Pushing her blond bangs out of her eyes, Caroline Forbes glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Ew. She paused to grab a tissue to smug the make-up that hadn't been removed the night before in rush post-party haste. Let's face it, she was that trashed she didn't even remember most of that night. Thankfully she had ended up in her own bed. Alone. Her mother would have a heart attack if, for some reason she actually popped her head in once and a while and found a guy in her bed. She probably half-presumed Caroline was at least a virgin. Underline the 'probably' and 'half-presumed'. She didn't have that much faith in her mother's views of her daughter. She wasn't even aware of anything that happened beyond her office. When it's party season (ie. The break when the few Mystic Falls students that actually managed to get into college returned to town and throw massive parties on the properties their families had owned for generations.)
Either way, Caroline was sorely regretting the night before. Sunday's were a blur and if she got awoken before twelve, she punched the person responsible in the face. Bonnie learnt that once when they'd been eleven. She'd looked like she'd been playing around with her gram's make up a little too much for that week after. Yeah, Caroline still felt a little bad about that. But she had tried to warn her. Bonnie hadn't spoken to her for two weeks after that. It took Elena's intervention and Caroline handing over her favourite (and only pair) of Jimmy Choo's for her to wear at the founders day party of 2008.
Caroline paused in her movements to study her bleary reflection, a small smile etching on her face at the memory. Her hair was in its usual wild curls, as she hadn't straightened it since the Friday before school. She'd been letting it curl more lately, as she found that the curls framed her face more than the bluntness of the straightened style. If one was to look upon her life, they would probably think Caroline Forbes was yet another teenager in her junior year. That was a correct assumption. But the world she lived in? Hadn't been normal for a very long time.
In 2002, the world was stunned as a mass attack took place in France. Near a million had been killed. The United Nations went into panic mode as it wasn't a terrorist group that came forward...it was a liege of vampires. 'The Original's', or the first group of vampires came forward, wanting claim the Europe as land for those with supernatural abilities. People were shipped out as quickly as possible, on planes, boats and mode of transport possible, as the clan had given the world only a fortnight to do so. They managed to get at least half the population out before the time frame, then all hell broke loose. Those left behind, no matter age or gender were 'fair game' in vampire's eyes. A blood bath more horrific than imaginable ensured. Most call this the 'week that blood rained upon land'. This event was spoken in hushed tones.
International relations were awkward after that, as government officials couldn't decide on how to address the problem. After a while they decided to have public discussions with 'the vampire government'. The agreement made was that those who had sinned in the human world became vampire chow. And a certain amount of blood donations of course. But as everyone knew, this wasn't exactly what went on, behind the scenes people disappeared all the time, no one had the balls to talk about it of course. Caroline's mother was a sheriff and in charge of 'supernatural control' in Mystic Falls. If vampires came to light, they were exterminated as soon as possible.
The population was slowly growing after the loss of so many people those years ago. Towns were seeing babies, and children flourishing, bringing lightness to the once dull streets. As long as you stayed in Australia, America and parts of Asia, you were reasonably safe. Or well, as safe as one could be with bloodsucking souless creatures stealing neighbours in the darkness of the night could be. Caroline could remember when her Uncle rang, informing Sheriff Forbes that Caroline's cousin and Aunty, as well as her father had been taken by Vampires. As much as Caroline had resented her father for leaving her mother to be with another man, she had been inconsolable for a long period of time. That was her 'emotional' period in her pre-teens.
Elena's parents had suffered a similar fate a year and half later. Their Aunt Jenna had been caring for Elena and her little brother Jeremy ever since. Elena attempted smiles, but Caroline and Bonnie knew better. Thankfully she had Matt. And the return of their old friend Meredith Sulez had also been an upper. Meredith's mother ran the local bar, 'the Mystic Grill' and her father worked to run Elena's father's old clinic. Jenna had definitely been very thankful for that.
Caroline's phone buzzed, and she leant over her bed to reach the small silver object as it played out the latest Bruno Mars song. She barely had time to glance at the name that flashed upon the screen before answering with a failed attempt at a chirpy "Hello!"
"Hey Care, do you know where Elena is?" Matt's voice sounded from the other side of the phone and Caroline rolled her eyes. Matt and Elena couldn't be separated for longer than an hour before they started pining like lovesick puppies. Okay, secretly Caroline was somewhat jealous but her crushing stage on Matt disappeared the moment she caught Matt and Elena kissing in the closet at Tyler Lockwood's Halloween party.
