^ Warnings:
Rated Very Mature.
This story will be very dark and will include graphic scenes of non con themes, abuse -emotional and physical- and triggering elements. If you can't deal with such elements please do not read any further.
Disclaimer: All rights belong to the creators of TVD/TO.
A Song of Chaos and Eternal Night
Her own kind had disowned her and their betrayal led to her fall. From a protector of the light to a fallen angel in Hell. And now she was caged by the King of Hell with no hope of escaping him. Heaven/Hell trope. Klaroline AU. Dark Themes.
Additional Warnings for this story:
No offense to the Christian faith or any other faith is intended.
Klaus is practically the devil so do not expect him to be nice or good.
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And then there were legends. Of a God not present. Of God's most beloved Archangel that fell in love with the first Witch and died by the hand of her third born son. Of the Son that got exiled to Hell by his own brother that reigned in Heaven. And the curse of Hell became a crown and a throne and the Kingdom of the exiled One rose. And the only thing the King of Hell missed was a Queen.
Until now.
Chapter I : Wrong Side of Heaven
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"I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night,
Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to reascend..."
― John Milton, Paradise Lost
The day she gained the gifted of prophecy was the day when everything started. Most of her brothers and sisters turned their back on her. They viewed her gift as an anomaly and her a fool for considering it a blessing. They isolated her. If Caroline didn't know any better she would consider their stance as an act of envy one that would hurt her pride if she had one. But Sins did not belong to Heaven. To a Heaven that was unable to contain her anymore. Everything she did afterwards let to her fall even though she had been warned over and over again by her mentor to reign over her new given gift and to follow the commands of Heaven.
She did not; how could she?
She kept misusing her gift. Every mistake she made was bringing her closer and closer to her destiny. Step by step until she was cast away from Heaven with her grace broken and her wings cut.
Six months before
She stood behind the glass window watching the surgeons as they tried to save the life of the man on the surgical table. The monitor was showing a flat line.
Angels were not meant to intervene and save lives unless it was the will of the Devine but Caroline has seen in her dreams how one life could change others. She had seen the potential this man held and she knew that her touch of light and a second chance of life could help him inspire others.
It was the right thing to do. Even if it was against the rules.
She touched the glass and she let her powers bloom. She smiled as she saw the man's soul lift from his body. The shade of his existence was engulfed in her light and in her whisper. She spoke to him the word of God and then healed his body. His soul found refuge again inside flesh and bone and even though the surgeon had called the time of the death for more than fifteen minutes the man's heart started beating again.
Caroline smiled and let her hand fall from the window. She breathed in the death and exhaled it as life.
"You should not abuse your power this way Caroline."
Caroline turned around only to see Elijah stand behind her with hard eyes full of disappointment. Her teacher was reprimanding her as the sting of his accusation washed over her making her lower her head down in shame. She opened her mouth to speak but Elijah gave her a strict glare before he disappeared in light.
Caroline tried to reach out to him but he was gone. She turned around and saw how the doctors talked with expression of awe about the miracle they had witnessed.
She saw the man on the table. He was alive. He had a chance to help others and redeem himself. Especially now that he had felt the light of Angels. If she was not meant to help him then why had she seen all of his potential in her dreams? How could she avert her eyes from this?
"What good is having any kind of power if we can't help those in need?" Caroline whispered feeling angry and frustrated.
Through the shadows and the mist she felt the air hugging her wings as she descended to the mortal world. Her wings were getting violently cut and pulled up to Heaven as she kept falling like a comet towards earth; she was all flame and anguish as the air ripped the divine essence from her body. She screamed and writhed as the Divine's grace was lifted from her body and thrown to the black grounds of a world unknown. And all she felt was pain.
Endless pain as her broken body would not mend. Pain as the wounds would not heal. She was bleeding her soul out of her body as she kept falling faster and faster. The air vibrated around her and the earth shook as she fell on its embrace.
She did not know where she was. She was not falling anymore.
She hardly even remembered where she has been before. Her memories of Heaven were becoming a confusing puzzle in her mind. An enigma as the gates of Heaven where now shut for her and with them so was the knowledge of the world that hung along with the stars and the sun above this earth.
She fainted in the dirt with a prayer stuck between her teeth unable to escape her lips. She was so lost.
Fever took over. Timeless heat covered the newfound mortality of her flesh.
Caroline wanted to scream but she had no voice. Incoherent vowels were leaving her lips. She was like a wounded animal. Mute and maimed and cast away. The sky was so far out of reach. The stars had felt like blades cutting through her as she fell.
