Chapter 1: Did you miss me?
This was real fear. She could hear the footsteps not too far back and it could only mean one thing- he was coming for her. But this time she had no back-up plan, no team, and no weapons to her advantage. Right now all she could do was run. Speed was her only ally.
She jumped over fallen logs and brushed through the foliage as fast as she possibly could. She had no idea where she was headed, all she could think about was putting distance between them—just enough to buy some time to figure out what to do and the best way to get out. She was running out of time, and her leg injury was already weighing her down enough.
In the distance she spotted a huge oak tree, her best option at the moment—and she made her way towards it. As soon as she leaned against its bark, she took a deep breath, leaned over and tied her headband around her injured leg to stop the bleeding.
She was more than afraid.
But before she could even think of running again, in barrels the wolf through the trees, catching her off guard and knocking her off her feet. She was now lying face up on the ground, the weight of the wolf holding her down. She tried to fight it off, used all the strength she had in her to push it aside—but to no avail. He was just too strong—too powerful—too original.
With fangs bared, eyes full of rage, it was more than ready to take out its prey. And she could no longer contain her scream.
"NIKLAUS!"
Caroline bolt out of bed gasping for air and found herself not in a forest of any kind, but in the Salvatore living room. She looked from left to right, and to her relief not even the window or the door was open. It was only a nightmare Caroline, none of it was real.
It was too hard to believe though. As she closed her eyes for a second, she took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. This was probably the hundredth time she dreamed about him, but every time she did he seemed to get closer and closer to killing her.
No chance for falling back to sleep now. She kicked back the blanket that covered her and headed over to her vanity, that which was placed on one side of the room. She sat down, grabbed a brush and pulled her hair into a ponytail.
The hybrid is dead. Klaus Mikaelson is gone. But how come she couldn't wrap her head around the truth? How come he kept haunting her dreams like he was still alive? Is it that difficult to accept? When he passed, there was a side of her that felt almost relieved—that they didn't need to keep watching their backs all the time and that they'd get the chance for the first time in a long time to live an almost normal life. She did not die with him- he was not her maker, nor that of the Salvatore brothers.
But there was also that other part, her soft spot for the hybrid that kept nagging her. The part that was saddened and hurt by the lost-devastated almost. Even heartbroken? Oh what was she thinking—even in her dreams he was trying to kill her. This was just too much hatred mistaken for care. That must be it.
"But I can show you the world. Small town boy, small town life—it won't be enough for you." It was as if he was standing right in front of her—his velvet accent, husky voice convincing her that everything was okay. Although it obviously wasn't.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror, trying to eliminate such nonsense from her mind, and found a picture of her and Tyler stuck on one side. She grabbed it off her mirror and took a closer look at it. He wasn't just a small town boy, Klaus, she could hear herself mentally arguing. Her heart began to feel heavy again. Just like the hybrid, Tyler was gone, dead without a trace. The sadness and a sense of loss again overwhelmed her.
She didn't even notice that Elena was already standing right behind her. "Caroline I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
Caroline stood and hugged her best friend. "Why am I alive and he isn't?" she asked, not exactly sure herself who she was referring to.
Elena tightened her hold. "I know Caroline. Believe me, if we had a choice we would all want to change what happened that night, at least parts of it, but we can't. All we can do is just live with it."
Caroline sighed. Her best friend was right. Everything that happened was borderline crazy and unexpected. Elena was now a vampire, which made Stefan die a thousand deaths. They lost Alaric who had killed Klaus before he passed. Tyler and Bonnie have been missing for weeks now, presumed dead. The rest of the original family had already left Mystic Falls, while those that remain all lived under one roof- the Salvatore Mansion.
Caroline's thoughts were interrupted when she heard sobbing, and felt a dampness on her shoulder. Elena was crying, and she had every right to. If Caroline thought her problems were big, here was innocent Elena, now vampire Elena caught between two brothers and confused what to do next. She had experienced this before when Katherine had turned her unexpectedly, but things were different now and she needed to help her friend.
Caroline let go of Elena and looked her in the eye. "Shhh, it's going to be okay. Everything is going to fine, I promise. We just need to find Bonnie so that she can make you a daylight ring, and of course Tyler so that we have an extra pair of hands around here and then we can all go back to the way things were- and you can have—Stefan."
While she was saying this, like perfect timing, he walked into the room. It has definitely been an interesting few weeks for everyone but living with the Salvatores definitely made her feel a lot safer, and cushioned all the hurt. Even with the Elena triangle situation, things were never awkward. Stefan couldn't hide his guilt and although every second he tried to make amends and make sure that Elena was okay he also checked up on Caroline, which of course made the latter support him all the more.
"She will always have me as long as she wants." Stefan said, handing Elena a cup of blood to drink. Caroline felt a tad bit jealous. She missed having someone take care of her as well. She watched as Elena's face transformed into her vampire look, but in a matter of seconds changed back when Stefan soothed her. "Elena, darling, breathe- shh you're fine." She quickly gulped down the cup and smiled at Caroline.
Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. Stefan was about to head over and open it but Caroline didn't want to ruin their moment. She insisted she'd go instead, especially right now when the two were getting all lovey dovey and she was all alone. She heads out of the room and towards the foyer to the front door, where she bumps into Damon.
"Does it bother you too?" He asks, sulking. "It'll always be Stefan. Dammit."
He took a swig of his drink before walking past her and heading to the library instead.
"For the record Damon you know it isn't a game. And right now she is vulnerable. She is slowly remembering everything—even the times you compelled her and that will obviously confuse her. So instead of acting like a brat, why don't you be there for her? With everything that's happened you have to live in the now, and I say the right thing to do is show her how much you care."
Damon clapped his hands, smiled before heading out of the room like he didn't hear a thing.
How frustrating.
A second knock on the door reminded her of what she had to do in the first place. She opened it, but before she could even look up to see who it was, she was knocked over by someone's dead weight. She pushed the body aside and when she finally was able to catch a glimpse of who it was, she shuffled backward, with one hand covering her scream. It was Tyler, and he was passed out bloody. Next to him laid the body of Bonnie, passed out and pretty banged up as well.
She then heard a cough from behind, and when she looked up to see who it was, she got an even bigger shock of her life.
"Hello sweetheart. It's the full moon. Did you miss me?"
Oh my god.
