Her name was the Mina M. She was a fast boat and a wondrous thing, with smooth lines and white sails. Her wooden pole was oiled to a sheen, flaunting shrewd warnings that snapped in the breeze.I remained at the front and shut my eyes, envisioning our excursion. The stinging salt air and the splendid yellow sun would whip my cheeks red as the Mina slice through waves, leaving white froth and splash afterward. Minimal silver fish would flicker in the water beneath in their rush to escape the way.On our movements we would see minuscule rowboats cross the water stacked up with bananas and rum in the West Indies. We'd exchange for flavors in India. I'd at last observe Italy, stroll through the Sistine Chapel, wonder before the Duomo, and drink Chianti directly from the vineyard.Maybe… perhaps this would be another lifestyle for me. Going at the speed of water as opposed to restricting myself to the shadows. I'd never remain in one port for a really long time, beating demise and my revile. Mariners ordinarily had no companions yet the men they maintained with †I would fit right in.In any case, at that point I opened my eyes, my dream dissipating into the overwhelming 12 PM that encompassed me. A thick overcast spread clouded the sky and any stars inserted there neglected to radiate through. The Mina slipped quietly out to the ocean, cutting the sleek water with scarcely a murmur.This was the vampire's domain. Despite the fact that my ring permitted me to stroll in the sunlight, my reality existed in dimness. It was at that point, while the sun slept, that I chased, sidestepped adversaries, regurgitated curses, broke guarantees, and gave myself over to detest. We had gotten away from Klaus' crony, however we hadn't crushed him. He and his lord were still out there, some place, anticipating future torment and passing for me and Damon.Lexi came up at hand behind me and contacted my shoulder.“We're in transit to San Francisco,” she said discreetly. “I've not been there… in some time. Be that as it may, you'll love the haze and bleak climate. Incredible for brooding.” She gave me a slender grin. “And I can advise you will be a remarkable brooder.”I inclined toward the deck rail. I didn't have the heart to reveal to her that there could never be a spot for me, that I could never fit. Furthermore, I didn't have the right to, after all the lives I'd finished.The night wind tousled my thick earthy colored hair and Lexi tucked it behind my ear.“He said an eye for an eye,” I started.“Yes. Well.” Lexi took a profound murmur and looked genuine for a second, eyes narrowing. “This is a quick boat and it will require some investment to make sense of our show. Other than the lawful payload of tea and espresso, there's a sizable shipment of opium they're wanting to get in Frisco. The skipper neglected to enlist with the dock ace, so it will be some time before anybody makes sense of where we go tail to.”“No. I mean indeed, that is good.” I scoured an abrupt splash of water from my eyes. “But I meant… he slaughtered the individuals that should be our spouses, since his Katherine was killed.”Lexi gestured, shuddering.“And then he snatched you… and was going to slaughter you and me, and presumably Damon, in a congregation, much the same as Katherine was killed.”Lexi limited her eyes. “I'm not certain I comprehend where you're going with this.”“If he was by and large so specific about whom he slaughtered and in what way, for what reason didn't he set the spot on fire?”Lexi squinted. I saw her work through the rationale. She remained quiet for quite a while. I was unable to peruse her eyes, yet I felt humiliated to consider Katherine at a time this way.“Stefan,” she started. “Please hear me out. There are for the most part levels of malice among our sort. From that old thing that carries out incredible outrages to… minor, terrible easily overlooked details that exist only for their own pleasure, paying little heed to whom it harms.“Katherine needed you to turn into a vampire. Also, take a gander at the outcomes. Try not to sob overmuch for her, Stefan, or quest for intimations to her demise or presence. Release her. It is really the best thing you can do.”I dismissed my head from her and looked toward the main star sufficiently splendid to radiate through the overcast spread †the North Star. Katherine resembled that star: fixed set up, a quiet apparition hanging above me, a benchmark against which to gauge my advancement. Regardless of my sentiments toward her, she had made me, and she would be with me generally.“We're not all evil,” I stated, putting my arm around her. “You're not.”“I'm much more seasoned than you,” she said delicately. “And who I am currently isn't who I've generally been. You're not by any means the only one with things to make amends for, Stefan. Be that as it may, I've made a promise to myself to be different.”“Oh, ugh. Vows.” Damon staggered onto deck boisterously. “By Our Lord, haven't we made enough pledges for a lifetime?”“The relationships were your thought, not mine,” I brought up.“Waah, wahh, I'm a vampire, I had an extremely incredible wedding, extraordinary champagne, my sibling safeguarded me, I'm still tortured.”He bobbed off the deck rails, palming the smooth wood and impelling himself back to the opposite side, port to starboard to and fro until he contacted us. The undeveloped eye would have checked him as flushed, however there was an obvious dark red smear toward the edge of his lips. He was flushed with our departure, with our salvage, with the soul of some poor lodge kid †yet not with drink. Not yet, in any event.“Yes, and discussing salvages, Margaret…” I incited.Damon moaned. “When I stood up to her about having the option to withstand impulse, Margaret conceded she was a witch and said she would help me.”“Just like that?” I asked distrustfully.Damon feigned exacerbation. “In return for us leaving New York and failing to come back †in the course of her life, at any rate. Also, this is the part that murders me, restoring the dowries.”“Aw, Damon. I'm so sorry,” Lexi stated, her shining eyes belying her genuine tone. “Your plan to downy the wealthy didn't work out. Better karma next time.” She punched him delicately in the shoulder.“We owe her our lives,” I said genuinely. “She didn't need to help us by any stretch of the imagination. By all rights, she shouldn't have. The assurance spell she cast around her and her significant other †do you figure it will truly keep them safe?”“I need to accept. In any case, she's a superior soul than you lot,” Lexi articulated.“And discussing better souls…” I stated, scarcely stifling a grin, “what made you return and salvage me? I thought you were never going to budge on ‘never pardoning me' and ‘punishing me until the finish of my days.'”Damon's blue eyes were hidden. “Yes. All things considered, I implied each word. I will never excuse you. I will torment all your livings moment.”I shook my head, packing down the blending of dark wrath inside me that needed to yell to Damon that he may have lost the adoration for his life, yet I lost an actual existence that I cherished. What's more, a dad, and a home.What's more, a sibling.Be that as it may, as fast as the fierceness streamed in, it ebbed pull out once more, leaving me empty. How might I anticipate that my sibling should excuse me for transforming him into a vampire when I was unable to pardon myself for it? He had once adored me, as I had once cherished Katherine, however I could never under any circumstance pardon her for making me what I was currently.Damon took me by the shoulders. “Besides,” he included, the sides of his lips turning up, “if anybody is going to slaughter you, it will be me.”At that point, without another word, he jumped with vampiric speed to the deck rail itself, adjusting without moving the slightest bit as the vessel plunged and shook in the water, just as he were the boat's nonentity, cut in cool marble.He lifted his turn in salute. “I'll be seeing you, brother.”At that point, before I could much articulate his name, he ventured off the rail and dove into the dim water beneath.I hustled to the edge of the vessel and took a gander at the agitating water. Yet, my sibling didn't reemerge. Lexi and I remained there for what felt like an unfathomable length of time, until we were so distant from shore and sky that it felt just as we were suspended in darkness.At that point, when the sun at last looked its red head over the watery skyline, we went inside the faintly lit lodge to confront our future.