She was now spitting blood and she tried to move but she only managed to stumble back on the mud. Rain was falling on her skin making her howl in pain. The fall had taken away her immortality and invulnerability leaving her into this frail body that was torn and battered as it fell like a shooting star to the grounds of the mortal realm. She was nothing but a shade of who she once was.
She had nothing to hold on. She was reborn in human bounds and part of her very soul was ripped off. She was lost and unable to salvage anything she held dear.
Now all she could smell was blood.
All of her senses were overwhelmed and they translated every sensation into pure undiluted anguish. Everything she touched felt like fire and acid. Her skin was so raw that felt as if the faintest breeze of air was tearing it further apart. She felt ice cold and so hot at the same time. She could not see and tears mixed with blood were falling from her eyes. She heard nothing but deafening noise that was making her ears bleed.
Blood. Blood was flowing in rivers out of her body. She had never bled before.
She crawled on the ground. Her nails scratching the wet mud as she moaned and whimpered. She fell down and tried to move again but fell down once more. Her body now covered in sweat, rain, blood and mud. Every inch of hers was bruised and wounded.
She lied down on her back and let out a cry of pure agony. Her wings were cut and in their place her open wounds had left gaps of mangled bleeding flesh. The moment those wounds touched the ground electricity ran through her whole body leaving her breathless. She turned to her side and brought her knees up until they touched her chin. She hugged her knees and cried as she remained in fetal position. She could feel her wet hair stuck on her face. She wanted to pray for deliverance. But she could not speak. The angelic voice was gone and her vocal chords were still unable to adjust and produce any human sound.
Everything felt like death. A feeling so alien and foreign to her that made her throw up and heave in terror and misery.
She felt the world going black and time lost its meaning. She tried to open her eyes again when she felt hands on her body. Hands that were touching her.
Everything was turning. She could not focus.
She tried to move but she could not. She tried to open her eyes but she still could not. She didn't know what was happening. Her heart started beating faster and faster. The excruciating noise that was making her eardrums burst somehow eased up and through the buzzing she heard voices. She could not concentrate on them at first but she tried despite the pain.
"Pick her up already."
Caroline tried to open her eyes and once she managed to do that all she could see was dark figures. The voice she had heard had been feminine but cold.
She felt herself being propelled up and being lifted from the ground. The world was violently spinning.
"He won't be pleased." Caroline heard a shrill masculine voice and tried to keep her eyes open. Flashes of long blonde hair appeared through her eyes.
"Stop talking and move her," the unknown woman barked and Caroline sighed in pain before she fainted once more.
When Caroline woke up again days had passed. The sunlight was streaming through the half open window door panels. The linen curtains were flowing inside the room as a cool breeze was blowing.
Caroline moaned in pain and tried to sit up on the bed. She remembered days and nights of pain and a woman taking care of her. She was trying to feed her some herb tea and to cool down her fever. She remembered how the blonde young woman had cleaned her body with a wet cloth and how she had taken care of her wounds. Every memory was a blur but she clearly remembered how this woman had helped her into the clean white nightgown she was now wearing and how she had tried to nurse her back to health.
Caroline struggled to sit up and when she managed it she felt the pangs of a headache attacking her mercilessly. She rested her back on the wooden frame of the bed's headboard.
She looked around. The room was small and made of wood. Everything in here was clean, impersonal and simple.
Caroline looked at the window and saw the forest looming outside.
Where was she?
She closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths in order to make the headache go away. Her whole body ached.
The door creaked open and Caroline raised her eyes to see the blonde woman that had been taking care of her for so many days enter the room holding a tray.
"Finally you are awake," she said and went and left the tray on the nightstand next to the bed.
She then touched Caroline's forehead with her hand and Caroline blinked confused.
"Your fever broke," the girl said pleased and tried to adjust the pillows behind Caroline's back.
Caroline flinched in pain as her back was still sore and in pain. Her eyes filled with tears as the sting was reminding her of what she had missed. Her wings were gone.
She looked at the girl in front of her with curious eyes. She opened her mouth to say something and coughed.
"Here this will help," the blonde said and gave her a cup of hot steaming tea.
Caroline took it and brought the rim of the cup carefully on her lips and drank a small sip. The tea soothed her throat and a warm tingling sensation spread all over her body from head to toe making her muscles ease up.
She felt her body going slack but the tea was making her feel good and she tried to speak once more.
"Th-a-ank you," she croaked and felt as her voice was slowly restored. The girl nodded and took a chair and sat next to the bed.
Caroline took more sips from the tea and immediately felt better. The herbs were relaxing her and the warm liquid was making her feel less stressed. She drank more from the tea and she recalled that she remembered the taste. She was been given these herbs whenever she was finding consciousness in between her slumber ever since she was brought here.
