don't think I've ever felt this helpless in my entire life."

"Look, she just needs time, Klara. You'd feel the same if you were in her position, right? If you lost Stefan?" Klara nodded slowly as Caroline took a breath. "She knows that you wanna be there for her. And, she'll reach out when the times right for her."

Caroline crawled into bed beside Klara as the blonde vampire rested her head against her best friend's shoulder. "God. I didn't realize how badly I needed a hug until now."

"Well, what are best friends for, huh?" Caroline chuckled softly as she wrapped her arm around Klara's shoulder. "So, what're your plans for today?"

"Uh, wallow in my unending misery?" Klara sarcastically answered.

"Hilarious." The Forbes vampire scoffed. "But, I'm serious. We should have a pamper day or something. I know you're struggling just as much as anyone else."

A satisfactory gasp escaped Klara's lips, but before she could answer Caroline's request on a nice, normal day, her phone started to buzz on the nightstand. At first, she thought it was Stefan, but then she read the Caller ID and it was Matt. "Something I can do for you, Sheriff?"

"Klara, I need your help. I received three calls this morning from Mystic Falls residents wanting to report old crimes: Disappearances, cold-cases, all involving Stefan." Matt explained. "One of them even wondered if he was a vampire."

"What?" Caroline gasped from beside Klara, indicating that she was listening to the call.

"I'm bringing them into the station and keep them in separate rooms, trying to keep everyone quiet for now."

"But, how could they know that any of this? I mean, surely they were all compelled." Klara furrowed her brows with a look of confusion on her face.

"I don't know, Klara." Matt stressfully sighed. "They said these memories came back a couple days ago."

"Oh, my God. When Stefan turned human, everybody he ever compelled started to remember." Caroline explained with widened eyes as she turned to her best friend.

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Klara and Caroline headed down to the Police Department to help Matt with all of Stefan's compulsion victims. Caroline took one interview room, while Klara was situated in another in an attempt to get through all of the people in a quicker time frame. A man stepped in, with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hi," Klara spoke with a welcoming tone of voice as the man took a seat opposite her. She leaned forward and started to compel him. "Please, tell me what you remember about Stefan Salvatore."

"It was about six years ago. There was this murderer, lying in a hospital bed, with a bullet wound. I'm supposed to be guarding his room, then the damnedest thing happened." The man explained while Klara furrowed her brows. "This intense guy, weird hair, walks right up to me, looks me in the eye, and says time for a little break. I'm not supposed to leave my post, but the way he said it—"

"Like you had no choice but to do what he said, right?" Klara nodded slowly as Matt leaned against the wall, listening.

"Yeah, something like it." The man nodded. "Anyway, I come back. And the murderer? Vanished. Guess who takes the fall? I lost my badge. I lost my pension. I fell off the wagon."

A look of complete and utter sympathy fell across Klara's face. She took a deep breath to try and compose herself. "I'm so sorry." She cleared her throat and leaned forward to compel him once more. "But, I need you to completely wipe the night at the hospital from your mind. Forget about it. Clean yourself up, and turn your life around. You'll receive a check from Stefan Salvatore in the mail. Don't ask any questions, just put the money to good use."

Once Klara had finished compelling the ex-officer, Matt took a breath and patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you, Officer. If you feel like Police work is still in your blood, give me a call." Matt ushered him out of the room while Klara rested her head in her hands.

"I need you to reach out to that guy's family, so I can make sure that everyone's stories line up otherwise somehow it'll come back on Stefan again." The vampire spoke, tiredly.

"You're taking this awfully well. Are you evening listening—"

"—What? Of course, I'm listening to the effects that this has on innocent lives, Matt. But, what the hell do you want me to do? Caroline and I are here trying to fix it, okay? Just cut me a bit of stack, okay?" Klara took a deep breath and leaned backward in her seat just as Matt nodded and stepped out of the room. She grabbed her ringing phone from the table and placed it to her ear. "Ric, everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's okay. The girls are fine. We've just been on the road." Alaric revealed as Klara's brows furrowed.

"What? Where are you, guys?"

"Uh, at the Armory," Alaric revealed as he took a deep breath. "Hey, listen, uh— I was thinking, maybe we could come by and meet you at the house tonight?"

"That would— that would be really amazing, especially considering the kind of day that I'm having." Klara chuckled softly. "But, are you sure? I thought you wanted to wait until Mystic Falls was one-hundred percent safe."

