Hello lovelies! This might be a bit of a long authors note but please read through the whole thing. First of all I want to thank every single person that has reviewed, followed, favorited (is that a word? haha) or read this story. DOTS is very different from what I usually write so the support means more to me than I could ever explain. You guys are the absolute best.
I want to take this time to answer two questions I got in the reviews. I figured I'd do it here so everyone can get the answers if it confused someone else!
I love this! Are you going to turn Caroline into a total badass where she knows how to handle a sword and fight within these three years or is she going to be a defenseless girl? No matter what you do I know this story will be amazing, but I'm team Badass Caroline :) Update soon!
Caroline will be a bit of a damsel in distress for the first few chapters. But I can promise that there will definitely be a lot of badass Caroline moments in the future!
What do you mean with "will be set in the future?"
This chapter and the rest of the story is set three years into the future!
Okay now that I've rambled forever here's the chapter. It's not been read through by a beta because I wanted to get it up for you guys asap but I hope you enjoy it even though there might be a few mistakes!
The ship was majestic. That's what her father had called it when he told her about his new beauty and Caroline had no choice but to agree. It was a beautiful ship and she should have been looking forward to stepping on it. But Caroline felt no excitement at the prospect of doing so. All she felt was cold fear rushing through her veins.
Every time she had been asked Caroline had lied and said she was fine. Every time someone had questioned her lies she had snapped and told them to mind their own business. Lying was not a talent of hers but she was not going to admit to anyone that she had spent the past weeks sleepless at the thought of leaving land again.
No one could blame her for her fear. The only time she had ever been on a ship, far out at sea, pirates had attacked. Miraculously enough the body count had been low and the pirates had left after taking their gold and jewels. Caroline still remembered the day as if it were yesterday. She had, after all, had a run in with the captain of the band of pirates. When asked what had happened she had said he had threatened to kill her and asked for gold. It was only half a lie.
But what had actually happened in her quarters haunted her dreams just as much as the terrors of that day.
Caroline took a deep breath and forced herself to fight against the urge to close her eyes as she boarded the ship. She felt silly to be worrying so much because no one else seemed the least bothered with the trip they were about to make. While she knew no one would judge her for her fears Caroline did not want anyone's pity.
"Miss Forbes," Tom's familiar voice caused the tension in her body to ease up a bit and brought a small smile to her lips. She did not see him very often since he worked on the ships and she did her best to remain on lands but she had not forgotten his kindness. "Would you like to watch the view from the deck?" he asked with a rare grin on his lips.
"Actually, I think I'll stay below deck this time," Caroline said with an apologetic smile. He gave her a knowing look that almost made her want to take that back and stay on deck just to prove that she wasn't scared. But she was so she turned away from him and made her way below the deck.
Caroline settled in quickly, admiring the large room she would be staying in. If it wasn't for the slight but constant swaying she could have forgotten she was on a ship rather than at home. She sat down by the desk in the corner and pulled out a book. She only had patience to read a few pages before she got bored with it.
Caroline put the book down and sighed. Elena Gilbert could spend hours with a book and she would never get tired of it. Sometimes Caroline had to beg her friend to lift her nose from the book and actually talk to her. Caroline had always wished she could be as deep and sophisticated as Elena but she never quite managed to. Books bored her and she didn't like to sit still. She enjoyed socializing, pretty dresses and batting her eyelashes when Tyler Lockwood walked by.
Sometimes she hated herself for her shallow behavior and interests but there wasn't much she could do about it. Caroline had spent a long time trying to mirror Elena's walk and smile and had gotten nowhere with it. She enjoyed being herself more than pretending to be someone others wanted her to be.
Of course, it wasn't actually that easy but she liked to tell herself it was.
With a slight scowl Caroline flipped through the pages of her book without stopping to read a single word. She was bored. There wasn't a lot a girl could do on a ship when she was too scared to leave her room. Her teeth graced her bottom lip while she thought. Maybe going up on deck wouldn't be so bad. She could take a quick peek to calm herself down and get rid of the boredom. Caroline was just about to get up when a loud explosion sent her flying off her chair.
The loud BANG that erupted had caused her whole room to vibrate and sent the chair she had been sitting on flying along with her. Caroline's heart went straight up her throat and she scrambled to get up on her feet.
A stream of profanities that was not meant to be said by a lady rattled off in Caroline's head as she hurried out the door. The moment she made it up to the deck she wished she had stayed hidden in her quarters with her fingers in her ears.
The commotion on the deck was chaotic enough for no one to notice that a young woman had suddenly appeared in the midst of it all. Caroline wasn't surprised that no eyes lingered on her. It seemed that her luck was the worst of them all because once again pirates had boarded the ship she was on.
