The fog crept between the trees slowly, covering the moist forest floor inch by inch. Summer had gone and autumn was fast approaching, the leaves on the trees changing color before releasing their hold, sailing through the air and landing on the ground, painting it red and orange as they settled by the tree-trunks.

A branch snapping could be heard in the distance, a growl increasing in volume was approaching its prey.

Heavy breaths and quiet terrifed sobs sounding from behind a large rock.

The full moon was high on the sky, casting a shimmering light on the forest, the fog reflecting its light and causing a mesmerising image.

Another branch snapping. Closer this time. Just on the other side of the rock.

She held her breath and closed her eyes, clutching her messenger-bag to her chest tightly.

Nothing happened, she thought she was safe. Opening her eyes she stretched out her legs and let another sob escape, freezing when a hot breath fanned over her neck, brushing a brunette curl against her cheek.

Looking down at its prey from its position on top of the rock she'd been hiding behind, the animal could smell the fear and panick coursing through her veins. She stretched out her legs and it leaned in closer, its breath alerting her to its presence.

She froze before slowly turning her head, green eyes locking with yellow glowing orbs and before she had time to fully register the magnitude of her fear and let a scream erupt from her throat it was already over.

The predator attacked his prey and before she had time to scream it was already over.

Her eyes were wide open and empty, all the life having drained from them along with her blood leaving her body. The animal pierced the flesh on her shoulder after her death and pulled her with it deeper into the woods, seeking the privacy of the darkness. A fresh blood trail marking the way it had taken, a thick line of blood forming a path from the place of death to the place of rest, hidden deep within the shadow of the forest.

In a brief moment, the creature stepped into the light and looked up at the moon, a raven black wolf nearly as large as a bear.

It turned and crept back towards its victim, taking cover in the shadows where the monsters belonged.


It was almost night by the time she reached her destination; cutting off the engine and jumping out of her car she took a deep breath before she walked through the gates leading into the graveyard.
She let her eyes pass over every passing gravestone, trying to find the one name she was looking for.

She had searched almost the entire cemetary and was about to give up when something caught her attention out the corner of her eye.

Walking over and kneeling down in front of a white marble she let her fingers brush softly over the name ingraved on the stone.

"Caroline Mystic ~1994~"

"Mystic" she murmured and straightened up again, folding her arms and looking down at the strangely paininducing stone.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to come face to face with some kind of care-taker, his eyes were suspicious when he took her in.

"What are you doing here? The cemetary is closed." she nodded and stepped back.

"I'm sorry, I... I'll leave right now," walking swiftly back the way she'd come, she ignored his eyes on her back and used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe away a few unwanted tears, having escaped at some point.

Getting back in her car she took a couple of minutes to collect herself, she had no idea where this sudden onslought of emotions had come from. All her life she'd been guarded about her emotions, never letting anyone but the people closest to her see her "human" side, but something about coming here and having her entire existence proven to have been nothing but a lie, something inside of her just cracked.

She had spent her entire life believing she was Caroline Forbes, born to parents Liz and Bill Forbes in a small town just outside of West-Virginia. Suburban neighborhood, nice large house with a white-picket fence, dog named Bruiser, and everything she ever wanted or needed, that's how she grew up. She was a happy kid, she had loving parents and a better life than most, but twenty years later and she learns that it was all a lie.

Her biological parents gave her up to protect her, from what or who she had no idea. They convinced the entire town and everyone they knew that she died the day she was born; she even has her very own white marble toombstone to prove it.

How did she know all this?

Three days ago, right after her moms funeral, she received an anonymous letter. Telling her to look into the name Caroline Mystic and providing her with information that revealed her entire life to have been a well conceived lie.

After doing some digging of her own she traced the last name Falls to belong to a family originating out of a small town in Virginia. Mystic Falls, oh the irony...

She had no idea where she was going, driving around aimlessly trying to find somewhere to crash for the night. She needed a good nights sleep to think over where to go from here, she couldn't go back home because she didn't know where that was anymore and she didn't have any family to go to. Maybe she could stick around Mystic Falls for a while, do a little digging into her family-history, her biological families history.

A battered sign a little way up the road read "Salvatore Boardinghouse" and considering the state of the sign, she doubted the boardinghouse was still in business, but it was late and she decided to risk it. Besides, judging by the increasing wind and the ominous looking clouds, a storm was fast approaching.

She leaned forward over the steering wheel and looked through the windshield that was drenched with rain, she was driving down a long gravel pathway towards a large old-looking inn-style type of house.

"Great," she sighed and slumped back against the seat after putting the car in park, deciding not to turn off the engine just yet, leaving the heat on. The house was completely dark and she doubted anyone had been there for a while, she bit her lip and looked back at the duffel-bag she'd thrown in the back-seat.

No one seemed to be home and it wasn't like she was going to steal or anything, she just wanted somewhere to crash for one night and besides, one little act of breaking and entering wasn't that bad considering she might freeze to death if she stayed in the car all night.

"It's just for one night," she told herself and reached back to grab her duffel, shutting off the car and jumping out. She held the bag over her head as she ran towards the front door, that didn't stop the rain from drenching her.

