A/N: Heh. For those of you new to the story, this is the next part of "For Whom Will I Wake". If you haven't read it, you might want to. Otherwise, this might not make sense. Anyway, thanks to all of you who have reviewed, favorited and followed that story. You guys rock. I hope you enjoy this one.
Now that I know what I'm without, you can't just leave me.
Breathe into me and make me real.
Bring me to life.
Wake me up inside. Wake me up inside.
Call my name and save me from the dark.
Bid my blood to run. Before I come undone.
Save me from the nothing I've become.
Bring Me To Life – Evanescence
"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." – Benjamin Franklin
Caroline had felt weightless as she fell. She fell from ten stories. Her heart and stomach had given agonizing lurches as the pavement and sidewalk had risen to meet her. She hit the ground and pain exploded inside of her in white hot bursts. And then.. Peace.
She was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming. The sky couldn't be that blue. The grass that green. She found herself laying on a checkered picnic blanket, a book open in her hand. The odd thing was, she didn't seem to be reading.
"It's all your fault, you know." Elena's voice chimed. "What is?" Caroline stood and raised her eyes to Elena before reeling back in horror. Elena's eyes were carved out and blood rolled down her cheeks like grotesque tears.
Her blouse and hands were stained with blood and in one hand, Caroline realized with a sickening jolt, she held a bloody knife. "Oh, god. Elena, your – your eyes!" Caroline exclaimed. "Am I pretty then?" Elena asked before giving a ghoulish giggle.
Caroline's eyes opened and she gasped, sucking in air painfully, oxygen flooded her lungs, alighting them with a burning ache. Her heart began to pound angrily, leaving Caroline with the sensation that it was bruised. She sat up, clutching her twinging chest and gazed around.
She blinked rapidly in disbelief. Her vision had somehow increased. She could see every particle of dust that floated on the air. She could hear footsteps on the floor above her. She shivered and looked down, realizing that she was wrapped in a white sheet.
"What the…?" She muttered, standing and peeling it off, examining herself. To her surprise, she found that every injury that had been inflicted on her the day before had vanished. Caroline looked around, her lips parting in horror. She'd never been to this part of the hospital before. She never wanted to.
She was in the morgue. She sprinted across the room and grabbed a lab coat that hung on a rack and wrapped herself in it before plucking the tag that still hung on her toe off and tossed it into the garbage can. Damon, she thought. I need to find Damon.
She looked around quickly and spotted a door on the other side of the crypts and hurried over to it, pushing it open. A blast of warm air washed over her, prickling her skin as she stepped from the cool linoleum floor out onto the asphalt street.
Caroline drew the white coat around her tighter before walking towards the lighted sidewalk. The light made her eyes burn, the roughness of the road scraped at her feet. She raised her hand to shield her eyes as her surroundings had suddenly become painful.
She ached. Everywhere. It was an ache that started at your flesh and sunk to your bones. Her throat burned with thirst. Her stomach seemed to twist inside of her, writhing painfully. "Damon," She whimpered, staggering down the road. I need… I need… She thought desperately.
Her gums felt as though needles were stabbing at them. It hurt. She felt dizzy. The world seemed to spin. She heard shouts down an alley, but they seemed muffled. Tinny. She'd passed the opening and paused, a delicious scent wafting from the street.
It made her throat burn and her gums throb. Caroline tried to fight it. She tried desperately to fight it. But, she couldn't. She turned and followed the scent as it called her, beckoning her. It was as sweet as a chorus of angels. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the low light.
And when she did, she heard a snuffling sound. She tilted her head downward and saw a young man on the ground, clutching at his stomach. He was whimpering as blood wept through his fingers. Caroline dropped to her knees. I have to help him!
She turned, "Help! Someone, help!" She turned to face him and froze. Her eyes traveled to the crimson streaks that flowed between his fingers. She never knew blood could look so lovely. She reached out, her fingers sweeping across the back of his hand, capturing ruby droplets.