"Who are you?" she asked the woman that was staring at her with a scrutinizing gaze.
"My name is Claire," she introduced herself and took the tea from Caroline's hands.
"Why are you helping me?" Caroline asked her and Claire smiled at her. That smile somehow made Caroline feel uneasy but she found herself smiling back.
"I am a witch. My coven saw stars falling and read the omens. We felt your fall. You are an angel right?" Claire asked and Caroline gulped.
"You know of angels?" Caroline mumbled feeling the need to run away and yet she leaned back on the pillows. She was safe here.
"Of course. Witches descend from the bloodline of angels after all," Claire shrugged and Caroline narrowed her eyes. Some of them did yes. Others were descending from the blood of demons. However Claire had to be descending from the angel's blood. Surely this was true.
"To tell you the truth I was skeptical of you being one. I have heard of fallen angels before… but seeing one fall? And then seeing you in a mortal body? Let us say that legends are different from reality," Claire stated and Caroline cast her eyes down to her hands. She saw scratches and bruises on her knuckles. No more shine.
"The place you fell was like ground zero. There was an earthquake some hours before and the earth at the place we found you was cracked. I got to you but I was unable to find save your grace," Claire told Caroline that looked at her with wide eyes full of pain.
Her grace.
She had lost her grace. Upon her descent her grace was ripped away from her body and fell separately from her.
"How-"
"Demons," Claire interrupted and Caroline looked at her horrified.
"They roam the earth. They are our mortal enemies. My coven has been vanquishing them for decades now. They smelled your blood. I felt your grace and used my magic to follow it and then I tracked you down. Your grace however was gone when I got to the sight," Claire sighed and Caroline shook her head. She felt as if she could not breathe. This could not be happening.
She tried to find words.
"How? I mean-" she stuttered in panic.
"The demons," Claire told her, "by the time I got there they had fed on it. I am afraid there was nothing left," she said and Caroline burst into tears. She hid her face into her hands and felt her whole body trembling and shaking. No. God no!
Claire's voice felt as if it was now coming from far away.
"They were also coming for you. I just got to you first," the witch informed Caroline that looked at her with red eyes full of tears. She wanted to thank the witch but she felt as if she was damned. Maybe it would have been better if the witch had left her to die.
She then narrowed her eyes and wiped her tears from her face with the back of her hand. She did not miss the calculation from the witch's eyes.
"You took care of me," Caroline realized and Claire nodded.
"You are safe here," Claire promised and Caroline believed her even though she did not understand why she was here in the first place.
"Why? What is it that you want?" Caroline directly asked and Claire smirked.
Caroline held her breath. She was unable to see past the mortal flesh anymore. She could not read the colors of a soul. She would not tell if Claire's soul was black or not but her instincts were telling her to be careful and yet her mind was telling her otherwise.
"I only care for my coven," Claire admitted and then continued as her eyes roamed over Caroline's weak body, "You would have been no good to us dead," she said with an unemotional tone, "your grace has left its imprint on you. Its last remnants make your aura vibrate differently from the aura of a witch or of a human," Claire said with a glimmer of interest in her eyes that made Caroline's stomach turn.
"Your aura has healing power angel," Claire concluded with a hard voice.
"Caroline. My name is Caroline," Caroline whispered.
"Well Caroline. In exchange for my help I want you to allow me to use the last angelic aura you have before it fades away," Claire simply said and Caroline bit her lip.
"You want my aura for its healing powers why?" Caroline cautiously questioned.
"Because of your war," came the blatant accusation, "The war between angels and demons takes place here. You've made us your battlefield not caring about how we become your collateral damage," Claire bitterly bit out, "Witches get hurt. More often than not in confrontations with demons. The remnants of your aura could help me create some protections charms," she answered with an icy cold tone that made Caroline shiver, feeling a tingle of guilt. The war of Angels and Demons always hurt humans the most.
"In exchange I will give you a roof, clothes and food until your aura fades. Some money too for your first days away from here. After that you will be on your own," Claire proposed and Caroline took in a deep breath.
She stared at the witch that sat next to her. She was direct and harsh but at least she was honest and had helped her. What other option she had? She had to buy some time and heal before trying to survive on her own in the mortal world. Otherwise she was not going to make it. And maybe Claire could help her adjust in the between. And using her aura for saving witches could probably be her last chance to do some good.
"You can have it," Caroline accepted feeling her heart ready to break.
Claire titled her head down in assent and smiled at Caroline. Then she took the cup of tea and gave it back to her.
"Drink. You will need your strength," she told her before leaving her alone in the room.
Caroline drank more of her tea and closed her eyes feeling tired and dizzy. Claire would help her. She was sure she would. All she had to do was trust her.
