She'd been running in fear for hours. Tree branches had scraped and torn at her skin and clothing, more than one root had caused her to stumble and fall, ripping her palms and had short whimpers leaving her throat before she was up and running yet again, her lungs burning, legs aching as she moved further and further away from her family home. A part of her urged her to just stop, to give up. She was going to be punished more severely than last time for running away so close to the date if she were to be caught. If she just turned around and went back home, maybe it would be a less harsh beating. If her aunt and uncle even dared to beat her now. They would most likely be too afraid of marring her skin so close to the arrival of the Originals.
The Originals.
Caroline's legs pushed her even further away from her house, her heart pumping so furiously she was sure it would explode from her chest cavity if she continued for much longer. She knew logically she needed to stop and take a break from her running, but just thinking about the Original clan was more than enough to send her body into flight mode, fleeing the present danger of the new predator. They were all monsters, every single one of them. Her aunt and uncle might even have been even worse monsters for selling her to them as if she was worth nothing more than a loaf of bread. Maybe she wasn't to the people who had raised her, but Caroline felt more highly of herself than that. She was nearly nineteen, she was supposed to be going back to college in a few short weeks, not catering to the vampire family that pretty much ruled over most of the United States. Granted, not too many humans were aware of their existence, but Caroline's family had been well aware of what lurked in the night since the 1800s when vampires and witches first came to Mystic Falls. Caroline's family had been dedicated to fighting them off, keeping them from praying on the human population in the town, until her parents had died and the mantle was passed down to Caroline's aunt and uncle.
In fact, it was their love, and fear, of the Original family that got Caroline into the current mess she was in. Caroline's aunt Sophie was practically in love with the vampire called Cole, who was as sadistic as her, and had vowed to give his family a piece of herself. By that, she meant Caroline, whom she sold to them and told them to do whatever they wanted with. Caroline had been mortified with Sophie but angry with her uncle David for letting the current predicament happen. Why didn't they love her?
A tear rolled down Caroline's cheek and as a soft sob left her throat her body stilled before she sank to the ground, uncaring if bugs and creepy crawlers moved over her body. None of that was a pressing concern for her at the moment. She used a torn hand to wipe the tears from her face, barely noticing as the tears burned the cuts along her skin. Even as she felt more tears welling up inside of her, Caroline scolded herself for crying. What point was there in weeping over those people she once called family? There wasn't. They'd never been kind to her, sometimes even resorting to physical violence to keep her in line. They didn't deserve her tears or her heartache. The only thing they deserved was her wrath, but Caroline was too genuine of a person to ever try and harm someone else, physically or emotionally.
Steeling her emotions, Caroline dug her palms into the rich dirt, pushing herself off of the ground and dusting herself off slightly. She grimaced when she noticed her dirt caked hands had instead pressed dirt and drying blood into her torn jeans. Even her shirt was slight torn and bloody from hours of trekking through the woods. At least her Converse were alright, although she would have killed for some actual tennis shoes. Not that it mattered. Soon enough she would be in the next town over and she could hitch a ride with someone to a bus stop. She had about $80 in her pocket which she planned on using to get as far from this hell hole as possible.
A growl started in Caroline's stomach, causing her face to turn a delicate shade of pink before she shrugged off the backpack she'd had on moments before. Unzipping it, Caroline was careful not to touch any of the clothing she'd taken with her and instead found a Clif bar. Zipping her bag back up, Caroline ripped open the wrapper, practically shoving half of the bar into her mouth, taking a few quick chops before choking it down. Finishing the rest of the energy bar, Caroline shoved the wrapper into a side pocket of her backpack before slinging it back over her shoulders and turning in the direction she'd been heading in all along.
Thinking back to her measly $80, Caroline reprimanded herself for not draining her bank account at an ATM before running away. She didn't have much in that account, but it would have helped her a lot more than $80. Maybe if they had an ATM at the bus station she could use her card one last time to withdraw money, but the idea made her nervous.
Caroline walked further and further as she thought, taking time to rest her aching body as she moved slowly through the woods.
How fast could they track her debit card to her if she used it once at a bus station? It's not like she would be using it to purchase a ticket, so maybe they wouldn't find out where she was going. Maybe the Originals wouldn't even care that she ran away and wouldn't even bother looking for her. That was always a comforting thought. Caroline might have been more inclined to believe it if they Original family hadn't already forked over the money for her servitude. Hell, Caroline should have stolen some of that from her aunt's fat fingers while she'd been sleeping. But the odds of her waking up and having David chase Caroline down as she escaped had been too high, so she had left with as little as possible.