"I don't know, I haven't heard from her since the two of you left last night. But I'm on my way into town, I'll keep an eye out okay?" Caroline replied after a moment as she resumed glancing at her reflection in the mirror. She began to fiddle with her top, trying to hide her red bra from prying eyes. Mainly Tyler's and that random freshman who had the tendency of heavy breathing when he was aroused. It was really disturbing that she remembered that. Mostly because Jeremy had warned her when he'd been lingering at a party what was going on.
"Thanks, that means a lot, but don't go out of your way for me. If you see her, please pass on the message that she left her scarf in my car and I'll drop it at her place after my shift. See you later Caroline." Matt chirped in response as he hung up. Caroline tossed her phone in her bag, zipping up her boots forcefully. She did adore her friends, but having Matt and Elena shove their Disney styled romance in her face did get frustrating after a while. Especially as it meant he was around all the time. And where Elena was, Bonnie was. So that meant a limit on girl talk time. Instead she usually spoke to Meredith or Jenna. But it wasn't the same. Not at all.
Giving herself a once over in the mirror, she heaved a sigh and strode out of her room, car keys in hand.
Caroline was humming along to the song that had come on her I-pod stereo, tapping the wheel in time as she drove along the dead streets of Mystic Falls. On a Sunday, the town was dead. A small portion of who still believed in god after all the vampire crap went to church, then the drunk population of town went to the bar to cure a hangover with more drinking, the rest of the town were either at home or at the police station volunteering. None of those options sounded at all appealing. She was just driving for the hell of it, heading in the vague direction of the Gilbert residence.
She slowed down as she passed the cemetery, noticing Elena's car parked at the entrance. After a moment's debate she pulled in next to it. She knew Elena had a personal ritual where she went to the monument of all who had been taken by the vampires to write in her journal. Caroline hadn't gone to look at her father's name on the wall in a long time. Mostly because it was only a name. It's not like a body taken by vampires was ever found. That was a ridiculous notion in itself.
She glanced at the large iron gates, almost willing herself to get out of the car. Those imposing gates had always scared her, ever since she'd gone to her Nanna's funeral at age four. She took a deep sigh as she turned off the engine and hopped out of her car. She strode forward purposely, trying to act as confident as she probably looked. Actually in general she hated the cemetery. But she had the sudden need to make sure Elena was okay. Maybe she was finally growing a proper maternal instinct. Took long enough.
It wasn't hard to find her. As predicted she was sitting against an old slab of stone. She was scribbling at the rate of a madman. Caroline had always wondered what she put in that thing. She went through about three each year. It was the safest present one could buy for the eldest Gilbert.
Elena glanced up as Caroline stopped a foot away from her. A small uncomfortable smile fell upon the brunette's face, mirrored that of Caroline's. "Care, what are you doing here ?" Elena voiced confusion seeping into her tone. She didn't even bother to hide it.
"Matt was looking for you, I just thought I'd stop by and say hi. I'm on your way to your house to get that CD off Jenna anyway." Caroline explained awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. Yeah, that sounded so smart. It was so obvious she had nothing to do. Elena pondered this answer for a moment, a wider smile spreading on her features at the mention of her boyfriend.
"Oh whoops! I left my phone in my car that would explain why he couldn't get onto me!" Elena replied almost visibly relaxing at this realization. She probably thought Matt had gone to see Caroline, not her first. For a calm and together person Elena definitely had a bitchy streak.
"Anyway, I suppose you probably want some alone time." Caroline spoke a moment later, simply to break the awkward silence that filled the air. Sure Elena and Caroline were best friends, but they didn't usually talk one on one. A buffer such as Bonnie or Meredith was usually there to make things less awkward when conversation lulled.
"...Are you sure?" Elena asked, not even bothering to argue this statement. Everyone knew that cemetery time was Elena's private time. The silence filled the air again as Caroline willed herself to walk away. But before she could she glanced at Elena, her brows lifting.
"I didn't realize it was so foggy today!" She commented as Elena glanced down at the ground confusion clearly on her expression. She shot up like she had been burnt.
"That wasn't there before." She commented softly, in a slightly frightened tone. They weren't stupid. They had heard the stories. People taken in the mist, bodies drained of blood. Elena backed unconsciously toward Caroline her hand reaching out for support. The silence was so piercing, that a sudden noise caused the pair to jump and spin around to face a crow sitting on the monument it's beady eyes trained on them.
"SHOO!" Caroline called, her voice cracking somewhat. Her nerves were strained from years of horrible stories her mother had told her or she'd seen in the papers, on the news, passing gossip. Bodies disappearing, blood. All the blood.
The crow blinked at her, as though scorning her childishness. Caroline without hesitance grabbed Elena's hand as the pair ran out of the graveyard. This wasn't before she caught a flash of a solid, dark figure, standing at the far end of the graveyard. A wicked smile on its face. If words could be uttered, Caroline swore she saw the devil.