Days passed by slowly. Claire was nursing Caroline back to health. Her herbs were doing wonders.
At first Caroline's depression over everything she lost had trapped her into a web of self-pity and sadness. Every night at the midnight hour Claire was absorbing with her spells the last remnants of her grace. Caroline could feel her last connection with Heaven dimming with every chant Claire's lips would sing.
A part of her was feeling guilty for exchanging her last essence of divinity for safety and a roof over her head but she harbored no delusions. It was not as if she would be able to hold on to her aura's sacred light anyhow. Either Claire would use it for her protection spells or not in the end it would fade away. At least that way some good could still be done with it or so she hoped. There was something unsettling when it came to the blonde witch but Caroline was out of options. She had to survive. And Heaven was not going to help her anymore. Her prayers were going unanswered. Heaven had abandoned her in a hostile world and she had to trade parts of herself in order to survive in this so scary world. Besides Claire had only helped her so far.
Eventually as she recuperated Caroline started taking walks outside Claire's house.
The world of the mortals seemed so different now that she was part of it. Observing it from a distance was not the same as breathing it in and feeling it on her fingers. Everything was different. Every sensation was different. At first she could feel only pain. As her wounds closed and as her bruises fainted she only had the scars of the healed injuries to remind her the physical pain. The emotional still raged on inside her but with new eyes she took in the world.
Claire's house was a wooden structure in the middle of the woods. Not close to civilization. The witch wanted to be close to nature and she also wanted to keep Caroline far away from the danger of lurking demons until her angelic aura would fade. Something for which Caroline was grateful since she was now helpless and defenseless against Hell's creatures.
Claire had said that the house belonged to her coven. It was a hunter's lodge. All made of wood. Simple and comfortable and far away from curious eyes. Claire was using the back room for her spells and Caroline had the privacy of her small room. When she felt her strength returning she started taking walks. Claire had warned her not to wander far into the woods because there was danger of getting lost or of animals attacking her. Even worse there was still danger of demons finding her.
The idea of having to face demons was enough to make Caroline's body shake with tremors of terror. However everything around her vibrated with new colors she had never seen before. She could no longer see every molecule and see every shape in more dimensions than just three. She could not see in her vision light and darkness in bright and saturated shines. But there was something so raw and beautiful in the world as seen and felt by the mortals that Caroline could simply not resist this kind of beauty. So she started exploring everything. A shy and awkward experience at first but the more she was out in the open the more she relished in the feeling of freedom.
She had started taking walks near the stream that was close to Claire's house. She even dived into the waters one day and somehow she felt as if she was being watched even though she could swear that no one was there.
The witch didn't like Caroline's exits and continued to vehemently claim that many demons still lurked outside but since Claire had already cast a cloaking spell on her and since she was losing her mind closed in that little room Caroline eventually decided to simply go out against the witch's warnings.
The first time she got out and walked further into the woods she smiled for the first time after her fall from Heaven. The sun was warm on her face and the soft breeze felt like a caress against her skin. The flowers were so beautiful and the prickling sensation of the grass under her feet made her laugh and twirl around like a little kid. She ran and jumped and walked and explored.
Being an Angel had made it impossible for her to appreciate the beauty of the earth. Her duty was above all and in the fleeting moments where she could walk amongst the mortals she was always getting overwhelmed. She could feel every molecule and particle. She could hear not only the sounds but also the thoughts of the mortals. She could smell every nature's odor but the scents were always mixed with the sulfur and the silver the auras of the angels and the demons were leaving behind. Her kind and the Devil's kind always walked among the living for eons.
Caroline had never met a demon face to face in all the centuries of her existence but she had heard of them and she had felt their aura. Blackness and death. So much darkness. Everything that was good and light was always sucked and was left in tatters once a demon manifested on earth's realm. Part of her had been curious about them. About how it would be to face one of those creatures. But now she knew that she would not survive such an encounter.
Before she at least believed that even if she succumbed to her curiosity she would be able to fly away to the Heavens and even blind a demon with her light. Of course even that would be unacceptable since the highest ranks of Heaven had forbidden all the Angels to even attempt to encounter that heinous kind even from afar. Once they would feel even the slight shift in the wind every angel had to flee back to Heaven. Only the warriors that worked for the Archangel had faced the Satan's prodigies.
Caroline knew that her curiosity had been an unseemly trait of hers. One that was unbecoming of an Angel but she always had it much to Elijah's dismay. However now that curiosity and her natural inability to abide by the rules had vanished as her survival instincts started kicking in. She was not an Angel of the Lord anymore. She could not protect herself or save anyone else for that matter. Meeting a demon now in her current state would only mean one thing. Torment. And Death. Those wretched creatures would take one sniff of her fading grace and would tear her apart or do even worse things to her.