Somehow, even though fear was tearing her mind and body apart, Carline managed to marvel at the chance of this happening. God had to be hell bent on putting her through the worst kind of torture for this to happen.
Swords clinked against swords and there was a mixture of pistols and cannons going off at random. Every time one of the loud noises shuddered through the air Caroline drew back instinctively. She was still trying to figure out what the hell to do when a man appeared in front of her.
"Well what do we have here?" his voice was amused and his chest was covered in something Caroline quickly realized was blood. "Aren't ye a pretty one, eh?" his eyebrows wiggled and Caroline tried to take a step back but his thick hand wound around her wrist, forcing her to stay in place.
"Please – " she began but before she had a chance to offer him anything a strangled shriek left him and his hand dropped from her wrist.
"Miss Forbes," Tom's sword had gone straight through the pirate's back and he was pulling it out when Caroline's eyes found his. "You must hide," he said with an urgency she had never heard in his or anyone else's voice before. He pulled his sword out of the body that had now fallen to the ground and stepped towards Caroline. "Hide and keep safe."
Caroline gave him a quick nod and as if it was the only thing he was waiting for he darted off to join the battle again. Now the problem was that Caroline had no idea where to hide.
Any room would be too obvious and there weren't many hiding places that she knew of. The ship was large and spacious which did not come in handy at the moment. But there was no time to think. Caroline took a deep breath and started running out onto the deck. If she could just find a large pile of ropes she could hide under there.
All of the sudden pain soared through Caroline's head as a blunt object hit her across the side. She toppled over the side of the ship and everyone was too busy trying to keep themselves alive to notice.
Her body hit the cold water and began to sink. Her mind was groggy and her eyes wouldn't open. Caroline's arms flailed above her head, desperate for something to grab on to. She kicked her legs and tried to move towards the light above the surface.
Water was crushing against her from every direction and pulling her towards a dark, bottomless end. Her lungs were being squeezed smaller by the pressure surrounding her and her ears pounded with a ringing noise. Caroline opened her mouth to scream but instead she choked on the water and her throat burned. The strong current kept pulling at her body but Caroline's arms continued to fight towards the surface. Slowly but safely life was draining out of her body as the cold grip of the sea pulled her towards her sure death.
Caroline's eyes fluttered shut. She waited for her life to flash before her eyes but the only thing she saw was her father. He would be so sad when he found out she was gone. If he was still alive. The pirates might very well have killed him too. That meant they would see each other again. They would be a family. All of them.
The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the feel of a pair of strong arms wrapping around her body.
…
A slight breeze was what welcomed Caroline back from the darkness. Her eyes remained closed as she started waking up. She could feel her back pressed against a hard surface and her mind felt oddly clouded. What had just happened?
As if on cue the memories started coming back. Images of brutal fighting and dark waves flashed before her closed eyes and the shock of realizing what had happened made her eyes flutter open.
She quickly realized that she was lying on the hard wooden floor of a deck. Relief fluttered through her for a moment, thinking she had somehow gotten back to her father's ship, but she quickly realized her surroundings were foreign to her. The relief was quickly replaced by fear.
Caroline managed to push herself into a sitting position but the small movement made her feel weak and her head spun. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get the world to stop spinning, and when she opened them she found herself staring into a pair of green eyes.
"You're awake," the stranger said in a friendly voice. Caroline still tried to push herself back from him. "Don't be frightened. I won't hurt you," he spoke with such sincerity that Caroline had trouble doubting him. His eyes were friendly and the smile on his lips comforting.
She took a deep breath to calm herself down. She had so many questions to ask and she would not be able to utter a single word unless she could breathe normally.
"Here," Stefan picked up a dirty goblet and handed it to her. "Drink up."
Caroline accepted the goblet verily and put it to her mouth. The moment the liquid touched her lip she spit it all out in disgust. What she had thought was water turned out to be something a lot stronger and the little that had made it into her mouth sent a burning feeling down her throat.
"I should have warned you, that's rum," the friendly man chuckled it wasn't an unkind laugh. Caroline decided she liked him. "What's your name?"
"Caroline Forbes," Caroline scrunched her nose and passed him the goblet. She knew very well what rum was and had no intention of drinking it. Not only was the taste horrible but she had been told several times that it messed with your head. While the nice man certainly made her feel better she needed her mind to be sharp.
"Where am I?" she asked, her voice slightly shaky. "What happened?"
His eyes flashed with something akin to pity but Caroline wasn't sure if she had imagined it or not because it was gone as soon as it had appeared. He smiled again and took a gulp of the goblet she had handed back to him.
"Have some bread," he said of answering her question, handing her a loaf of dark bread. "You need to get your strength up."
