AN: Hi Everyone, so this is my very first fanfiction. I've always liked Kol and was a little upset when they killed him off, I thought he was such a great character that they could have done more with him. Well I hope you like this. It's a bit of an AU because I really didn't want to go in line with the episodes...just so you know...;) Please let me know what you think...good or bad...:)
Disclaimer: I don't own the vampire diaries...just done for fun...non-profit...:)
Mystic Falls
October 4th 1855
It was a stormy evening in the town of mystic falls. The weather had been unsettled for the past few days but tonight it seemed to become really strong. The wind rushed through the streets giving out rushing and roaring noises. Georgianna Salvatore sat in the living room next to the large raging fire that had been lit hours ago. Her eight-year-old daughter lay next to her with her head on her lap listening intently at the story her Mother was reading from the pretty illustrated book. It was old but not tattered, a book that had maybe only had a handful of owners before. Other than the servants that lived and worked in the mansion it was just the two of them in the house tonight. Giuseppe Salvatore, Georgianna's husband had taken the two eldest children, Damon and Stefan with him on a twice-monthly hunting trip he went on with the Lockwood men. Benjamin Lockwood was the mayor of the town and his son George was the same age as Damon and went to the same prestigious school as him. They seemed to compete with each other with a lot of things but their friendship had been thrust upon them by the fact that their fathers were friends.
Georgianna paused in the story of how a boy named Jack discovered a magically land upon a beanstalk when a flash of lightning illuminated the room. She could feel her daughter flinch and looked down at her with a smile.
"Do not fear the lightning Kara, it cannot hurt you as long as I am here".
Kara smiled up at her Mother.
"I'm not afraid. Please continue the story Mama"
Georgianna caressed her daughter's head where her blond hair met her young innocent face. Tired blue eyes, eyes that her daughter shared with her eldest son looked up at her.
"I think it's time for bed my dear"
"Oh but Mama, Jack was just about to meet the giant" Kara argued sitting bolt upright.
Georgianna looked at her daughter and chuckled.
"I thought you hadn't read this story before?".
Kara looked like she had been caught in a lie and thought quickly.
"I have not, Damon just told me about it once but he didn't tell me the ending, honest"
"Hmm, well we'll just have to leave the rest of Jack's adventures for another night" Georgianna concluded closing the book and propping it on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Very well Mama" Kara said defeated stifling a yawn "Goodnight".
"Goodnight my darling" she said kissing her daughter on the top of her head.
It couldn't have been much later when Kara awoke to the sounds of frantic screams and voices emanating from the floor above her. She had never heard such a sound before in her young life. Her heart hammered in her chest as a wave of fear swept over her. Many ghost stories that her brothers had told her to frighten her entered her mind first, she had conclude that there was no truth to them, but what if she had been wrong? The rain still battered hard against the windows and it didn't look like the storm had died down much. She flinched as the thunder roared again but the curiosity got the better of her.
It was pitch black in her room but she found her way to the hallway outside her door where the light from the gas lamps made it possible for her to see. The voices were scared and panicked and suddenly she could hear footsteps running down the stairs from the third floor towards her Mother's bedroom.
It was her mother's ladies maid Elisa, she was in her nightdress and running down the non-servants staircase from the third floor or the servants quarters which was definitely unheard of. She pounded on Georgianna's door hard and Kara looked a little shocked to see the usual quiet demeanour of the maid become very frenzied and anxious. It didn't take long for Georgianna to answer her door, Kara figured that the ruckus must have awoken her as well. Kara stayed hidden in the shadows while she listened, she knew if she was found out that she would just be sent back to bed again anyway.
"Elisa what..?"
Georgianna began before Elisa cut her off.
"I'm sorry Madam, but we need you upstairs, it's urgent, it's Donna" she said breathlessly.
Kara knew of Donna. She had worked in the kitchens for over twenty years. She had made her a really nice birthday cake last year for her birthday and snuck them crackers and cheese when any of them were sent to bed with no dinner, which happened to Damon more often than she or Stefan.
"Is everything alright?" Georgianna asked pulling her robe tightly around her and tying it with the silk rope.
"Please Ma'am. The doctor had already been sent for, we just don't know what to do".
Georgianna nodded and followed Elisa up the stairs not batting an eyelid at the fact that her closest maid was using the family staircase. Kara tip-toed after them.
She had only ever been up to the third floor twice. Once when she had been too young to know any different, she had wandered up there when her nanny had been otherwise occupied. She had been scolded and disciplined for her actions by Frau Schimer and promised never to do it again. The second was when she and her brothers had been playing hide and go seek and she couldn't think of any places in which to hide. She had stayed hidden for over an hour until Stefan had shouted around the house that he had given up and she had won. She hadn't let him forget that feat, even when he had told her that she had technically cheated as they weren't allowed in the servant's quarters.
The Salvatore's were one of the wealthiest families in Mystic Falls, with the exception of maybe the Lockwood's but they kept a modest size staff for the size of the estate. They had a total of twelve indoor staff, four outdoor staff and two carriage drivers that also maintained them and the horses.
Georgianna stopped outside the third door and waited as a woman Kara knew as Ms Leyton exited the room. She looked dishevelled, her hair messy and her night clothes askew.
Ms. Leyton was the cook of the house and usually looked immaculate, having her greying brown hair pinned back all of the time and even her apron remained unstained. Now, however she looked flustered, frightened and even unsure.
