I MADE AN INSTAGRAM AND YOU GUYS SHOULD CHECK IT OUT ( MISSMARIAWRITES).
Just got out of the hospital. I fractured my tibia a couple of weeks back and haven't been able to do anything productive in regards to school or writing. This is something I've been meaning to put up for a while and finally had the courage to do it.
It kind of follows the story line of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls books (which you should totally read if you haven't), but I'll branch off to my own plot line throughout the story.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Start from the Beginning
"Start from the beginning."
Caroline looked up at the man seated in front of her. His dark hair was slicked back, his gray suit impeccable, his white shirt pressed and pristine. He pressed a button on the recorder to his right, then grabbed a pen and held it to the notepad situated in front of him.
She knew that the recorder wasn't the only recording device in the room; there was one under the stainless steel table that separated them, another one on the ceiling at the far left hand corner of the room, and that tie clip the man was wearing was most definitely not an ordinary tie clip. She also knew that the pen the man was holding was blue despite the fact that the actual pen was completely black and that the notepad was missing precisely 17 pages.
What Caroline didn't know was where to start
She began babbling off dates and times- things that she knew by memory. His hand moved quickly over the sheet as he jotted down everything she said. By the jerky and abrupt movements of his fingers, Caroline could tell he was writing in shorthand- surely Gregg or Pittman.
"Those are the exact dates and times you gave our first debriefing team," he interrupted her stream of babbling.
"I need you to give me all the information related to the incident- as detailed as possible." Caroline recognized the use of the word "me" as a tool for creating a faux personal connection- basic Interrogation 101. It didn't surprise her- he was part of Debrief Team Two. They usually tried to relate to their interviewees so that they could get more personal details, or so she's heard.
But his friendly tone was starkly contrasted by the way he looked straight at her, his dark irises boring into hers.
Caroline sighed, knowing this would happen- it was inevitable.
She knew exactly where to start...
"Caroline, wait up!" A voice called from behind her and she turned to see Bonnie running down the hallway, dodging the clumsy freshmen.
"Hey, Bon." Caroline smiled and turned back around as she fell into step beside her.
"Ready for day one of junior year?"
"We've been in day one of junior year for four hours now," Caroline pointed out.
"Same difference," Bonnie waved her hand, dismissing the detail.
They continued to talk about random topics- their summer, their classes, recent gossip- things they had already generally talked about that morning while getting ready.
Although Bonnie was one of Caroline's best friends, they had spent most of the summer apart. Bonnie had gone back to London to visit her grandmother, as well as to spend a couple of weeks with her parents at MI6. They met up a few times when Liz's missions crossed the Bennetts', otherwise they were on separate sides of the globe.
The two girls reached the place where their classroom was supposed to be, only to be faced with a fake trophy case containing fake trophies, all awarded to the Mystic Falls Academy for Exceptional Young Women.
"Are we in the right place?" Bonnie asked, looking around. Caroline frowned and pulled her schedule from my bag, something she never thought she would need to do.
"I'm pretty sure my photographic memory isn't failing," another voice sounded behind them and Caroline turned to see Elena looking at the trophy case as well.
"That over there is 160E," Elena said, turning her head to the right and pointing at one of the doors that ran along the corridor "And that over there is 164E," she continued, looking to the right and pointing at another door.
"And this is 162E," said another voice. Their teacher, Alaric Saltzman, stepped forward and went to touch the stones on the wall next to the case.
After taping a combination of stones (which they all memorized immediately), the faint click of a lock sounded through the air and they watched as the case pulled back into the wall and then up, revealing a door behind it.
By then, they had been joined by the rest of the class and everyone looked on in awe as Mr. Saltzman stepped through the door, leading them to their new Covert Operations classroom.
There was a long stone corridor with many twists and turns before they reached another door- a steel door.
"Would anyone like to volunteer?" Alaric asked, stepping aside and motioned toward the little steel pad by the door.
"Me!" Bonnie called out, stepping forward.
"Alright, Ms. Bennett, stand in front of the pad." She did and soon after what looked like a small metal tray slid out.
"Place your finger on the tray," Mr. Saltzman instructed and Bonnie carefully placed her index finger on the tray. Everyone craned their necks, trying to see what was going on.
"Ow!" Bonnie yanked her finger away from the tray and looked at it, her eyes wide. "It pricked me!"
