He wakes long before the handlers come in to take him, knowing he could use the rest but bored of the routine. He stands and stretches, enjoying the way his skin expands over his healed skin. Mornings are his favorite, although weak and famished, he feels whole and free of the day before.
He walks over and places his hands on the bars and pulls, knowing it's futile but bored and desperate. After many failed attempts he strains his ears and listens for any life, nothing but the even breaths of the night guard, the one that always falls asleep after everyone else leaves. He snorts at the irony of it, after all he is a top of the food chain predator that could easily end the life of the sleeping human on the other side of the door. If only he had his strength, he would be out of here in a heartbeat.
He closes his eyes and focuses on the sound of the blood pumping throughout the guards body, he feels his fangs come out on their own accord as he listens to the strong steady pulse, as he feels the warmth the blood will provide. His eyes snap open and he begins to rattle the bars, hearing the way the guards pulse quickens in fear of waking to a yet to be identified sound.
The guard misses the lock on his first few attempts but on the fourth the key is in and the door swings open makiing the guards pounding heart even more noticeable. The guards eyes zeros in on him the moment the door opens, and he becomes even more afraid at the sight of the monster in front of him.
But all to soon his enjoyment ends when Dr. Whitmore's voice pierces through the air, "Robert," the guard whips around, "What are you doing?" Whitmore calmly asks.
He retreats to the shadows, watching as Robert becomes frazzled as he tries to explain to Whitmore what happened. Whitmore sighs, "It's okay Robert, Billy and Paul should be here any minute, go home and get some rest." Robert nods and walks as fast as he can without running. Whitmore waits until Robert is gone before entering the room aligned with cells, yet there is the only occupant.
He watches as Whitmore walks to the cage, stepping as close as he can without being in danger. He feels like ripping into the doctor's neck and bringing him to the deaths door but then healing him and starting it all over until he gets his full of the last seven years of starvation and torture. He steps forward, revealing his face. Whitmore takes it in, and his cold blue eyes widen with terror as he steps back. He lets out a small smirk at the doctor's obvious terror.
"Dr. Whitmore?" A girl asks, the same from yesterday, with two men standing behind her.
Whitmore collects himself and turns toward them, he gives them a clinical smile, "Good morning."
A man with short cropped sandy hair steps forward, Paul, his southern drawl shows, "Are you ready?"
Whitmore shakes his head 'no', "You two stay here, Caroline follow me." Whitmore says as he begins to walk away.
He knows exactly where they are going, he's spent seven years in the room being cut open. Paul and Billy, a man with shaggy dark brown hair, and bored brown eyes, stand outside the cell, preparing to take him out. He pays them no mind, going through this daily, instead he strains to hear Whitmore and Caroline's voices.
"Paul and Billy will lay the subject down here, and strap the wrists, arms, biceps, waist, chest, neck, thighs, and ankles down. Next the subject will receive a small amount of vervain as a precautionary." Whitmore says.
Caroline surprises him and Whitmore when she asks, "What about a sedative? Or anesthesia?"
He doesn't let his surprise show, not wanting to startle Billy or Paul, but why would this girl want to keep him from pain? Whitmore seems to have the same thought, "And why would we do that?"
"So he doesn't feel pain, plus it will keep him relaxed and safe since he can't retaliate." Caroline reasons, but her voice has lost it's confidence, she must sense that she said something wrong.
Whitmore's voice changes from apathetic to irritated, "That would be a waste of resources, we are trying to discover what causes them to heal. Once we find that the subject will be terminated."
He can't say he's shocked by the news, he's more annoyed that it's taking them this long to release him of his pain. He stops listening to the conversation and focuses on Paul and Billy, hoping today will be the day one of them messes up and he gets a nice snack before ending every life in this building.
Caroline walks in moments later, looking scared and smaller then she did moments ago. "Paul? Billy?"
The two men snap their heads in her direction, he notices how both of their gazes stray from her face, he laughs at them internally for their lack of self control, especially Billy who's left hand adorns a wedding ring.
She smiles politely at them, "Dr. Whitmore is ready now, can you please bring the subject in."