Caroline shuddered even in the thought of such depravity. Her innocence, her life, her whole existence would be shred to pieces. And she had already sacrificed and endured so much. Now she wanted to live. She wanted to survive.
And survival on earth was not easy. Everything ached. Everything hurt. It had taken her days to adjust to her new weak body. Her bones fragile. Her skin so delicate and feeble. The world had changed its colors for her.
And yet she was drawn to this world. She smiled when she saw a butterfly flying just above her head. Her wings reminded her of her own somehow but the sadness didn't take over this time. She was starting to come to terms with her new reality.
She grabbed the cross she was wearing. Her only connection with…home.
She had made it from pieces of wood she had found on the woods and from some rope she had found in Claire's house. The first time Claire saw her wearing the cross she seemed to look at the object with dismay but then quickly covered her reaction so fast that at first Caroline thought she had imagined it.
She sighed. Now that her mind was more clear she felt the need to detach herself from Claire. Maybe it was time. It was a scary thought. She only had the clothes and the shoes Claire had provided. She might be new to this world but she had taken glimpses of it before. Mortals survived with money. They had jobs and houses and a routine. She had none of that and for the last weeks she lived in seclusion. Claire's coven was nowhere to be seen. The shock from her fall and the unknown had stunned Caroline for a long time. Her mortal wounds had taken weeks to heal. And the longer it took her to adjust the longer Claire was able to take advantage of her confusion but now Caroline was feeling danger cornering her.
She sighed again as she noticed the sun setting slowly. She felt a chill and rubbed her arms up and down; she jumped up when she heard the cracking sound of wood. As if someone had stepped on a twig.
She turned around to look at the bushes and the trees. She tensed up.
"Is anyone there?" she asked feeling fear surging through her bloodstream.
No one answered and Caroline grabbed her cross. It would offer her no protection or solace but she always relied to it.
She turned around and ran back to the lodge.
When she reached the half lit house she looked back towards the woods feeling all breathless and scared. She ran into the house and closed the door behind her. Night was falling. Her imagination was playing tricks on her.
When Caroline got in her room she noticed that Claire had left a beautiful white dress on her bed. She scrunched up her nose. This was weird.
She slowly walked towards the bed and let her hand touch the fabric. It was soft and delicate. Claire had given her three simple gray dresses to wear so far.
Caroline bit her lip and let the breath she was holding out and then she noticed that there was also a small blue box wrapped with a white ribbon next to the dress. She slowly untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside there was a small crystal bottle of perfume. She opened the lid and inhaled. The scent was…sinful.
She clumsily let the bottle drop on the bed and some drops of the perfume spilled on the dress. The scent filled the air and Caroline took a step back. Somehow this did not only confuse her but made her feel a nagging feeling of fear.
She shook her head. She was being stupid. There was no reason to fear.
She went to take a shower. Soon it would be midnight and she had to go find Claire for the spell. Her heavenly aura had almost vanished. She could feel it. This would probably be one of the last times Claire would perform her spells on her. This new dress was probably a sign that her time here was up.
Caroline wore the dress and looked at the mirror. She touched the cross that seemed out of place in the image she was seeing. The dress seemed weirdly angelic. And yet it was hugging her curves provokingly. The silk was falling on her skin like a cool caress. Caroline let her hands feel the texture of the fabric and she could not help but admire how it felt on her body and on her fingers. She knew it was a sin to enjoy such materialistic things but she could not help it. She was not in Heaven anymore after all.
She felt tears filling her eyes and sat on the edge of the bed. What was she going to do? Where would she go? She had no one. No one cared for her anymore. There was not even one person in the world that had her best interest in mind. She had no friends. No loved ones. She was…alone. Totally and utterly alone.
Claire was not her friend. If anything she was just using her and taking advantage of her. Caroline bit her lip harshly. She did not know why but tonight she felt more than ever the demanding need to run away. It was pure instinct. It was screaming inside her. Maybe leaving Claire would be for best. But how would she survive? She had no money or anyone to turn to. Claire told her that once her aura would fade she would give her some money before sending her away but Caroline didn't know if she trusted her enough to do this.
What had she done? Why didn't she think of all of this before? It seemed as if her mind was so clouded. It was as if her every instinct was coming alive tonight. It was as if it was forcing her to escape the haze she was in for weeks.
Why was she here? Why had she stayed? Why had she trusted Claire so much?
This was so confusing. She let her fingers touch the cross hanging on her neck. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.