Just as she began to complain, the steel door slid open and everyone looked inside. Bonnie looked inside as well, completely forgetting the blood pooling on her finger.
"Thank you Ms. Bennett, that was a lovely demonstration," Mr. Saltzman said as he stepped through the threshold of the classroom. "Now don't get too comfortable, we will only be here for a few minutes."
They all filed in and looked around. It was a regular classroom (well, as normal as it can get when you go to a school for spies in training). The walls and floor were made of stone, just liked the corridor they had come through. To the right there were desks, lined in three perfect rows, each on a different stone plateau. At the front, there was a larger desk as well as a chalkboard with the words 'Covert Operations II' written in Alaric's chicken scratch.
"Welcome to Covert Operation level two," he said from the front of the class as he opened one of his desk drawers and rummaged through it. "First order of business-" he pulled out a set of keys and jingled them "Field trip."
Within the next hour they had all changed out of our school uniform and into regular clothes, gotten into a standard yellow school bus and driven into the town limits.
"Today is the Mystic Falls Founder's day parade," Alaric called out from his place at the front of the bus. "Your mission is to select a target. You will operate in teams of four and execute a rotation." Everyone nodded, picking up a comms unit from a case that was being passed around.
"You will then return with a detailed report of the individual-" He turned around to face them then. "Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, sir!" Everyone replied in unison.
"Remember the rules of engagement and return to the rendezvous point at 20:00 hours"
"Yes, sir!" Everyone called out again. The bus stopped and everyone except Mr. Saltzman filed out.
The bus was soon pulling away, leaving a group of girls alone just outside the town of Mystic Falls, Virginia.
There was a steady hum of chatter as the group assembled into teams of four.
"Make sure our comms are on the same frequency," Elena said as she, Bonnie, Katerina and Caroline stood close together. They all touched our earpieces and fumbled with them until they were on the same frequency.
"Alright, plan of action?" Bonnie asked.
"Well, everyone is entering the town square through the South..." Katerina started.
"We should go in through the East. We are closer to the eastern entrance and we'll just insert ourselves into the flow of the crowd," Caroline finished.
"And the rotation?" Elena pointed out.
"We'll wait an hour until the parade is underway to select a target and execute the rotation" Caroline answered again, her neurotic tendencies taking over.
"So the plan is set?" Bonnie made sure.
"Yes," Caroline answered.
"Let's go," Katerina said.
After that they all headed toward the eastern entrance to the town square where most of the parade was taking place. They were all caught off guard when they saw that everyone was dressed in costumes from the 19th century- Civil War time.
"Can anyone say 'wardrobe crisis'?" Katerina's voice came through the comms unit.
Wardrobe crisis indeed.
One of the most important rules of espionage was that one must always blend in with the crowd and never stand out- unless the mission called for it.
And the mission most definitely did not call for it.
"Relax, Kat. I bet there's a store that can get you what you need." From where the other three girls were standing they could see Katerina's brown curls bobbing, indicating that she had nodded, and then she disappeared.
They had made the mistake of not having eyes on the crowd, and Kat had gone in blind. When she rounded the corner, her voice had come through the unit, telling them that something was wrong. When they adjusted their position so that we could see the crowd, the hoop skirts and Confederate uniforms stared them right in the face.
"What are we going to do? We can't go in there dressed like this!" Elena squealed and although a little melodramatic, she was right. They were already new faces in a small town, not adhering to the dress code would make them stick out like a sore thumb.
"Oh, my goodness! Thank you so much! My friends and I just got into town yesterday to visit some family members and we had no idea that dressing up was part of tradition for the parade! We were totally unprepared" Katerina's voice blasted through he comms.
"Oh, it's no problem honey! We got tons of dresses for the occasion," The faint sound of a woman with a thick southern accent came through and they all smiled at each other.
"Leave it to Katerina to find the store you need," Bonnie chuckled.
Soon they were all decked in 19th century garb- hoop dresses with intricate patterns and puffy sleeves, feathered hats and interesting necklaces.
"Rotation in five," Elena said.
"Yes, Elena, we are aware. You've been counting down for the past 30 minutes," Katerina snapped, her Bulgarian accent thick.
"Oh, I'm sorry Katerina. I was trying to keep everyone on the same page so that no one would ditch the mission for a cute guy," Elena fired back.
"It was one time! And it was part of my cover."
