"The witches came back." She whispered. "The-they told her I killed them, then they killed her for revenge." She didn't lift her eyes from her mother's empty ones. "Her spirit lingered when the veil was down. She came into the hall, told me the witch's talked to her, and then disappeared. I walked into the living room, saw her dead body, and the rest- as they say- is history." She took a sip of blood.

"Caroline, I'm sorry." Stefan stared at the body, his eyebrows knotted in grief.

With a sudden jolt she got up. She brushed past him and wandered into her bedroom, grabbing a suitcase from her closet.

"What are you doing?"

"Packing." She sobbed, her hands shook as she threw clothes in a suitcase.

"Why?" Stefan stood in the doorway.

"I-I have to leave!"

"Caroline you can't leave." Stefan reasoned gently. "What about your mom?"

"Stefan I can't do this!" Caroline stopped packing. One of her hands rested on her stomach as she struggled for breath, the other on her forehead. Her whole body shook. Stefan hurried forward and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry." He whispered. It was all he could say. There had never been a time when he needed to console someone her loved over a death.

"It hurts so much." The dull aching in her heart had continued to throb since she discovered the body. The world was grey to her.

"I'll take care of the body." Stefan pulled back and kissed her on the forehead. He left her sitting on the bed and stepped out into the hallway, bringing out his phone, the concerned look spreading over his face once more.

Caroline listened as Stefan enlisted the help of Damon.

The small part of her that was aware of everything that was going on was shocked and touched by Damon taking Liz's death to heart. He drank more alcohol than before, and was incredibly gentle when handling her body. Elena jumped into action to console her friend. Within a two days she had made all the necessary funeral arrangements. It was to be held on Thursday. Caroline stayed under the covers in the Salvatore house. She couldn't be alone at home, not now, and maybe not ever. The place held too many memories.

On the first night she stayed there, Elena came into the room. Neither girl said anything. Caroline watched through blurry eyes as her friend came and lay down beside her, wrapping her arms around the blonde. For the seventh time the tears came, only this time Elena joined in. Liz had always made it her priority to protect the Gilbert children when they were orphaned. And she was the last parental figure either girl had. Now they truly were alone.

Damon and Stefan drank morosely as they listened, unable to do anything. Elena and Caroline stayed like that for the rest of the night. And every night she stayed there. The dull aching never stopped. Tyler came by every single day with Matt and stayed in the room with her. They felt so helpless. No one could stop her pain. It killed everyone in the house to see Caroline, happy Caroline, in such a state.

The moment she hit the town hall, she was surprised by the crowd. Nearly the entire town had turned out for the funeral. Everyone kept talking about how much of trouper she was, and how her mother would be sorely missed. Elena stayed by her side the entire time and spoke to the mourners when Caroline couldn't.

Watching the mourners in black sit in their chairs facing the closed casket, she felt nothing. She felt like this was a movie. None of it seemed real. One by one, people went up and said a few words about her mother. With each speech, it became more and more real. Every word felt like a bullet. The dull throbbing became clearer, her temples burned and her body began shaking every so slightly.

Damon stood on the podium, beside the picture of Liz in her Sheriff's uniform.

Looking at his paper, he spoke "Liz Forbes was one of the few people in this town I could call a true friend. It didn't start that way. When I first met her, I was a jackass. And I still am, a little." The audience gave a chuckle and fell into guilty silence. "But we bonded over our love of this town. It was clear that she would do anything to protect it." He paused, gathering strength. "I never told anyone, but there was this one day when I felt so low, and so bad, that I didn't have the energy to go on. Nothing felt like it was worth it." Caroline lifted her head from Elena's shoulder and listened closer. This didn't seem like anything Damon would confess. "And Liz came into the Grill and sat beside me. I took one look at her and saw that fire and energy that she always had." He stopped reading from the paper and looked Caroline directly in the eyes; Damon was speaking from the heart now. "I turned to her, and I asked her, 'where do you get it from? How can you see everything that you've seen, so much hate, and violence, and still have to ability to get up every day?'" He was paraphrasing to make the story more 'human-appropriate.' Tears filled Caroline's eyes, and Damon's glassed over. "She turned to me, got out her wallet and took out a picture of a little girl, with this toothy grin and frazzled blonde hair. She kinda looked like ET but with more hair." Caroline smiled through the tears and some of the mourners chuckled again. "She put the photo on the bar and pointed to the little girl. And she said, 'that's how. All I need to do is remember my Caroline. She gives me all the strength I need'." Damon blinked hard, "I've never told anyone this. But," he breathed gritting his teeth. Though he knew this story needed to be told. Everyone needed to know Liz's true nature, "Whenever I lose faith, I think of Liz. I draw strength from the fact that this woman, who had seen so much evil, was still able to get up every day because of this little girl. If she was able to do it. Then I could to I just had to find my reason." He looked over at Elena and, to his surprise, Stefan "Liz Forbes was more than my friend. She was my role model. She made me want to be more. And god knows, I'm gonna miss her." The mourners clapped and he walked back to his seat. It was her turn now. Slowly she got up to speak at the podium. Elena stood up with her. "It's fine." She whispered and Elena hesitantly sat back down. The crowd watched silently. Some whispered.