Every time she was thinking of leaving she was getting dizzy and lost. The idea of surviving on her own was terrifying and she was afraid to face the world on her own. She could end up homeless and lost and she did not know how to survive in the mortal world but she could always find refuge in a church. Why hadn't she thought of that? She could ask for refuge in her Lord's home.
She hugged herself and felt a shudder go through her. God she missed Heaven. She missed her wings.
She felt the sting of tears and the need to scream. All of her suppressed feelings were coming up to the surface violently. It was overwhelming. It was painful. She thought the pain had passed away. She thought this was becoming easier but how could it become easier when she didn't even face her pain? What was wrong with her? What was happening? The moment she fell was so painful and for days the pain had been sharp and excruciating on every level but then it got dull and distant. Why was it back now? Why tonight?
She gulped down and felt the tears chocking her. She saw the clock on the wall. It was almost time. She had to go to Claire. To give her aura.
God! Why had she done this? Why did she give her last grace to a person she hardly knew? How could she have been so stupid?
She got up and starting pacing around. She felt shaking as if she needed something she could not name. She ran her hand through her unruly curls. Every memory was hitting her mind now like lighting. Her fall. Her exile from Heaven. Her wings had been clipped. Her grace lost.
Demons ate her grace. Why didn't she go to the place her grace had fallen though? Maybe some of it could be left. Maybe it was not gone in the first place? But Claire said it did. And she trusted her. From the very first moment. Yes she had saved her but she also trapped her in this house. And she didn't even try to leave. All she did was take strolls on the woods. Always near the house.
She was about to go mad. What was happening? She needed to make these thoughts stop. She needed to make the pain stop. She needed to relax.
She needed….
She looked around and saw the cup of tea next to her nightstand. She rushed to it and took it to her hands and gulped down a few sips. She closed her eyes feeling the tension leaving her body; she sighed as she realized that it had been hours since the last time she drank her tea. Her walk in the woods had lasted more today. She was most of the day out.
She sighed and exhaled tiredly as she drank more mouthfuls from her tea. She started taking deep breaths as her panic slowly dissolved. She was being silly. She was scared of going out on the real world and everything seemed terrifying but she knew that Claire would help her. Her aura would help good witches and when it would be gone the demons would not be able to track her down anymore. She would be safe.
She drank her tea and fell back to the bed. She smiled feeling relaxed. There was no need to get stressed. Everything would work out. All she had to do was stay calm and hear Claire's advice.
Heaven was lost to her but a whole new world was opening its embrace to invite her in. It would not be that bad. For now she had a place to stay and she was lucky that Claire was there to help and protect her.
She pushed herself up to her elbows and watched at the clock. It was almost midnight. Time for the spell. Even though she felt sleepy now she had to go to Claire.
She went and straightened her dress in front of the mirror. She smiled at what she was seeing. She liked this dress. She turned around and looked at the perfume bottle and a mischievous smile graced her lips. Her vanity won. She shrugged and with sluggish moves she stumbled to the bed and giggled as hopped on the mattress and opened the bottle lid and inhaled the enticing scent. She let a drop fall on her wrist and she smelled her skin. She hummed pleased. She never knew what sexy meant before but this had to be it. There was something alluring and vibrant about this scent and so she put some drops behind her ears too. She smiled pleased and got up.
She left her room and went to the room on the back side of the house where Claire was performing her spells. The first time she had gone in there it had felt weird. As if she was entering a dark place but that had probably been because it was the first time Claire was sucking away part of her aura. After that time it became easier going in that room.
She approached the door with a small smile on her lips. She knocked and waited until Claire told her to come in.
When she entered the room she immediately saw the pentagram on the floor. The one where she was standing in every midnight. However this time there were lit candles all around it forming a circle.
Claire smiled at her and told her to come in and close the door behind her.
Caroline blinked for a moment. She looked around without understanding the need to do so. The air seemed thicker and she felt goosebumbs covering her whole body. The last time she had felt that way when was she was bathing in the stream. It was a feeling that resembled danger and her legs were almost giving out.
"Is everything alright Caroline?" Claire asked and eyed her carefully.
Caroline gulped down and shook her head.
"Yeah…I think," she whispered in uncertainty. Claire smiled encouragingly at her and came closer. She smiled and went and closed the door behind Caroline. Caroline turned around at once when she heard Claire locking the door. However Claire did not seem to mind Caroline's uneasiness.
"Please enter the circle," Claire instructed but Caroline remained rooted on her spot. She looked outside the windows. Everything seemed so dark.
Claire raised her eyebrows as she waited for Caroline to go and stand in the middle of the pentagram.
"Uhm, why the candles?" Caroline asked demurely. She looked at the bright circle and then turned to look at the locked door. She clasped her hands and fiddled with her fingers as felt ripples of anxiety wash over her.