"Can you two knock it off! Are you in position?" Bonnie asked, clearly aggravated. Their replies came through and Caroline readied herself, eyes on their target.
"Ready Caroline?"
"Yes,"
"Alright- three, two, one..." Bonnie counted down and Caroline stepped into the crowd.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She said sweetly as the boy's arms reached out to catch her.
"Are you alright?" He asked, looking into her eyes. She had my hand on his wrist so she felt his pulse spike and knew it was because of her eyes- they had that effect on people.
"Yes, thank you," Caroline breathed, feigning the look of a girl who had been captivated by the boy's looks. It wasn't that difficult, he wasn't particularly hard on the eyes.
Caroline stayed in his embrace for a bit longer before he pulled away slightly.
"My name is Tyler," he said, flashing a perfect smile.
"I'm Candice," she said smoothly, the alias slipping past her lips as if it weren't a lie.
"Candice," he repeated. "That's a beautiful name for a beautiful face. How come I've never seen you around?"
"Oh, I'm just visiting," she kept my voice sweet, praying that Bonnie was close- she wouldn't be able to keep the facade up for much longer.
"How lon-" He started, but someone shoved into him from behind. Caroline took the opportunity to slip away, and by the time he turned to look at her, she was no longer there.
"You're up, Elena" Caroline said quietly and made her way through the crowd, taking her time to carry out the proper steps of counter surveillance.
By 19:30 hours, she was at the old Fell church.
"What took you so long? Elena was in and out- what were you doing?" Katerina questioned, not in a bitchy Katerina sort of way, but in a worried Katerina sort of way.
"Counter surveillance," Caroline said simply and sat down on the ground next to the rest of the team.
"Great pick-and-hand-off by the way," Bonnie commended.
"Great return," Caroline smiled and returned the compliment.
Unbeknownst to Tyler, he had just had a full blown background check done on him. While they had had their run in, Caroline had easily been able to grab hold of his wallet and hand it off to Bonnie while they were talking. She copied all information found on anything in his wallet. When she bumped into him, she slipped it back into his pocket, simultaneously giving Caroline a chance to make a clean getaway.
After that, Elena came in and got samples of his fingerprints while Kat gathered information from a very drunk varsity football team.
The rotation had been a success.
"Well done girls- shall we get to the rendezvous point?" Kat said, standing up and dusting off her dress. Bonnie grabbed the small folder that had all the information on their target and Elena and Caroline followed close behind.
"Rules of engagement aside-" Katerina started. "He was so hot!"
"Right?" Bonnie said, opening the folder and taking out a picture of the boy.
"Tyler Lockwood, star varsity football player, average student," she said, reciting the list she had probably already memorized.
"You guys looked cute together, Care." Elena said and Caroline laughed, knowing it was true.
"That was the first encounter?" The man across from Caroline asked and she nodded.
"I met with the rest of the class at the rendezvous point at 20:00 hours and we made our way back to the academy. We turned in our report on the target to Mr. Saltzman and then turned in for the night."
He jotted down more notes.
"And when was the next encounter?"
"Six days later," Caroline said automatically.
"Did you return to Mystic Falls on your own accord or for academic purposes?"
"On my own accord."
"After this, the encounters became frequent?"
"Yes."
"Did the subject ever learn your true identity?"
"Yes, but the amnesia serum administered to him by the operative Elizabeth Forbes cleared him of that knowledge." He jotted down more notes.
"Since then, did you ever encounter the subject again?"
"No," she said, remember the last time she went into town and saw him with a brunette, walking down the street hand in hand. Her name was Vicky (Elena had found her file later that day).
"You are aware that you broke the rules of engagement correct?"
"Yes," Caroline said, knowing that the only real consequences would be those that she would suffer alone.
After the debriefing, Caroline went through multiple other tests, and after roughly five hours in the facility she was let out. She had been there since eight in the morning, so it was just early noon when she stepped out into the world again.
Caroline shielded her eyes from the bright sun and let her vision adjust. Being underground for the better part of the day can take a toll on one's eyesight.
A long black limo was parked in front of her and the back door opened. Elizabeth Forbes stepped out in a navy blue pinstripe skirt suit, her short blonde hair framing her face.
Caroline walked toward her and she stepped aside, letting her into the limo. Caroline sat and stared out the window as the car door shut and she felt the seat sink as her mother sat down.
"How did it go?" She said conversationally.