The men pick up their leisurely pace as Caroline fiddles with her notebook. Billy loads a vervain dart in a shot gun and aims at him, he just watches as trigger is pulled and the bullet flies into his arm, softly grunting at the pain. He sees Caroline jump out of the corner of her eye, but pays her no mind as Billy loads another dart and fires. This time he lets out a hiss of pain, as the liquid burns through his blood stream.
Paul lets out a whistle, "I remember when it only took two."
Billy nods as he loads the gun once more and aims, this one hitting him in the neck and he struggles to stand as they open the cell to take him.
He falls to the ground, and if he weren't in so much pain he would laugh at how just hours earlier he was wishing the door would open. Billy takes the gun and places it on his head, they know it won't kill him, only knock him out, but it's a pretty great deterrent. Paul walks up behind him and places a muzzle on his face, Paul doesn't make a mistake today but he does bare the scars on his hands from what happens when his blood gets to close to a vampires mouth.
They heave him up by the biceps and drag him out of the cell and down the hall to where he will but cut open over and over again for endless hours. He knows he can walk, but he rather have them drag him as a small form of rebellion.
They walk by Caroline and he can see the guilt, sadness, and empathy in her eyes, he looks away knowing if this makes her feel bad what's about to happen will make her run.
The walk must takes a few minutes, especially with his weight slowing them down, but it feels like mere seconds. But the next few hours will be full of endless seconds. Time is a fickle thing.
Paul takes the brunt of his weight as Billy moves to grab his legs, they place him on the table, afterward Paul injects some vervain into his neck before placing a collar that will attach him to the table. All to soon the cool knife is entering the skin of his abdomen, he doesn't even flinch, but Caroline turns green and looks away to scribble some notes.
Dr. Whitmore then moves his hands and scalpel to his kidney and the pain becomes excruciating as a piece of it is taken from his body. His body arches with the pain and his strangled screams fill the room.
"We'll start with something easy today, regeneration of a essential organ." Whitmore says, and begins to relay the information he wants Caroline to write down. His eyes turn to Caroline as Whitmore describes the process of what's happening. The blood has drained from her face in fear and she is biting her lip, to prevent herself from arguing or hurling, he doesn't know.
"Now that it's completely healed we will take it out and see what happens to-" Whitmore says, but soon his mind is filled with pain pushing everything else out.
The rest of the time passes similarly, he can't focus on anything except the pain caused by pieces of his body leaving him.
Whitmore takes his gloves off and disposes of them, "Watch this Caroline," he says gesturing her over with a hand, "We don't even need to stitch the subject up, it's body does it for us." Whitmore sounds almost excited as he explains what is happening.
Caroline looks bothered by the fact that Whitmore doesn't seem to hold any empathy toward him as he lays on the table. She swallows, "What happens if we do stitch him up?" She hesitantly asks.
Whitmore looks away from him to look at Caroline, "He heals faster, and doesn't scar."
"The blood, is it his or..." Caroline trails off.
Whitmore nods, "We thought it was the blood of the victims at first, but no it's the subjects. We have drained it of blood before and then fed it enough to not desiccate. Then checked and it's body starts 'producing blood' and it appears the blood it drank assimilates and disperses to where it is needed most."
Caroline nods, and writes down what the doctor says. Whitmore stands to wash and says, "Paul and Billy."
They nod and and quietly start the task at hand. Paul injects him once again, and they take off his restraints. He can barley stand the pain as the move him to a standing position, his wounds are flaring up and sending a new wave of pain throughout his body. He bites his tongue to not scream out. The walk back to the cell is full of agony, and the handlers seem to enjoy it.
They throw him into the cell and Billy places the gun to his head as Paul takes the muzzle off.
Caroline comes in the moment he is locked in his cage and the handlers leave. They smile at her and she returns it with a shaky smile of her own. He closes his eyes, not wanting them to reveal the pain he's in, not wanting to show weakness.
Once the door closes behind her she lets out a breath, one she must have been holding since they first cut into him. He can't see her, but he knows she's scared and angry based on her breathing and mannerisms as she sits down and tries to focus. Paul comes back in with a small cup of blood, he places it on the floor and uses his boot to slide it within reach.
"When you feed it, make sure you don't get to close or you will be the next meal." Paul says, looking down as Caroline nods.
Paul stays for a moment longer and then says, "I'm going to have to lock the door as I leave, the blood makes it stronger. But don't worry, either Billy or I will be on the other side."