All Caroline had learned from vampires began with the Original family, which was why they were commonly referred to as 'The Originals' as opposed to their actual last name, which was the Mikaelson's. As far as Caroline knew, they were the very first of the vampire race, created by their witch mother, who cast some sort of creepy spell on them to make them live forever. Unfortunately for them, it had side affects. Like bloodlust, inability to be in the sunlight and so forth. This also caused them to turn more humans into vampires like themselves, they had witches create trinkets that allowed them to walk in the sunlight and they had super speed, strength, agility, blah, blah. They were all over a thousand years old, but they looked the age they did when they were turned into vampires. At least that's what Caroline heard, considering she'd never met them. She'd only heard the horror stories her aunt told her as well as what Caroline read in the family journals.
Each description of the vampires in the journals came complete with pictures, although Caroline never studied them much. The descriptions were enough to give her nightmares. The last thing she wanted to do was place a face with the names, especially when it came to Niklaus Mikaelson. The journal entries of him were by far the worst. Although his brother Cole was a cruel and evil vampire, what she'd heard of Niklaus was far more worse and diabolical. He trusted no one, tortured and killed for sport, killed for anything really, would destroy anyone who crossed him even in the slightest, including his family.
Although it was said the Originals were impossible to kill, Caroline had it on good authority that Niklaus would insert special daggers into his siblings hearts if they angered him, causing them to sleep however long Niklaus saw fit, sometimes for decades or even centuries until his anger was sated. Caroline couldn't think of anything more cruel and she'd essentially been sold as a slave to a bunch of bloodsuckers by her closest family.
Letting the food settle in Caroline's stomach only proved to do one thing; it made her exhausted. As the fatigue set in all Caroline wanted to do was curl into a ball on the floor and fall asleep. The sun was already beginning to set, which let her know she'd been on the run for at least ten hours. In fact, Sophie and David had probably already met with the Originals and something horrible had most likely happened to them before the Originals went about their business elsewhere.
The more the sun sank from view and the world around her darkened into night, Caroline was more and more sure she would escape intact and be able to start a new life somewhere far from Mystic Falls and the dark world of vampires.
Caroline was so lost in thought she smacked right into a solid object, stumbling back in the hopes of orienting herself. Looking straight ahead, Caroline was baffled to find she had literally run into a man while traipsing through the woods. And what a man he was. The first thing Caroline noticed about him was that he was gorgeous. He was tall with a lean frame, his eyes were a dreamy bluish green, his short hair was dirty blond and with his facial hair and the smirk he had on his face, he looked positively devilish.
"Oh wow, I'm so sorry! I didn't think anyone else was out here, otherwise I would have been paying more attention." His smirk deepened even more as her face reddened with embarrassment.
"Don't be embarrassed, love. Accidents happen. Now what's a lovely thing like you doing out here in the deep, dark woods so late at night?"
Caroline shivered at his tone and the way his eyes deepened as he look directly at her, almost as if wanting her to spill all of her secrets.
"I'm just... Uh, out for a leisurely stroll. I actually just separated from the rest of the group I'm traveling with, so I should probably get back." She took a cautious step backward before her curiosity got the best of her. " 'What's a lovely thing like you doing out here in the deep, dark woods so late at night?'" She repeated the words back to him with the same hint of menace he'd delivered. If he was trying to creep her out, then two could play at that game.
"Hunting. Isn't that how most people come to find themselves wandering about in the middle of the woods?" The man stepped closer until Caroline could once again watch as his eyes seemed to pierce straight into her soul. He was so close Caroline immediately knew he was lying to her. He wasn't dressed for any sort of hunting and she didn't notice a weapon of any sort on his body or around him.
"That's some odd attire for hunting. Leather pants? Are you planning to rave the animals to death?" The smirk died on his face and for a second all Caroline could see was that the man standing in front of her was death coming to claim her. The chill worked its way down her spine until her entire body was shaking in fear. She knew this man, this monster.
"First you mock me then you grow fearful of me. How interesting." He stood still with his hands together behind his back, but somehow he was a few feet closer to her.
Caroline shrank back yet again, stumbling over one of those cursed roots and falling backwards, flailing her arms as she fell.
Before she plummeted to the ground, strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back to a standing position. Caroline struggled to move away from the man holding her, pushing her bruised palms to his chest and shoving with all her might, hoping to dislodge herself from his embrace. He merely smirked again, this time bringing his mouth to her left ear and whispering, "Do you know who I am?" Caroline whimpered as he nuzzled her neck for a moment before pulling his face away, shivering as the heat from his body warmed her, even while the wind at her back chilled her to the core.