"Fine," Caroline replied, putting no emotion into her voice.
"Everything went smoothly?"
"If something had gone wrong, would I be here right now?" Caroline turned to her then. Liz nodded, knowing the answer. Caroline sighed and resumed looking out the window. First, they were in the countryside which gave way to the buildings and monuments of Washington, D.C.
Soon after they were on a highway, heading South, on their way home.
They didn't say anything else to each other for the rest of the trip. Caroline knew her mother had been trying to make conversation when she asked how everything had gone, but she just wasn't up for it.
She also knew that it was unreasonable to be acting like she was, but she couldn't help it. The teenage hormones raging inside her were telling her to yell and scream at her mother for separating her from Tyler. But the calm and level headed operative in her told her that her had been following protocol, and that if she had not, worse things could have happened.
This inner battle had been going on since the moment Tyler walked out the school's front doors and back to Mystic Falls. Surely he had gone to bed and woken up the next day with no recollection that the Mystic Falls Academy was a school for spies and that Caroline's name wasn't Candice, and that hurt.
After he had gone, Caroline had gone up to her room where Kat, Bonnie, and Elena were waiting. Katerina said that if she felt broken, it was normal because that's how you felt when you lose your first love. Bonnie offered to make tea and Elena offered to help Caroline hack the a Sapphire Series code because that always made her feel better.
Instead of staying with them and crying her heart out over a cup of tea and some ice cream that Kat had stolen from the kitchen, Caroline said that she was fine and that she had some thinking to do.
Then she disappeared- which is what she does best. She climbed up to her favorite hiding spot (the West tower) and looked out the window where she could see the falls. They looked small from where she was, but close up she knew they were tall and majestic. Caroline was so captivated by them that she didn't even realize she had started crying, the tears burning her eyes and cheeks.
When she was able to stop crying, she looked down at her wrist and saw the bracelet Tyler had given her, which brought on a new wave of fresh tears.
Caroline shook her head, clearing her mind of the memory and looking out the window, her internal clock telling her that it had been an hour and 47 minutes since they had left Washington, which meant that they should have been arriving in Mystic Falls soon.
And she was right. The driver took a left off of Main Street and onto a side road.
Caroline had never been so happy to see the barrier of pine trees that surrounded the Mystic Falls Academy for Exceptional Young Women.
They passed through the large metal gate and set on the long winding path that lead to the main entrance of the academy. She looked out to the manicured lawns and perfectly trimmed trees and hedges which added to the facade of a rich all girls school.
She smiled as she saw the line of black limousines, all exactly the same as the one she was in.
When their car pulled up to the front, she opened the door and took in the sight of girls shrieking and lugging their suitcases, embracing their friends. She could pick out the seventh graders easily- they stayed quiet and to themselves, looking as scared as they felt.
She rounded the side of the car and waited for the trunk to pop open. When it did, Caroline grabbed her two suitcases and book bag and made her way to the entrance.
"Caroline," her mother called out and she turned to see her next to their limo. "Remember dinner tonight," she said and Caroline nodded, turning and making her way toward the Grand Staircase. She had promised herself that she wouldn't use any of the secret passages this year- unless it was a dire emergency.
Caroline looked at the West wing corridor, filled with with girls trying to find their rooms. Then she looked at the grand staircase, packed with girls running up and down. And at that moment, she knew she had to break her resolution- In retrospect, she knew it wouldn't last very long.
After making it to the second floor landing, Caroline glanced around to see if anyone was looking. When she made sure no one was, she ran her hand over the stone wall until she found the right stone. When she pressed it, it moved aside to reveal a tarnished door knob. She turned it and the secret door opened.
Caroline stepped through and put her bags on the ground, then searched around for a flashlight she had put there in the ninth grade. She found it and turned it on, then grabbed her bags again.
After about a minute of walking, she reached the spiralling staircase and started carefully climbing each step- it wasn't easy with three bags and a flashlight.
When Caroline reached the top, she held her breath and listened to the sound of the girls on the other side.
She waited a few seconds and pushed the door open. This particular door was well hidden from the view of anyone who might pass by it since it was built into an alcove- the large fern covering it helped too.
Caroline let the door close and then stepped around the plant, casually making her way to my bedroom. No one seemed to have noticed that she appeared out of nowhere.