Caroline looks up and smiles, "Thank you."
Paul smiles back and leaves. The sound of the lock reverberates through the room, but Caroline doesn't seem to hear it. He reaches through the bars and takes the cup, Caroline seems fascinated as his face changes.
"Does it hurt?" She whispers, as if afraid the question will make her look stupid.
He ignores her and tosses the cup, it lands by her feet. She is a little off put by his response, and begins to write down the improvement that comes with the blood. The rest of the night is spent in silence, the only noise comes from her scribbling pen. He lays down and imagines the stars that are above his head, just out of sight.
The weeks go by similarly, and one night he decides to ask her one simple question as she watches his skin stitch back together painfully slow without the help of blood. "Why are you here?" He's curious, she is so unlike the other humans he's encountered throughout his years here. She's kind, and sees him as a creature that deserves simple kindness.
She is taken a back as his hoarse voice reaches her ears. She's so shocked she doesn't speak for a while, and he begins to think she wont.
"They didn't tell me you talked." Caroline finally says, still dazed by the sudden realization.
He shrugs, "I don't to them, they are very simple. But you intrigue me."
Her cheeks turn a light pink and she nervously pushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "Why?"
He looks to the stool she left in here after Paul and Billy dragged him off to the operating table, the stool she use to sit on. Now she sits on the floor to take her notes.
Caroline flushes further, and she begins to stutter before collecting her thoughts, "There's nothing in there, I though you could use somewhere to sit." She shrugs as if it's not big deal. But it is, he's been here for seven years, the only thing in this cell is him and the clothes on his back.
His eyes don't move from hers, and she begins to fidget before saying, "I'm here because of my parents."
He raises an eyebrow, silently asking her to continue.
She sighs,"My father is from one of the founding families in Mystic Falls, he went to college with Dr. Whitmore. Years later, after Dr. Whitmore started this college to be able use it to do this, he enlisted the founding families for resources. My mother wanted me to learn about the creatures my dad has been protecting me from, she said it was time for me to prepare for the responsibilities I would inherit when they could no longer help the town. My father thought this would be the safest place for me to learn, and called in a favor. I'm here to record everything Dr. Whitmore learns."
She pauses and looks down, "I'm sorry, I talk a lot."
"Talk all you want, otherwise all I will hear is your pulse, the pulses of Paul and Billy who sit outside the door, and Dr. Whitmore who is in his office writing something down." He replies.
She looks shocked, fearful, and amazed, "You can hear all that?"
He nods.
"What else can you hear?" She excitedly asks, notebook forgotten.
He smiles at her eagerness, "I need to focus, but everything on this floor. If I was at full strength I could hear everything that happens in the building, maybe even the wind outside." He says the last part bitterly.
She gets very serious, and hesitates by biting her lip. "What is your name?" She tentatively asks.
"Please turn the lights off." He requests, "Good night, Caroline."
She never told him her name, and although he's heard it from the other men, it still shocks her.
Caroline knocks on the door, and turns the lights off.
"Thank you." He whispers before Paul opens the door and the hall light spills in. She looks over her shoulder before the door closes, taking her and the light with it. He listens to the sound of her heels as she walks away, and listens even after she is long gone.
A/N I know this is boring, and they all probably will be like this at first. I need to build a foundation before I move forward with the story.
Thank you so much for reading!
Loveklaroline: Don't worry, I haven't giving up on any of my stories, I'm working on the next chapter for "Riser". As for "You took my soul and wiped it clean", I'm having writers block. If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know :) Thank you for reading and reviewing the first chapter, it means the world to me that you still read my stories even though I haven't had time to write! Caroline is one of my favorite characters, and one I identify with the most, I love writing her. But this won't be through her perspective. I'm glad you liked the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed this one as well. Unfortunately, my next chapter will not be posted until next weekend because I have been avoiding my school work and now I really need to get caught up. Until next time!
mariclerson: Don't worry about spelling mistakes, if it weren't for spellcheck my stories would be riddled with even more spelling errors then they already hold! You only misspelled one word that I noticed; you wrote 'ather" and I believe you meant 'other'. Thank you for taking the time to review and read the story, I appreciate it so much! This will not be a Caroline/Damon fanfic, that's all I'm going to say for now :)