"You're Klaus." The words were pulled from her lips almost as if being forced by something supernatural. Caroline's blue eyes clashed with his, her pulse jumping erratically every time they made even the slightest eye contact. She jerked her gaze away, remembering that any vampire could use compulsion on humans to bend their will. She could only imagine how much more power he had than regular vampires.
"Not many people, especially humans, have the nerve to give me nicknames." Caroline's face blanched, realizing what she had done. Was he going to rip her throat out? Snap her neck? Tear her limbs from her body? Everything she had read about the Original came back ten fold, descriptions flashing through her mind as rapidly as possible. Klaus smiled at her, shattering the devilish impression Caroline had glimpsed of him only minutes before. "You're bold. I think I might quite enjoy that."
Before Caroline had a chance to freak out even more, the Original Niklaus grabbed her shoulders, placing her directly in front of him. As she stared into his eyes, she watched as his pupils dilated. "You will forget your fear and follow me willingly back to the mansion which will be your new home while we are here in Mystic Falls."
Caroline scoffed, jerking her shoulders out of his wicked embrace. "Are you serious? I can't just flip my fear on and off like that! And you are out of your mind if you think I'm just going to 'willingly' prance back to your house like a dog chasing after its master." Klaus's eyes hardened at her words and Caroline mentally kicked herself. Why did she have to be so obnoxious? She was literally looking at someone who could snap her in half in about a second and not even blink.
"What did you say?"
Caroline didn't bother to answer. Instead, the tone of his voice sent her running in the opposite direction. She must have dropped her backpack earlier when they met because nothing weighed her down as she ran in the darkness, maneuvering in-between trees and bushes.
Caroline barely made it into a clearing before an arm stuck out from nowhere, forcing her to collide into it with her chest. The arm didn't budge an inch and Caroline fell back on to the harsh ground, whimpering from the impact. She wasn't sure, but a fire seem to spread along her ribs, ripping a small cry from her throat when she tried to move.
Klaus was upon her a second later, yanking her upper body up from the floor and ignoring her alarmed wail when her ribs moved. He stared at her again, his pupils dilating. "You will submit yourself into my care, into my control. You will obey me. Do you understand?" Caroline remained silent, eyes filled with pain. "Answer me!" Klaus shouted at the young blond, shaking her shoulders hard.
"Please," Caroline winced. "You're hurting me. I'll come with you, just please stop hurting me." Her tone sounded broken and pathetic, even to her own ears but something in the way she spoke to him caused a confused expression to cross his face.
"How can you ignore my compulsion? What witchcraft is this? You will answer me." Her eyes widened, locking with his.
"You've been trying to compel me? I didn't think humans could withstand any kind of compulsion."
Klaus kneeled down on the ground with Caroline, placing his face less than an inch away from hers. It was meant to be intimidating as he dug his nails into her shoulders and perhaps it would have frightened her if she wasn't already as perplexed as he was.
"Answer me!"
Caroline gulped. "I don't know how I'm doing it. I swear."
Klaus stood abruptly, dropping his hands away from Caroline's shoulders. Straightening his jacket, Klaus turned his head slightly to the left as he stepped back to allow the blond some room. "Glad you could join us, Elijah." Caroline followed Klaus's gaze, eyes coming across a tall, handsome man in a tailored navy blue business suit standing casually in the woods, almost as if he had always been there.
Caroline stood up from the ground slowly, holding her arm lifeless along her injured side. Elijah, the eldest brother, stepped in her general direction. She jerked backward, wincing when her arm jostled along her side. She definitely broke at least a few ribs when she ran into Klaus's arm. What were vampires made out of? Stone? She eyes both brothers warily, assessing the new threat she had just come across. Klaus seemed like an ass, but he hadn't intentionally hurt her in any way, which was always positive. She didn't remember really reading anything about the brother Elijah, only that he was the eldest of the siblings. She wasn't going to trust him, even if he did seem well mannered and helpful.
Elijah looked her up and down, a frown marring his features as he took in her bloody appearance. She wanted to roll her eyes at the look of concern. Surely he wasn't actually bothered that she had been injured several times over in her need to flee the Originals. "I expected you to be more polite to our guest, brother. Not torture the poor girl." He shook his head, stepping forward until Caroline found herself standing in between the two brothers. The moonlight shining down on the trio did nothing to sooth Caroline's nerves. In fact, the brothers looked all the more menacing as parts of their faces were hidden in shadow. Elijah stepped closer. Caroline faced him and moved back until she found herself pressed against Klaus, who must have come closer to her to stop her movement. His hands locked around her shoulders, one arm coming in front of her, his wrist near her mouth. She noticed a deep bloody line along his vein. The blood dripped on the bare part of her chest that was exposed from her grey v-neck t-shirt.