"Caroline Forbes," -except Bonnie, of course. She stood at the door of their room, arms crossed over her chest
"What?" Caroline asked, stepping in front of her and expecting her to move aside. Instead, Bonnie reached over and picked something off her shoulder, dangling it in front of her face.
"The school year has yet to start and you're already creeping through the shadows?" She said with mock sternness as she let the delicate cobweb fall to the ground.
"The hallways were crowded, Bon," Caroline said and moved into the room, dropping her bags onto the mattress.
She looked around, observing that the other three beds were already made.
"Am I the last one to get here?" She asked. Aside from the beds already being made, there were clothes on hangers in closets, books piled neatly on desks, laptops plugged in.
"Yeah, Kat and Elena arrived together, but I've been here since yesterday," she shrugged.
"Yesterday?" Caroline reiterated while unzipping one of her suitcases and pulling out a set of bed sheets and pillowcases.
"My dad had to drop me off sooner than expected. He was called in for a mission in Istan- I mean the middle east," she quickly caught herself.
Caroline laughed and Bonnie laughed along with her.
"Does anyone have a curling iron they aren't going to use tomorrow?" Came a voice from the doorway and they both turned to see Anna at their door.
"Yeah I have one," Caroline said, pulling out her pink curling iron and tossing it to her.
"Thanks!" She said and disappeared into the hallway.
In a regular all girls school, Caroline would bet no one in the student body cares how they look. Yeah, they'll wear their uniforms- but they'll be wrinkled. They probably have their hair in a messy bun all week and they never wear makeup.
But in the Mystic Falls Academy, they have one sole reason for looking presentable year round- Covert Operations.
You don't actually start CoveOps until sophomore year, and no one is allowed to talk about what goes on in CoveOps. Period.
So in the fall of sophomore year when Mr. Saltzman told them that we were having a "field trip" and didn't give them a chance to change, 12 Mystic Falls academy sophomores went out into the world looking like the scum of the earth.
Needless to say, they learned their lesson.
"Well, look who's back," Kat said as she entered the room, Elena following closely behind her carrying a stack of books.
"Already, Elena?" Caroline asked while hugging Kat.
"What? I have Advanced Microelectronics and History of World Poisons this year and these," she paused and dropped the books onto her bed. "Are the best resources in the library and I didn't want anyone else grabbing them before me."
They all laughed- typical Elena.
Caroline finished hanging up all her clothes and taking out her school supplies before tucking her suitcase under her bed. She grabbed her laptop and sat on the bed, pulling up her summer paper and reading it over.
"Isn't it amazing how they let us bring our laptops this year?" Kat mused.
"Yeah but only for writing papers, we aren't actually allowed to go on the Internet," Bonnie reminded her.
"Yeah, but it's better than having to wait to use the computers in the library," Kat said and they all nodded.
Caroline was halfway through her report when something started to bug her. It had been bugging her since she had come in but now it was really bothering her.
"Is it just me or did the hallways seem a little crowded today?" Caroline asked out loud.
"No, it was crowded," Bonnie said looking up.
"Yeah, it's probably because of the whole East wing thing," Elena said nonchalantly as she put away her books.
"East wing thing?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah, they closed off the East wing," Kat said from her place on her bed. "Me and 'Lena were going to go ask Ms. Sommers if there were any resources she was requiring us to have this year but when we got to the wing entrance it was sealed off. Dr. Fell told us that there had been a leak in the lab and they had to quarantine the area until further notice."
"So where are we going to have class? Over half of the classrooms were in the east wing," Caroline pointed out.
"They moved some of the smaller classes to the first floor of the West wing, everything else is in the South wing," Kat said.
"Hm," Caroline said, frowning. It was strange.
The fact that there had been a leak wasn't strange, those types of things happened all the time. But that the leak had been large enough to close out a whole wing? That had only happened once in MFA history, and they had instilled protocol so that it would never happen again.
What made this even stranger was the timing. It happened over the summer, right after one of the biggest security breaches the academy had ever seen (admittedly, the security breach was cause by her).
"Why the face, Care?" Bonnie asked.
"Oh it's nothing, just-" she sighed, closing her laptop and looking at one of my best friends "my mom didn't tell me."
"Well you haven't really been on speaking terms with your mother," she pointed out.
"Yeah, I know but still," Caroline sighed again, rubbing her eyes and getting up.
"Where are you going?" She heard Elena from behind her.
"For a walk."