The sight of the bread made Caroline realized just how hungry she was so she gratefully bit into it. It wasn't as good as what she was used to eating but she happily accepted it and continued to stuff pieces of it into her mouth while she waited for answers to her questions. Her eyes bore into his and his lips twisted upwards when he realized what she was waiting for.
"My name is Stefan Salvatore," he started. "You were close to drowning when we saw you. Thankfully we managed to save you. You have been in and out for the past few hours, spluttering water and mumbling things."
"What are you not telling me?" Caroline demanded. He seemed surprise by her words but she was not foolish. She knew he was holding back something.
"The ship you were on was attacked by a band of pirates," he explained what Caroline already knew. "We are that band of pirates."
His eyes were begging for her to understand but Caroline could not. Her breath caught and she made a movement to scramble away from him but the hem of her dress got in the way and she ended up falling onto her back. For the first time she had woken up she began to take in her surroundings.
She was on a ship but it was not her fathers. This ship in question seemed to be just as large and was swaying ever so slightly in the barely there wind. The wooden deck was not the same fine, smooth mahogany colored one she was used to be rough and dirty. And there were people there.
Caroline wasn't sure how she had managed to miss the men dressed in everything from rags to fine clothing. One had a wooden leg and another had a hook for an arm. She even spotted a parrot on a man's shoulder. Caroline felt the dread she had been fighting close around her throat and her heart pounded against her chest. She was surrounded by pirates.
"It's okay," Stefan reached out his hand to grab hers but Caroline swatted it away with a surprising amount of strength. He quickly withdrew it and stayed where he was but kept his eyes locked on hers. "I won't hurt you."
"You're a pirate!" Caroline spat with as much venom as she could muster. "You attacked my father's ship! You killed people!"
"Yes I am a pirate," he said and if she had not been so busy panicking Caroline might have wondered about the sad smile he said it with. "And your accusations are true. But you have my word that I will not hurt you. None of us will."
His word did little to control Caroline's emotions that were spinning out of control. He was a pirate! Her previous thoughts that he seemed like a good man had been thrown off board when he was branded with the title. Pirates did nothing but lie, steal and kill. She was not going to let them get to her.
With every ounce of strength that was left in her still weak body she pushed herself off the ground and threw herself towards the port side of the boat. Her hands gripped at the side but before she had a chance to go through with her plan and throw her legs across the side a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Stefan said apologetically, his strong arms crushing her body against his.
"Let me go!" Caroline shrieked, loud enough for earn some curious glances and snickers from the crew, while she kicked her legs as hard as she could. Her arms were locked in his embrace and there was nothing she could do other than kick and scram. "I demand that you let go of me!" she shouted but Stefan's arms did not loosen their grip.
They stayed in that exact same position for a while. Caroline continued to kick and scream while Stefan remained silent and rigid. His arms kept her captive and finally Caroline gave up. Her legs stopped moving and her mouth snapped shut. After making sure she was completely done with trying to escape Stefan let go of her and allowed her to stand down.
"I won't hurt you," he said again. "But if you try to escape I will have to stop you."
Caroline heard the silent threat in his voice even if it was hidden by those pretty eyes of his. She gave him a curt nod to let him know she understood but crossed her arms to keep her act of defiance up. She would play along for a while, and then she would find a way to escape. There was no way she would fraternize with pirates for long.
"Well?" Caroline probed when he remained silent. "What is it you want with me?" the question itself scared her just as much as the various answers she could think of. She had no idea what they needed her for but she had heard enough stories to know that it could be nothing good.
"The Captain wants to see you," Stefan said.
Caroline raised her eyebrows questioningly but he did not add anything more. Instead he offered her his arm.
"I was not aware that pirates knew how to behave around a lady," she huffed but still placed a hand on his arm. "Lead the way to this mysterious captain then."
There was a small smile playing on his lips and as much as Caroline tried to fight it she couldn't keep one from making its way to her own lips as well. Her first impression of Stefan seemed to be the true one. Even though he was a pirate and holding her against her will he was a nice man. It was a shame that she had to hate him for what he was.
They walked below deck and Caroline scrunched her nose up against the smell of rum and sweat. Countless of hammocks suspended from the ceiling and some were occupied while others dangled empty. Stefan led her through a set of fancy doors that contrasted with the dirt and into what turned out to be a spacious and rather fancy study. She could see another door leading to what she assumed was the captain's quarters.
"Captain," Stefan spoke and she followed his eyes to the lone chair in the room.
The back of the chair was facing them so all Caroline could see was the tip of a dark pirate hat. Without revealing his face the man stood up and slowly turned around.
Caroline let out a breath she hadn't been realized she was holding when she caught sight of his face. The familiar smirk was on his lips and there was a twinkle in his eyes that she recognized as well.
"You!" she gasped.
"Leave us mate. I have some catching up to do with the lady."