"Hello?!" Ringing the doorbell and slamming her fist against the door just to make sure no one was home, she continued like that for a couple of minutes until she was sure there was no one there.

When she was sixteen she'd had a bit of a rebellious outbreak. She ran away from home and got involved with a group of people that weren't all that good, but she did learn a thing or two though, like how to pick a lock.
Pulling a pin out of her hair she positioned it in the doorlock and twisted until she heard the click that signaled the door was open.

"Thank god for rebellious teens," she muttered and pushed open the door, picking up her bag she stepped over the thresh-hold and let the door close behind her. For a minute she stood in complete darkness, dragging her hand along the wall until she found the lightswitch.

Blinking to let her eyes adjust to the sudden brightness she shrugged out of her coat and pulled her wet hair into a messy bun, the water was dripping from the end of her strands, causing her to shiver when they slipped under her shirt and down her back.

The place was huge! A large livingroom/library was the first thing she walked into, then if she continued past the stairs she found a large well-stocked kitchen and to her utter excitement, she found a completely stocked barcabinet.

Trailing her hand up the railing, she took her time walking up to the second floor. There were a lot of rooms, so once upon a time it had most likely been some kind of bead and breakfast, now the whole place seemed cold and abandoned.
She walked into a room at the end of the hall and switched on the lights and was extatic to find the bathroom, with a bathtub! A bath sounded so good at that moment.

Without giving it a second thought she stepped out of her drenched clothes and pulled on a bathrobe she found hanging on the door, not the most hygienic, she knew but she hadn't had a shower in days so she really didn't care all that much.

The closest room next to the bathroom was a large bedroom with a very comfy looking large double bed and windows with a view of the grand estate. She walked over to the window and took a look outside at the trees blowing in the wind before shutting the blinds and turning away.

Spotting a record-player on a large mahogany desk just left of the windows, she rifled through the pile of vinyls that lay next to it. Grinning she picked up "AC/DC" and put it on the player, before crossing the room to the dresser positioned opposite the bed. She ruffled through the clothing inside and grabbed a black mens t-shirt that was way too big for her, but it would do for sleeping in.

Whil she waited for the bathtub to fill she checked her reflection in the mirror, who was she?

Who was the girl looking back at her, because according to society, she didn't exist.

There has never been a record of a Caroline Forbes being born in 1994 anywhere in all of the U.S, she'd checked. Twice.

There was however, a record of a Caroline Falls being born October 10th 1994 in Mystic Falls, the day of her birthday.

"Who are you?" asking her reflection and expecting an answer may not exactly be considered brilliant, but she couldn't help but wonder what she would have said if she could.

Dropping the robe to the floor she lowered down into the warm water and closed her eyes just as she felt her tense muscles loosening up, the stress and uncertainty of the past couple of months really, all washing away for a brief moment of time.

As she lay there and allowed herself to drift off into oblivion, she thought about how she'd ended up there in the first place. About who could have sent her that letter, and why whoever it was had done it, did it.

Dozens of scenarios ran through her mind, but none of them made any sense. She though at first it might have been her biological parents, but after some digging she'd discovered that they had seemingly vanished two years after her birth. One day they were managing the local cafe, and the next they were just gone, it was like they never even existed.

She had no idea how long she'd been in the bath when she finally got up, but the water was considerably more chilly and the AC/DC vinyl had stopped playing a long time ago. She wiped herself off and pulled on clean dry underwear that she'd grabbed from her duffel at some point. The shirt she'd found to use as nightwear reached her mid-thigh and it had a very distinct male scent that she kind of enjoyed. She wondered who used to live here, at least she knew he had style.

Draining the tub, she brushed her teeth and switched off the bathroom light, she had a small craving for a drink but her body was screaming for sleep and she figured the barcabinet would always be there tomorrow.

"Mmm, this is nice," she pulled the covers all the way up to her chin and snuggled into her very large, very fluffy pillow. Maybe, for once, she'd actually get a good nights sleep.


Stefan Salvatore stood just inside the tree-line, looking at the boardhouse and up at the second story window that belonged to his brothers room. He could hear the steady heartbeat of the blonde he'd watched break into his family-home two hours ago, she was moving between the bathroom and the bedroom. He heard her humming softly to herself as she walked about and switched off lights, he heard her bare feet against the floor when she jogged down the stairs and a moment later he saw her as she stepped into the livingroom.

For a second he was sure she was looking right at him, but then she shook her subtly and drew the curtains closed, the lights flicking of a second later and then the twist of the doorlock sounded.

"Mmm, this is nice," he smiled when he heard her voice from inside his brothers room and imagined the look on Damons face if he knew she'd been sleeping in his bed. Damon never let anyone spend the night in his bed.

Never.

Stefan pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed the redial button, lifting it to his ear.

"Yes?" he stepped further back into the shadows and leaned back against a tree.

"You know the one we've been looking for... She's here." he hung up the phone and folded his arms. Now that the information was delivered he knew it was only a matter of time before he had company. The blonde in his home had no idea just how long they had been looking for her, or just how important she was. But, he knew one thing for sure.

Her life was about to change drastically.