When Caroline Forbes had been but a child, she wished more than anything to be special.
She wished on shooting stars, when she blew dandelions, on birthday candles, eyelashes, wishbones, rainbows, four leave clovers, at fountains and anything and everything she could think of, yearning for her wish to come true.
She wished her fervent wish because, maybe, if she was special, her dad would come back, maybe, her mom wouldn't work such long hours, maybe Damon wouldn't be left in charge. Maybe if she was special, the other girls in the school would like her as much as they liked Elena. Maybe if she was special she would be able to make sense of the empty chasm that she felt within her.
Then late one night, not too long before her 13th birthday, Caroline was taking shelter in her room, the TV blaring downstairs not quite blocking out the stumbles and mumbles of Damon in the house, drinking himself stupid.
She knew what would come next, it always came next.
Cowering between her sheets, hearing him stagger nearer and nearer, she wished, like she always did in these moments, she could be special. Maybe if she were special enough this time it wouldn't happen again.
Suddenly, there was another man in her room. He was much the same build as Damon, and desperate tears sprang into her eyes – there couldn't be two of them.
"I hear your wish, little girl," the man said. His voice wasn't dark, or nasty. On the contrary, it was soft and gentle, and had a beautiful accent that was music to her ears. "You wish to be special."
She nodded her head vigorously, tears streaming down her face.
"But is that what you truly wish for?" the man asked, moving closer. Even to her childish eyes, Caroline could see the man was very beautiful. Twinkling eyes, peaking dimples, and a smile that should have warned her to his mischief. "Because I believe, you're confusing 'special' with 'great'. I see countless people, everyday, and I know they're all special. Even little old you."
He was sitting on the edge of her bed now, and booped her nose as he said 'you'. She wasn't sure why he made her feel safe, but he did. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, and, just maybe, while he was there, Damon wouldn't come.
"I'm not special," she said, casting her eyes down. "My dad didn't stay, and my mom always works."
"Special comes in many different forms, but greatness; that's what you truly want. Special is what everyone else is, and is that not just another way of saying no one is?"
There was something hypnotic about his stare, something reeling her in, something in her mind that was making her hang on to every syllable of every word.
"But I'll let you in on a little secret: there's a whole world out there waiting for you. Great cities, and art, and music. Genuine beauty. And you could have all of it. You could have a thousand more birthdays, all you have to do is ask."
His words were worming their way into her young mind, and taking root. She could see the possibilities, hear the sounds of the music he described, feel the greatness at the tips of her fingers. Her mouth was forming around the words 'I wish to be great', were almost tumbling from her mouth when she felt it.
The tiniest hint of darkness seeping in with his promises.
This was a strange man, and Caroline had more experience with strange men than she wanted to think about. She could feel his darkness engulfing her mind, and suddenly she was standing up from her bed, and she could feel her limbs begin to dance of their own accord.
Somehow, she knew it was him that was making her do this, it was his darkness invading her mind. So, she did what she always did when penetrated with an unwanted force.
She fought back.
She let years worth of fighting Damon come to the forefront of her mind, and she pushed the shadows away, until she had complete control of her body again.
Her brow furrowed at the man sitting on her bed, and he had suddenly lost the gentle, playful aura he'd previously held. Now he looked cool and calculating.
"Well, well, well, quite the strong mind you have, Sweethe–"
But his words were cut short as Caroline lost control of the energy she held in her mind and unleashed it on him.
Having her mind invaded woke a dormant part of her she never realised she had. A bright white energy knocked the man from her bed, until he lay sprawled on the ground.
She stood over him, the rage she felt at having her mind invaded like that consuming her. She seemed to be humming with the mysterious force; things were falling off her her selves, and her desk as it vibrated through the room.
"What did you do to me?" she asked, her young eyes giving away how terrified she actually was.
"It seems you granted your own wish," he said with a smirk. "I'm sure we'll meet again, Caroline Forbes."
And before she could blink, the man vanished from her bedroom floor.
Caroline was still shaking with the energy that was thrumming through her, when Damon opened the door a few moments later.
"Wow, Barbie," he slurred. "A light show. For me? You shouldn't have."