The West wing was used for housing (kind of like dorms), and had three floors. The first floor was for seventh and eighth graders, the second floor was for freshmen, sophomores and juniors. The third floor was left respectfully for the seniors.
Caroline had never been on the senior floor. It was like an unspoken rule amongst the students- you don't skip floors.
The rooms here were bigger, the views were better, and the hallways smelled slightly less old than the other hallways.
So, because she had never been on this floor, Caroline didn't know what secret passages it had. The only reason she knew the passage she had used to get from the grand staircase to the alcove on the third floor was because that passage also lead to the supply closet on the second floor. She had been passing by that spiraling staircase for three years, only guessing where it lead to (her guess had been right).
But the alcove was a passage exit (there was no way to get into the passage through the alcove, unless the door was already open).
The hallways were fairly empty now, only one or two girls would pass by every so often, so Caroline was left alone. She looked around for loose stones, strange dust patterns, anything that would lead her to a passage.
She reached the end of the hallway where there was a nook. Inside the nook was a cushioned built-in seat and a window looking out toward the grounds. She sat down on the seat and set her back against the wall. From where she was, she could see the combat grounds.
Caroline remembered the first time she had been there, as a seventh grader. Mr. Fell introduced himself and then asked if anyone knew the Warshaw hold. When no one said anything, Caroline stepped forward and he asked that she demonstrate it to the class, which she did.
Everyone was impressed, except for Mr. Fell. He knew that Caroline was the headmistress's daughter, therefore, Bill Forbes's daughter, and that was explanation enough.
When she introduced myself to the class as Caroline Forbes, no one was surprised anymore (because the Forbes family were sort of legends in the spy world).
Caroline smiled at the memory and looked away from the window, getting up from the seat. She stopped halfway through the motion though because her fingers slid across the side of the seat and she recognized the tell tale texture of the Peirce family seal.
She bent down in front of the seat and sure enough, worked into the wood of the seat there was a small family seal. She looked around to make sure that no one was looking and then pushed the seal.
She heard the faint sound of a latch opening and she pushed the top of the seat up. There was a stone staircase there, and Caroline stepped in and closed the door behind her.
The staircase was narrow and it felt like the walls were closing in on her.
She counted 39 steps before she reached the bottom and then looked around, surprised that it wasn't dark. There were small windows near the ceiling of the passage, letting the light from outside shine through to provide some visibility.
This passage was without a doubt a one exit passage. It was so narrow, it had to be.
Caroline continued walking, letting the twists and turns take her where they wanted.
There was another set of steps and she climbed them carefully watching out for loose stones. When she got to the landing there was an alcove on her right. She stepped in and looked around, but there was nothing inside. She looked at the stones, looking for one that would be at her eye level.
One caught her eye and she looked closer, finding that it had the Peirce seal on it. She pressed it, but nothing happened. She took a new approach and tried pushing it aside. It slid smoothly into the rock next to it, which she guessed was hollow.
"So everything is on schedule?"
"Yes, we are just putting some finishing touches on the alterations so we should be done by the end of the week."
"Perfect."
The conversation floated up and Caroline caught every second of it. She quickly realized that she was looking into my mother's office from above. She could see the top of her head and the top of Mr. Saltzman's head as they made conversation.
Liz opened a file in front of her and flipped some papers. As she examined them, she continued talking.
"When will they be arriving?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. Right now the exact date is pending," Alaric said and her mother nodded.
Silence filled the room then and Caroline watched as my mom looked through the file once again, focusing on one sheet of paper.
"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" She asked
"Liz, they need our help," Alaric responded.
"I know but," She paused. "Is it right for us?" Another few seconds of silence filled the room before Alaric answered.
"I don't know."
Caroline slid the rock back into place and continued through the passage, vowing to never, ever, go into that alcove again.
Turns out that the passage lead to the tea room where most of the Culture and Assimilations classes would be taking place that year.
Caroline walked through the room, noticing how it looked much more different when the silk curtains were drawn and there wasn't any sunlight coming into the room.
The tea room was in the South wing (more like the south building since it wasn't attached to the actual manor). So when she exited the south wing, Caroline had a two minute walk across the campus to get back to the main building.
When she reached the main building, Caroline made her way to her mother's office, making sure to walk extra slow. Her internal clock told her that it was almost seven, the time at which she had to be knocking on her mother's door.