She brought her fingers to her lips. The moment his blood touched her tongue, she knew it was possibly the worst thing she could have done. A painful change overtook her. She cried out, covering her mouth as she felt something bursting through her gums.
Fire spread throughout her mouth as tears of pain trickled down her cheeks. "Oh, god!" She sobbed, "Oh, g-god. What's happening to me?!" She gasped raggedly when the pain subsided and her tongue brushed over her teeth, feeling her eyeteeth elongated to deadly little points.
She still ached all over. The lovely scent of blood clouded her mind, and soon it was all she could think about. She turned to face the nameless young man. He was still alive, surprisingly. She saw his carotid pulsing in his throat as he struggled to breathe, and lunged forward.
Her new fangs broke through his flesh with ease and his blood exploded into her mouth. She gulped it down before it was replaced with another mouthful. The fresh blood coated her throat, soothing away the pain of hunger.
Every inch of her sang with happiness as she slowly drained away what little life the boy had left. Soon, she'd supped the last drop and released him. Horror splashed over Caroline in a cold wave when she'd realized what she had done.
Oh, my god. She thought, a sob of guilt spilling from her lips, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She blubbered before turning and running from the alley. She moved faster than she'd ever moved before. For a moment, she allowed herself to marvel at the way she sped past everyone and everything.
And then, the guilt returned. What have I done? The thought kept bouncing around in her brain. What am I? She asked silently. But, she knew what she was. The same thing Damon was. The same thing Stefan was. A vampire. How did this happen? Why did this happen?
"Damon," She told herself, "I have to find Damon." She navigated the dark and empty streets of Mystic Falls easily. Her newfound night vision helped her to see her surroundings as she darted towards the Salvatore Boardinghouse.
She hurtled up the driveway and slammed into the door with such force that she heard it crack as it swung open. The door slammed into the opposing wall with a thud. Caroline scurried into the hallway, shrieking, "Damon! Damon! Are you home?!"
Her body had begun to tremble and that same familiar ache of hunger was rising within her once more. Blood. She thought, I need more blood. She remembered the Salvatores' fridge with a start and flitted to the kitchen.
She heard rushed footsteps on the stairs and a familiar voice calling her name as she yanked the refrigerator open and began grabbing packets of blood. She tore into the first packet with her teeth and the taste of refrigerated blood hit her tongue.
She wanted to recoil from the stale taste, but she was far too hungry. The footsteps reached the kitchen and stopped. She heard a gasp and froze. Caroline slowly lowered the blood pack and turned. Blood was dripping from her chin, staining the white coat she was wearing.
Her eyes found Damon, frozen in a mixture of horror, relief and absolute joy. The elder vampire's eyes were wide and brimming with tears. "No," He choked, pain weighing his words down. "No, no, no." He took a step back, horrified.
Caroline knew in that moment that this was exactly what he had returned to her life to prevent. A white hot ache began in her heart, making her hiccup and gasp as tears rolled down her cheeks. She began to walk towards Damon. Damon halted and stared at her, stock still.
"Caroline," He breathed her name as though it were a silent prayer, a word of thanks to whatever god watched out for vampires. He reached for her, his hands grasping her face before he pulled her close, his forehead pressing against hers as he repeated her name, ache seeping into every syllable, "Caroline, Caroline, Caroline."
Caroline clutched at him, her hands sliding up his chest before making her way to his face, brushing her fingers over his beautiful features, her fingertips brushing over his jaw, his sculpted cheekbones, his brow. "I'm here," She whispered. "I'm right here, Damon."
He kissed her forehead, her brow, the tip of her nose, her cheeks before pressing his lips to hers. Caroline was set on fire by this simple touch. She never thought kisses could be so intense.
Somehow her hands fell upon his shoulders and she used them for leverage as she leapt into the air and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her arms wrapped around Damon's neck as she returned his kiss feverishly.
Damon stepped towards the wall and her back collided with it, his hands gripping her hips. Damon's lips attacked hers hungrily, capturing them in a bruising kiss. Caroline wanted to forget everything that happened before she arrived, but the second she felt amazed at how quickly Damon made her forget, she remembered.