A soft chuckle left the man's lips. "Well, maybe one-hundred percent isn't a realistic goal. It'll be good to come home. Besides, I think I need some good parenting advice."

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"My condolences about your niece, Mr. Fell. I'm not a Doctor, but I'm sure that she didn't suffer." Klara spoke softly toward Mr. Fell, who she had compelled to believe his niece, Violet, suffered an aneurysm. Though, of course, she was the young girl that Stefan turned into a vampire at the Miss Mystic pageant and then killed a day later.

"Thank you for stopping by." Matt nodded appreciatively toward the man, who nodded and then was ushered out of the interview room.

"God. I hate sitting here and having to lie to them. I mean, if that was me I'd want to know exactly what happened, but—" Klara lifted her hands up to her head and inhaled deeply.

"I don't know, that was a pretty good lie, as far as lies are concerned. You should see the number of animal attacks Caroline's Mom logged." Matt scoffed softly in an attempt to make the blonde feel better. "Probably ruined camping for an entire generation of Mystic Falls families." Suddenly, Matt's phone started to ring. "Hey, Dorian. What's up?"

"I did something bad. I kidnapped Stefan, I brought him out to the middle of nowhere and I tried to murder him." Dorian breathlessly spoke down the phone as Klara's eyes lifted up toward Matt. "There's so much blood. I need your help, man. Come on."

At the mention of the fact, there was blood, Klara lifted herself to her feet. "Dorian, where are you?"

"I'm on Pineridge Road, somewhere near the abandoned power plant." And, with that, Klara was headed straight for him.

Klara headed to Pineridge Road and then listened carefully for the sound of Dorian. Once she heard him shouting for Stefan, she sped to the scene of the crime and noticed that her fiancee was barely conscious. "Oh, my God. Stefan!" She yelled.

"Help us— you can fix him with your blood!" Dorian yelled in Klara's direction as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and applied pressure on the open wound.

"He took the cure, you idiot! Vampire blood doesn't heal him anymore." The blonde vampire frantically cried out as Stefan struggled to breathe until he fell unconscious. "No, no. Come on, Stefan, this can't be happening."

"Klara, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that this would happen. I don't even know what—"

"—Shut up! Just, shut up!" Klara cried out again as tears streamed down her face just as the ambulance pulled up a short distance away from them. "You did this to him, I don't care about how sorry you are. If he dies, Dorian, I swear—" A sudden gasp left Stefan's lips as his eyes locked with Klara's. "—Stefan! It's okay. I love you, everything's gonna be okay."

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Klara carefully pushed open the hospital room door and wandered in with her arms folded across her chest just as Stefan lifted his head to make eye contact with her. "Hey, you. The doctors are saying you're a lucky guy. They managed to stop the hemorrhaging. I just apologized to Dorian, and thanked him for saving your life, I mean, after trying to kill you."

"Well, I don't blame him." The weakened Salvatore shrugged softly. "He may have pulled the trigger, but I loaded that gun years ago when I murdered his family. And, he's not the only one on the list."

"Oh, believe me, Stef, I know." Klara nodded slowly as Stefan furrowed his brows, cluelessly. "Caroline and I have spent the entire day re-compelling all your collateral damage. I know what you're thinking right now."

"You sure about that? Earlier, it would've been so much easier for me to let go. No more guilt. No regrets."

"But, you'd be in Hell, Stefan. Unless, of course, that's what you think that you deserve?" The blonde vampire tilted her head.

"I don't know. I don't know who I am anymore."

Klara slowly stepped forward and grabbed the Salvatore by the hand. "You've been human for two days after over one-hundred and fifty-years as a vampire. You're allowed to feel lost. You just need to learn who you are now, without the vampirism."

"I think that means leaving Mystic Falls. Alone." A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he watched Klara's mouth gape open in horror.

"Alone? What're you talking about, Stefan? I have been here with you through everything and now you wanna just throw this away. You wanna end us and you think it'll solve your problems."

Stefan nodded. "I'm doing this for y—"

"—No, you're not!" Klara angrily yanked her hand away from Stefan and took a step backward. "You're not doing this for me. This is about you being a martyr to your past, it's not about me!"

"Be honest. What future can we have?" Stefan asked as the blonde vampire shrugged.

"I don't know, Stefan. I just— I never knew, and I loved that about us. You and I were so unpredictable and I loved the thrill of it all. I loved the fact that no matter what, I had you and you had me. But, now— I don't know." Klara shook her head and immediately walked straight out of his hospital room.

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