"I'm afraid you must drink, love. We can't have any broken bones slowing us down on our journey back to the mansion." Caroline jerked her head away from his wrist, revulsion making her want to dry heave. She had to have been mistaken. Drink his blood? Was he out of his mind?
Probably, Caroline thought. The journals didn't really paint a picture of sanity when it came to Niklaus Mikaelson. Caroline moved her head until it was practically nestled into the crook of his neck, hoping her mouth's temporary hiding place would save her from such a brutal task. There was no way she could drink someone's blood. It was the most abhorrent thing she could think about.
"Please. I can't drink blood. I'm not like you, that sounds absolutely disgusting to me. Don't make me do it. I'll come back with you both, I swear. Then when we're back to town I can have a doctor look at it. I'm sure it's nothing."
Elijah cleared his throat, causing the blond pair to turn their direction to the other vampire. "I hate to interrupt, but we do this for your own good, Ms. Forbes. You might have been too startled to realize this, but your breathing has been increasingly more labored in the past few minutes. It's safe to assume that when you broke one or more of your ribs, the bones might have punctured your lung. If you don't drink my brother's blood then you'll most have a collapsed lung before we can get you safely to a hospital."
"Elijah speaks the truth. You must drink." Klaus turned the blond slowly until they faced each other. "Go find the others, brother. I'll bring the girl back home safely."
"Niklaus..." Elijah hesitated.
"Not a scratch on her, I promise brother. Now go."
Caroline heard a faint whooshing noise and then the two were alone together in the woods.
"We both know I can't compel you to drink, love. However, I can force you to drink my blood one way or another. Shall we do this the easy way or the hard way?"
"I'm really dying?" Caroline wheezed out, cringing at how labored her breathing was becoming. How had she not realized that before? Stone. Clearly vampires were made out of stone.
Klaus's eyes softened for a moment before his normal condescending expression fell back into place. "Yes. Now drink." Klaus bit into his wrist, creating a wound she could drink from. He pulled his wrist away from his mouth and placed it in front of hers. Caroline looked at him, noticing the smeared blood along his not to notice his bloody wrist, she bent her head slightly, eyes making contact with his before she squeezed them shut and clamped her mouth down.
Caroline trudged behind the Original vampire Klaus, her backpack once again strapped around her shoulders.
Surprisingly, Caroline felt amazing. Well, her mouth tasted like dull copper, which was kind of gross because she now knew what blood tasted like, but everything else felt great. Her cuts had all healed, her ribs felt fine, she was breathing normally and all of her achy muscles had vanished into thin air. Caroline Forbes was ready to take on the entire world and win. She probably could have arm wrestled a bear and kicked its ass. She couldn't believe vampire blood did that.
Not one for long drawn out silences, Caroline spoke up. "So... Does all vampire blood work like that, or is yours some sort of super blood because you're like a billion years old?"
She heard him snort. "We really need to adjust your perception of time since you're going to be around vampires the rest of your life." Caroline shuddered at the thought but kept moving along. The last time she ran she was clotheslined and nearly died. She figured she'd save her strength for the evening before she tried again. "But I imagine since my blood is the most pure, " she rolled her eyes at his tone, "it has helped you far more than any normal vampire blood would do. The affects won't last more than 48 hours, just enough for the blood to leave your system. Then you should feel like yourself again."
The two turned right, cutting through a thick group of trees before they came across a clearing. About half a mile in front of them was a giant house, easily spotted from where they stood.
"Oh wow." Caroline murmured under her breath, completely taken aback by the beauty of the place. The fact that she could see it so clearly at night was another side effect of the vampire blood, she was sure.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" She nodded, although she doubted he noticed. "Come now, we must be going if we plan to make it before daylight."
Caroline trudged along behind Klaus, in awe of her surroundings until her mind finally caught up with his words.
They were almost to her prison. Elijah had called her a guest though, right? Caroline shook her head, a wave of dread coming over her as they drew closer and closer to the old plantation house. She'd come across her first vampires today and survived. They'd already forced vampire blood down her throat, even if it was to save her, and now she was expected to spend the rest of her life with these people. These things.
What other horrors would await her in the coming future?