"The leftovers of your grace are almost gone," Claire informed her and Caroline felt a pang of pain shot through her heart.
Claire was already opening her grimoire and checking out the spell she needed while holding a charm in her hand and waiting for Caroline to enter the circle.
"I am enhancing the spell in order to not miss any of your aura. Nothing for you to worry about," she soothed her and Caroline nodded but without feeling the same certainty as before.
"Well?" Claire impatiently gestured towards the circle.
Caroline took a hesitant step towards the cycle of candles. This didn't feel right. But she could trust Claire. Right?
She took one more step and heard Claire huff.
"Please Caroline. We do not have all night," Claire complained and Caroline chewed on her bottom lip.
"You said my aura is fading. How more times will you have to perform the spell?" Caroline questioned and Claire shrugged.
"Three more I think," Claire carelessly said and Caroline nodded even though she faltered.
"So tonight is not the last time?" she pressed and Claire smiled at her. An innocent looking smile and Caroline for some reason recalled Elijah's teachings about the Snake's deception in the Garden of Eden.
"Of course not sweetie," Claire denied and Caroline walked towards the circle while still searching with her eyes the rest of the room. She took a deep breath and walked in and stood in the middle of the pentagram.
Claire's lips turned into a sinister smile that made Caroline feel as if thousands of spiders were crawling on her skin.
She instinctively tried to take a step back and get out of the circle but Claire snapped her fingers together.
"Incendio," she articulated clearly by stretching the word in a satisfied tone.
Caroline yelped when the candles ignited their flames that rose straight up reaching almost the ceiling. A blazing wall of fire surrounding her.
Caroline span around herself feeling the heat from the embers all around her. Hot in their blinding luminance and ready to devour her alive. The candles lit up more and Caroline felt the heat their flames emanated licking the air around her skin. Their smoke made her cough. It was toxic. She put her palm in front of her mouth.
She tried to approach one side of the circle with the intention of somehow escaping the roaring fires but the fire was too hot. So hot that Caroline watched with wide eyes as the black candles melted and the fire started licking the wooden floor without burning it. Tears fell from Caroline's eyes from the heat and the smoke she was inhaling. The circle of hot inferno had imprisoned her inside the pentagram that glowed beneath her feet and Caroline turned around to look at Claire pleadingly. The witch was looking at her with dark depraved gaze full of amusement through the curtains of fire.
Caroline tried to get out of the circle but she realized she could not. The moment she was approaching the fire the flames were igniting and the heat seemed as if it was lava ready to swallow her whole and turn her to ash.
"Holy fire," she whispered terrified. The only thing able to trap an angel. She might not have her wings but the last shreds of her grace were now caged by the fire. She could not get out.
"What are you doing?" she coughed out with difficulty and Claire giggled. Sweat started running down Caroline's body and she was about to pass out when she heard a sharp voice cutting through the air like a whip.
"Enough."
Caroline's eyes fluttered as she fell to the floor in the middle of the circle of fire.
The man's voice was deep like velvet but also razor sharp and upon his appearance the lights in the room aside the fire circling Caroline flickered.
Claire rolled her eyes and waved her hand on the air carelessly.
The fires stopped raging all around Caroline. The circle of fire was still there but the flames were shimmering only some inches high. The heat was not scorching Caroline anymore. The smoke dissolved and the angel could breathe again.
She looked up through her glossy eyes and saw a man standing next to Claire. Her pulse quickened as she noticed that everything around him seemed to vibrate. His body emanated so much power that Caroline could feel it even though she should not be able to without her powers.
The man was tall with dirty blond curls and a stubble covering the elegantly sculptured features of his face. He was watching her intently. His gaze fixated on her kneeled form on the floor. Caroline felt her mouth going dry. She could not take her eyes away from that man. She felt as if she had met him before but she would never forget his face. It was a feeling she could not describe. A deadly whisper in her mind calling a darkness she had never felt before.
His eyes were so blue. It was if the deepest oceanic shade of the sea and the sky was reflecting in his orbs. And his gaze was so intense. It was taking her breath away. She could not focus to anything else except those eyes.
He then smiled at her. A dangerous smile that even though it seemed tender Caroline could see that it was lethal. It was poison. His dimples appeared and Caroline trembled. She tried to get up. Her legs were shaking. She felt boneless.
"Thank you for holding on to that precious gem for me sweetheart," the man thanked Claire without taking his eyes off Caroline. Caroline heard the seductive accent of his voice; his penetrating gaze was still roaming over her body as she stood up.
The Holy fire around her kept her trapped inside the circle. And those blue eyes that kept slowly travelling up and down body were making her feel naked and exposed.