The guy. The alley. The blood. She gave a gentle push against Damon and he pulled away, gazing down at her. Caroline slid down the wall and stood shakily. "B – before I came here… there was this – this guy and –" she broke off, gasping, "– so much blood. I couldn't stop myself, Damon."
Her voice had cracked on the final words as she raised her eyes to his. Damon frowned, he stroked her cheek gently. "Where did this happen?" He asked. Caroline closed her eyes and strained to remember, "Um – It was – um – close to the hospital. I can't remember exactly where." She sighed softly, gazing up at him.
Damon nodded, "Alright. I'm going to dispose of that body before anyone gets suspicious. And then, –" he gestured to the lab coat Caroline wore, "– I'll stop at your mom's and steal you some clothes. Wait here." He turned and started towards the door.
Caroline moved so quickly that she frightened herself. She leaped in front of Damon, holding her hands out, "But, what if – what if you get caught? Or worse?" Damon's lips twitched before he waved away her worries, "I've had plenty of practice with this kind of thing, Blondie. Besides, we really don't want your mother and her little council of vampire hunters getting wind of you in your newly-turned-vampire state, now do we?"
Caroline felt dizzy. Her mother? A vampire hunter? "My mother? She's – this is impossible!" Damon's smirk only widened, "A few months ago, you would have said my being a vampire was impossible." "What the hell kind of bizzaro world did I wake up in?!" Caroline shrieked, her eyes wide.
Damon shook his head and dropped a kiss to the top of Caroline's head and flitted away before she could stop him. "No, Damon – !" Caroline began, sighing when she realized that he had already vanished. "It's not… right."
But, then again, when has Damon ever cared about right or wrong? She thought and turned down the winding hallway to the parlor. Caroline shook her head wearily as she climbed the zigzagging staircase to the upstairs corridor that fed to the bedrooms and guest bedrooms.
She gazed around and instantly she was back in the alley, staring down at the body of the young man that she had killed. And she had killed him mercilessly. She hadn't cared about his wellbeing. Only of her own selfish hunger. Part of her felt a sick sort of pride.
What does it matter? The little voice in the back of her mind chimed, he was dying anyway. "No…" Caroline whimpered, covering her mouth, sickness rising in her. She couldn't be like this. She didn't want to be like this. This couldn't possibly be her.
A door flew open and Stefan stepped out, his hair rumpled, he was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a white tank top. "Caroline?" He asked, his brow furrowing. "Are you – ?" He stepped forward and halted, his eyes widening as he gazed down at her, realization setting in.
Caroline's lips trembled as her eyes swam with tears. She gave a short shake of her head before bolting down the hallway, finding her way to Damon's room, shoving the door open and flinging herself inside. She looked down at the bloodsplattered coat she wore and tore at it, sobbing softly.
She fought her way out of it and flung it away, staggering to the bathroom on shaky legs. She made her way to the shower and stepped inside, turning the taps on. She sunk to the floor as warm water cascaded over her. She felt herself shatter in a million tiny little shards.
Every inch of her seemed to ache with the heartbreak she felt. What was wrong with her? Since when does Caroline Forbes go around killing innocent humans? That isn't me. She thought fiercely, I'm not like that. Not like the others. I am not a killer.
Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she hugged her knees to her chest. Soon, she stood and scrubbed away the blood. Her blood. And…his blood. She wrapped herself into a towel and walked towards Damon's closet, plucking one of his many black shirts from a hanger.
She pulled it on and gazed around, relief spreading through her as she released a soft sigh. Her relief was only momentary. A crow was perched on the windowsill. It tilted its head to the side, gazing at her with one beady eye.
Caroline felt a cold flow through her, from head to toe as she gazed at the bird. It emitted a loud caw and leapt from the window, spreading its wings and flying away. Caroline sunk to the floor, placing her hand on her stomach. The crow was sent to send a message. "I'm coming."