As she rounded the corner, the door to her mother's office opened and Alaric stepped out. The sudden urge to hide overcame her and she quickly stepped back around the corner.
"We'll continue talking about White Oak some other time," she heard her mother's voice and Alaric's footsteps coming closer.
Caroline stepped around the corner again and made it seem like she was just coming and not that she had been eavesdropping.
"Good afternoon, Caroline," Alaric said with a small smile.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Saltzman," she said, returning the smile and walking past him toward her mother's office. She stood at the door, her palms flat against the wood.
"Come in," Liz said and gestured toward the inside of her office and Caroline walked through the threshold, trying to ignore how painfully formal that had been.
Things hadn't exactly been easy between Liz and her since her father's disappearance. Since both of Caroline's parents were usually away on missions, she was used to not getting to see them as often as normal kids would. But when they were home, she always spent most of her time with her dad.
When her dad went missing six years before, her mother was very distant and would take every mission that crossed her path- some were quick, others took more time. At around the time when Caroline started going to the academy, she also took the job as headmistress in an effort to strengthen their relationship.
It worked- to an extent. They had dinner every Sunday night and they saw each other almost everyday.
But there was a rift between them that neither of them knew how to mend, and the incident with Tyler only made it harder.
"Did you settle in alright?" She asked from the small kitchen in the back of her office as she removed a packet of microwavable quesadillas from the microwave.
"Yeah," Caroline said, sitting down on the couch. It was quiet again and she looked around the room aimlessly. Her eyes landed on the stone wall to her right, the wall she had been standing behind only minutes ago.
"How are Elena and Kat?" Her mother asked as she came into view and sat down next to her, handing her a paper plate with two quesadillas on it.
Liz had never been the best cook (Caroline's dad or the maid were always in charge of feeding her). It turns out, not even microwavable food was safe from her. But after about five years of Sunday dinner nights, Caroline was immune to the possible toxins her food carried.
So when she took a bite of the quesadilla and tasted the undercooked, preserved bread and cheese, it wasn't hard to smile and swallow. Liz smiled too and took a bite out of one of her own.
After she finished one quesadilla, Caroline decided to speak.
"So, they sealed off the East wing." She couldn't tell if her mother had gulped or swallowed, but she waited a few seconds before answering.
"Yeah, there was a leak from the labs," she said, taking a bite of her second quesadilla. Caroline nodded and soon they had both finished their meal. Liz got up and threw away the plates and then came back and sat down.
"So are you excited for tomorrow?" She asked, putting what looked like a genuine smile on her face.
"Yeah, I mean it's my first day of Senior year!" Caroline said, genuinely excited before she had a chance to catch myself- she was supposed to be mad at her.
"Yes that is something to be excited about," Liz said, laughing a bit under her breath before she got serious "Caroline?"
"Hm?" Caroline said, taken off guard by her change in tone.
"I want this year to be a fresh start for us."
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Liz fidgeted, something Caroline had only seen her do a handful of times. "I know things haven't been easy since your father...left. But I think that after recent occurrences, we should really try to have a stronger relationship," She finished.
Caroline looked at her, watching for any signs that could lead to an ulterior motive. Her fidgeting was unusual, but probably because she was genuinely nervous. If she had been lying or hiding something, she wouldn't have fidgeted because seasoned operatives such as herself don't fidget. Her pupils stayed the same size, she kept her gaze on her, her heartbeat didn't jump. She was either as good as Caroline thought she was, or she was serious.
Caroline smiled and pulled her in for a hug.
"That sounds really great, mom," she said and meant it. She really did.
Liz hugged her back and they chatted a little more before Caroline stood to leave. But as Caroline was standing at the door, about to push it open and call back her goodbye, she couldn't help but make sure.
"Hey mom?" She said and turned to face her. Liz was at her desk, picking up papers and putting away files.
"Yes, honey?" She said with a smile.
"How exactly did the Eastern wing get contaminated with a leak from the labs?" Caroline asked.
"The ventilation shafts- the leak put out some toxic fumes and it spread like wildfire," she responded without missing a beat.
"Oh, they should make sure it hasn't spread," Caroline said and she nodded. "Well, night," She said with a smile.
"Night," Liz said, returning the smile.
Caroline walked out into the hallway, the smile slipping from her features before the door closed because there were no ventilation shafts that ran from the labs to the Eastern wing.
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~M