It was now that Kara noticed, from behind the corner wall that most of the staff were up and walking the halls most still in their uniforms and others half dressed in night clothes. Something was definitely wrong and Kara at her young age could tell this. This made her feel slightly insecure. Usually when she felt like this she would run to her brothers and they would console her. The age gap may have been a little more than what her brothers shared together but she felt close to them. Damon had just turned fourteen in June and Stefan would be ten in November. She however would not turn eight until May.
It was then when Doctor Marsh rushed passed her, without even giving her a backwards glance. He seemed stressed with worry lines creasing on his face. He spoke to Georgianna for a few seconds in words that Kara didn't even pretend to understand before rushing into the room Ms. Leyton had emerged from. The staff looked worried and Kara realised that something must be very wrong.
Kara watched and waited for Doctor Marsh to return. Her Mother had grown gaunt with worry and the other staff paced and wandered the corridor.
He emerged from attending to the maid Donna Cleary after several minutes. He had a cloth held to his mouth and nose and was pale. He turned to both Georgianna and Ms. Leyton taking the cloth down slowly. The look was all they needed to know. He looked into both their eyes with his own darkly rimmed bagged ones and shook his head.
Ms. Leyton and Elisa both broke down in tears while, Kevin Thompson, the aging butler of the house consoled the former. Doctor Marsh took Georgianna to the side, away from the scene yet closer to Kara's hiding place.
"She's…?"
"Dead, yes I'm afraid so" Doctor Marsh finished "You'll need to lime the body, burn all of her things, the bed sheets, everything. Make sure that anyone that comes in contact with the body holds something up to their mouths and nose".
"Why?" Georgianna began "Is it contagious?" she asked her voice laced with concern.
Doctor Marsh looked forlorn.
"It's an epidemic. It's already affected most families in Mystic Falls. The death toll is still rising but including Miss Cleary in there it's already at seventeen".
Georgianna looked shocked, her face ashen.
"Why have we not heard of this before now?" she asked, angry now that nobody had been given any forewarning.
"Mayor Lockwood is out of town but deputy Mayor Throve insisted that we not cause a panic".
"Does Mayor Lockwood even know about this?" Georgianna asked her voice full of hostility.
"I'm sure he has been informed of the situation by Mr Throve"
"Well I'm not" Georgianna snapped striding passed the doctor and passed Kara's hiding place.
Dr Marsh followed after her.
"My husband and sons are with Mayor Lockwood as we speak, if Mayor Lockwood knew then my husband would too and he would not leave his wife and daughter helpless. He would have sent word, sent for us to join him".
Kara could see her march back down the stairs. She looked determined, like she was on a mission as she made her way to Giuseppe's office.
Gazing over the banister she could see her mother briskly writing on the letter paper her father used for business purposes.
She thrust it into Dr Marsh's hand sans an envelope.
"You make sure my husband gets that letter" Georgianna said an edge of anger in her voice.
"How?" Dr Marsh asked a little insure.
"There's a messenger boy that works for the post office, give it to him have him delivery personally to my husband".
Dr Marsh looked at her hard as if debating with something in his head.
Georgianna noticed this.
"What is it?"
Again he did not speak.
"Speak plainly Doctor" she urged a little harsher than expected.
"The town has been quarantined" he said in his usual matter of fact tone" As of six o'clock this evening no one is allowed in or out of Mystic Falls until further notice"
Georgianna held her hands to her mouth in shock. Silence passed in the seconds that followed.
"You know that that's going to kill a lot more people than save" Georgianna spat back.
"It'll save the neighbouring towns, besides it wasn't my decision. You can thank deputy Mayor Throve for that decision"
"He is a spineless half-wit" she seethed. Kara had never heard her mother speak of someone in such an ill manner.
"He may be, but he is our only hope" Dr Marsh said.
"Also you know what that means right? Your husband will not be allowed back into the town until this disaster is dealt with. You need to take control here"
A barge of tears broke through Georgianna's eyes. She was feeling two very strong emotions at present. Mind numbing fear, over herself and of Kara and the second, relief that she did not have to worry about her husband or sons catching the deadly fever.
Wiping her eyes quickly she nodded at the medical man. Taking a deep breath she replied strongly.
"I will, have no fear, we will do what is right here".
With that Dr Marsh nodded and left the house.
Kara could see her Mother let out a pained sigh and leant herself against the desk. She was nervous and for now so was Kara for her Mother was never nervous.
She could see her mother take a deep breath and push herself off the desk, her posture becoming perfect once more. Taking Kara by surprise she glanced upwards towards the stairs catching her daughter in her trance.
"Kara? What are you doing out of bed?"
Her tone wasn't angry or upset but more concerned.
Kara froze for a moment before answering and decided it would be better just to tell the truth.
"I heard noises Mama, screams" she had only realised once it had left her mouth that her voice had quivered.
"Oh darling" Georgianna sighed making her way up the staircase to the place beside the banister that her daughter occupied.
"Donna's….dead?" she asked slowly.
Georgianna nodded sadly. She cupped her daughters face.
"God has taken her to be beside him now, she's in a better place".
Kara nodded and smiled a small sad smile at her mother.
"Now to bed with you child, everything will right itself in the morning just you wait and see"
"But I want to stay and help you" Kara began to argue.
"There is nothing you can do but go and get a good night's rest, do it for me, alright?"
Kara nodded and through her arms around her mother.
"I love you Mama" she said as her mother tightened her embrace around her.
"I love you too my baby girl" Georgianna replied her voice cracking with emotion.
Don't worry Kol will be in it soon, I just think that it needed some back story. I really hope you liked it, please let me know! :) xxxxx