Caroline turned the full force of her newly discovered powers on the man she loathed beyond any other. The books, pens and other items that had fallen from the surfaces only moments prior, suddenly shot themselves at the despicable man in her doorway, as Caroline twisted herself to face him.
They slammed into him, knocking him backwards so far that he tumbled down the stairs, head over heels.
Caroline floated along the same path, her feet not once touching the ground, the trance she was in carrying her, until she was hovering over him.
Her twelve-year-old arms went to his face, and she dug her fingernails into his cheeks, scratching three lines down it, causing him to scream in pain. Clumsily, she let the light she fought the other man with invade Damon's mind, the same way the darkness had invaded hers.
She didn't know how she did it, but she made Damon feel all the pain he had ever caused her, and he writhed in agony beneath her. She kept blasting him with her power until, like a switch, the light turned off, and Caroline was spent and weak.
She came back to her senses, and was overwhelmed by what the hell had just happened. The power had flowed through her so easily, so uncontrollably, she could barely remember how it even happened.
She looked down and the man she had just attacked, and noticed his eyes staring, unseeing, at the ceiling. Her own eyes widened in shock, and her heart pumped, faster than she ever felt it, as she registered his wasn't pumping at all, and his chest wasn't rising
She recoiled from the body, scrambling backwards until she hit the wall. She cowered there for a number of moments, taking in what she had just done.
Damon was dead.
And she had killed him.
The tears which had dried up with the other man's promises of greatness, came back in full force, and she didn't know what to do. Her mother would never forgive her. Damon was her best friend.
So she did the thing her pop-culture filled mind told her was the only option.
She ran.
She grabbed the things she loved most – her teddy, a picture of her and her parents, a necklace her father had given her on her 8th birthday – she packed a few clothes, grabbed all the cash from her mother's secret stash, and took off.
At only twelve-years-old, Caroline left behind everything she knew, because she was a murderer, with powers she didn't know how to control, or even how to comprehend.
She ran with tears in her eyes, not knowing where on earth she would go or what on earth she would do.
She caught a bus, the first bus that would take her anywhere from Mystic Falls, and away from the disappointed and anguished eyes of her sheriff mother, when she realised her daughter had killed her best friend.
She was headed east, she thought, but she couldn't be sure.
She stumbled off the bus a few hours later, her stomach grumbling, the Saturday sky darkening, and managed to find a little diner, much like the ones that were in Mystic Falls.
She nearly cried again.
"Are you lost, sweetie?" the kind looking woman behind the counter asked. "Do you need help finding your mommy?"
Caroline shook her head, furiously, not trusting her voice quite yet.
"I just want an orange juice and a grilled cheese sandwich?" she asked, her voice sad.
The lady smiled sympathetically and nodded, as Caroline handed over the correct amount of money, and went to sit back in her seat.
A small tear rolled down her face, when the clock struck seven, and she knew her mother would be returning to their house.
Caroline ate half her food, and saved the rest, she wasn't sure when she'd next get the chance, and she wanted to save the little money she had. And it wasn't as if she could taste it, too preoccupied was her mind.
Her young legs carried her back to the bus station half an hour later, and she gazed up at all the different ones going different places.
Then she saw one that left in ten minutes to New York, and she knew that would be her final destination.
A city with so much life already surely wouldn't notice one more lost soul.
She clambered onto the bus, wholly unsure of what her life would be from now on. But as she alighted the bus at the other end of her journey, and took up residence in an alley, next to the nicest looking women on the street, the cold wind that bit her flesh, and the sickening leers she got from the men who walked passed, she had a pretty good idea of what was to come.
But accompanying the grief of losing her family, her home, and the guilt of what had happened to Damon, there was a small spark in her chest, and a bright light in her mind. It kept her warm, like a blanket, because she knew she was special – great – and she knew she'd be able to keep herself safe.
HEY GUYS! This be my newest fic... meant to be a drabble for adversaries day of Klaroline AU Week, and it sort of took on a life of its own, grew a couple of head and now here we are. Thanks to anon for the prompt (which was a klaroline!superhero/villain AU). Umm, it'll be set in the MCU, I guess, and the main cameos will be from X-Men characters. Who knows, maybe Caroline will even save Logan... :3 Lemme know what you think either through review here or through my Tumblr askbox (queencarolinemikaelson is my URL).
HAPPY AU WEEK!