"Anything for you brother," Claire smiled at the man and placed her hand on his shoulder. The man took her hand and kissed it gently while still looking at Caroline.
"You have taken all you needed from the Angel sister?" he asked and Claire hummed and nodded contently.
Caroline was starting to hyperventilate. Panic was starting to settle in. Every feeling of trust and easiness was now gone.
"Claire…what is going on?" she stuttered as her eyes flew between Claire and the unknown man that was dressed all in black.
He was looking at her now with a satisfied grin.
Claire left his side and approached the circle of fire. Her eyes locked with Caroline's.
"I am sorry Caroline but my name is not Claire," she laughed with a pout on her lips. She pretended to be concerned and her tone had a hint of an apology that sounded fake inside the witch's jest.
"It is Rebekah," she winked and Caroline started breathing with difficulty. This time it was not the smoke that was suffocating her.
"Rebekah?" she uttered with dread.
"Daughter of Mikael," Rebekah whispered with pride and Caroline gasped terrified.
Rebekah gave her a lopsided smile and moved out of the way as the man came closer to the circle.
Caroline's body convulsed in absolute horror. Every inch of her screamed in trepidation as the shock was now replaced with mortification. A tear fell from her eye.
Brother. Rebekah called him brother. That could only mean…
"Who are you?" she whispered as fright was the only thing she felt. The man beamed at her and looked at her with so much desire and blunt possessiveness that made everything around her spin. He was smiling tenderly at her and was giving her a knowing look.
"Can't you tell?" he asked her. His voice a purr that made her stomach lurch. Bile was coming up her throat. Her mind screamed Elijah's name. Over and over again. She called for God desperately and the man in front of her was staring at her now with a mocking glare as if he could read her thoughts.
"You have been missing something little angel," he drawled and extended his palm towards her. The inside of his palm turned upwards.
Caroline swallowed hard and then her hand clutched her neck as a bright sphere of light hovered on top his palm. The light so bright that even Rebekah had to avert her eyes to the side as the harsh pure brightness illuminated the whole room.
Caroline looked at the untainted light with so much longing and pain and then looked at the man pleadingly. Her heart was about to give out. Her blood was rushing in her veins like wildfire. She tried to reach for the light but the Holy fire kept her trapped. She was so close and so far away.
"Your grace is beautiful," he smiled sweetly at Caroline and she shook her head as more tears feel from her eyes. She implored him with her gaze but no words could come out of her lips. The sphere of light was calling Caroline. A part of her so violently ripped out of her soul and now was so close that she felt her whole body aching. She wanted to be reunited with her grace. To fill her wounds close and her soul to be mended again and become whole once more.
"Almost as beautiful as you," he praised in a whisper wrapped in temptation and lust and his compliment made a sound of pure terror escape Caroline's lips.
He stepped closer to the fire and Caroline instinctively took a step back feeling the fire behind her back burning her.
"Oh please," Rebekah's sarcasm broke the spell and her brother turned and looked at his sister with menace.
"Silence sister," he growled and Caroline's lips trembled.
"Sister?" Caroline muttered feeling sear terror enveloping her whole. The man turned his attention back at her and his gleaming with darkness gaze made Caroline feel sick.
"You know who I am Caroline," he said softly and Caroline started up at him. The man…the Devil …swayed his hand elegantly on the air and Caroline's grace vanished from sight. Caroline eyes were filled with anguish as she realized that her grace now belonged to him.
She looked at him feeling helpless and terrified. Cornered like a sacrificial lamb. She could not look away now. His dark gaze was holding her captive. He smiled at her and she froze. This could not be happening.
The man walked inside the Holy Fire circle. Caroline's eyes widened and she looked at him petrified. There was only one creature that could yield Holy Fire and remain unscathed. The only one burned and condemned by it. The only One ruling the Holy fires of Hell.
The fire that was keeping her trapped had not touched him and didn't seem to affect him at all.
"Oh my God," she whispered petrified and tried to back away. The fire scorching her and the man's hand quickly wrapped around her waist bringing her closer to him.
"Quite the contrary," he drawled with a smirk.
Caroline felt the heat that was coming out of his body. She could not breathe. She struggled to get away from his hold but he was not letting her go. The fire around them then grew and rose up.
He bent his head down; her chest crashed over his and his lips touched her ear. His thumb caressed her cheek and skimmed the vein in her neck that was erratically pulsating now.
"You can call me Klaus," he whispered and Caroline cried weakly as her body went paralyzed in his hands. Klaus kissed her forehead and Caroline screamed as images of fire and torture appeared before her eyes. Fire was now licking her skin. Burning her. Scorching her.
She felt the world cracking beneath her feet.
And then there was only darkness.