What the hell do I do now? Did I just encourage Stefan to kill his own brother? I'm positive that I only spoke negatively of Bennett. Hell, Stefan shouldn't even know who Bennett is. If he were to target anyone, surely Nick should've been the one to kill, right?

Even so, how will I explain this to Mr Grigori, when I don't even know what to make of the situation. I suppose first and foremost I should clean myself and Stefan up.

Once Stefan cut the rope with his inhumanely razor-sharp nails, I was finally able to sit upright. Stefan however didn't spare me a second. As soon as I sat up, he hugged me as tight as possible while snuggling me with his head.

"Stefan loves Vana."

Yes... that's what I'm afraid of.

As I finally pried Stefan off of me, I stood shakily on my own two feet. Rather than trap me in another hug, Stefan instead sought out to grab a hold of my left hand.

He looked up and me with a huge grin. "Vana's hand belongs to Stefan."

Uuuu... he's gotten so clingy, this is bad.

As we made our way down the ladder, I made sure to check if the coast was clear, to my relief, it was. I quickly ushered Stefan into the closest bathroom I could find.

"Alright, time to do something about that face." As I damped a cloth, I quickly wiped Stefan's entire face as fast as I could. "Stefan, do you think you could clean the rest of your body on your own?"

Stefan furrowed his eyebrow in response. "I'll be right back," I explained. "I just need to grab a fresh set of clothes." Since I didn't have much time to spare, I made my way towards the door before Stefan could even finish responding to my question.

My reflexes must've been slow as he grabbed my free hand, prohibiting me from taking one step further. "Vana isn't allowed to leave Stefan."

His stubbornness was really starting to get on my nerves now, but I pretended to not be phased by it. So instead, I gave Stefan a cheery smile as I crouched down to meet him at eye level. "I pinkie-promise to come back. How about that?"

Stefan merely stared at my waving finger. "It's against the rules for someone to break a pinkie promise. It's sacred!" I reassured Stefan. Despite not fully understanding the concept, Stefan relented, and we met halfway with this pinkie promise.

Once I returned as promised with a fresh set of clothes, I helped Stefan finish cleaning himself up. When it was my turn, I had no choice but to force Stefan out of the room. I knew there would be no point in asking him to leave since it's likely he'd just throw another tantrum. And what would you know, my suspicions were confirmed almost immediately.

As Stefan began to bang profusely on the door, I felt my patience running short. "C'mon I'll only be a second!" I shouted through the door.

Once the banging stopped, I thought my words had finally gotten through to Stefan. But boy what I wrong.

"Young master? You're able to speak?" Nick asked in a calm voice.

Oh god, anyone but him! Why did it have to be Nick? I wanted to curse Stefan for drawing him to him. "Stefan wants Vana to come out!"

"Oh," Nick said in response. "Young master, we should inform your father that you can now talk—"

"STEFAN WANTS VANA!" Stefan protested even louder this time.

As I waited anxiously behind the door, I felt my heart sink as a softer knock was made. "Vana, are you in there?" Nick asked in an unsure voice.

Uuuu... I don't want to answer him. I fear that if I make the smallest mistake and slip up, Bennett will call me out on it, and I'll never see the light of day again!

...

But I knew I couldn't keep silent forever. It took every muster of courage I had to project my voice to the best of my abilities. "I'm just finishing up with my bath," I said in a shaky voice. "I'll... be out in a minute."

There was a pause at the door. I knew it. This means I'm done for! He probably recognised me based on the tone of my voice!

"I see," Nick said in response. "Well, I'll put Stefan to bed, you just take your time in there. Okay?"

Wait. He's leaving. There's no way Nick is nice enough to do me a selfless favour like this. This has to be all part of Bennett's scheme; I just know it!

In any case, I quickly finished off drying the rest of my body as fast as I could. I have two options right now. Either look for Mr Grigori and tell him what happened to Atticus or hurry back to my room and grab my suitcase and be on my way.

Hmm... how about both? Yeah, I like that plan. As I made my way towards my room in a brisk fashion, I was unexpectedly cornered by Nick. "N-Nick?" I said, flabbergasted.

"There's something wrong with Stefan!"

Yeah, tell me something I don't know. "I'll go check on him in a minute, but right now there is something I need to—"

There was a knock at the front door. I didn't realise Mr Grigori received visitors at such a late hour like this. However, when I went to look at Nick's face, I saw that he was just as confused as myself. I guess this means that this actually isn't a regular occurrence.

As Nick hurried down the stairs to open the door, I trailed behind him from the top of the staircase out of curiosity. As I partially hid around the corner, Nick gave me one last glance before he opened the door.

"Good evening, we're here for the routine house inspection."

HOUSE INSPECTION???