"Poor thing." A woman whispered to another.

"Another orphan in town." She whispered back.

Suddenly it hit her. The world became all too real. Her mom was dead. The woman who raised her. She would never have anyone to come home to. Her true vampire existence started now. The thing she had been dreading the most. Her father was gone too. Both of them hated her Vampire existence. She should have let her father fix her. Even if he couldn't have, she would be dead, and her mother wouldn't have been plagued by her. That little girl in the picture wasn't her. She was human Caroline. The dull ache in her chest tightened. And she realized what it was emptiness. A chasm in her heart that would only deepen. The final look on her mother's face was one of such shame. She was disgusted by her daughter. The pain in her chest heightened. It was equivalent to being staked a hindered times. Nobody really cared for her, not really. Even Bonnie. When she was turned against her will, Bonnie couldn't even look at her. But when Elena was turned, everyone still loved her. Maybe it was just something about Caroline. She was unlovable. Make it stop. A voice whispered in her mind. Just turn it off, give in. You'll feel so much better. It won't hurt anymore. No! She hissed to herself. Suddenly the murmuring of the worried crowd was drowned out.

"Turn it off sweetie," her mother stood in front of her with a pale face and heavy eye bags under her eyes.

"Turn your emotions off."

"Mom." She sniffed. She was vaguely aware of Elena's hands around her shoulders leading her out of the hall.

"You're not my little girl anymore. We both know it. Every second you spend pretending to be my little girl, is another minute you make me ashamed."

"How can you say that?" There was a muffled sound as someone spoke to her, but she ignored them and continued to look at her mom.

"Do you trust me?" He mother reached out and put her thumb on her daughter's cheek.

"More than anything." Caroline whispered. The murmuring grew frantic.

"Then do this for me. Turn it off."

Tears began to spill out of her eyes and they burned as she sobbed. "Mommy don't make me."

"Do it Caroline, and everything will be perfect again." Her mother sounded angelic. It was all she wanted to be able to listen to her voice. Everything seemed right in the world and everything would be okay. She nodded in response and closed her eyes, focusing on everything she had felt. All the pain and the anger kept building until she felt like she was going to explode. They pushed her farther than she had ever gone and then...then it stopped. There was no more pain, or anger. She felt warm inside. Hollow, but warm. It was nothing like she had imagined. She'd always believe having no emotions would leave her empty shell of a person. But she just felt relieved. Caroline was aware of Elena holding her shoulders and looking at her worriedly.

"Care?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Caroline showed no emotion. After she switched her emotions off, she didn't have to worry about feeling so sad anymore. Suddenly, everything became so much clearer. The first thing she decided on was to leave this town. Too many people here would bum her out. Especially once they found out she had turned her emotions off, they would do everything to make her turn them on again. So the second thing she decided was to play the role of emotional daughter who was too grief stricken to be in the same town.

"Can we go inside?" She said, adding a small quiver to her voice so she didn't arouse suspicion. Elena still gave her a worried look. What do sad people do? Frown. Caroline frowned. Stefan put his hand on her shoulder from behind her, re-reassuringly. She squeezed his hands to assure him that she was fine and gave a small pitiable smile which they both reciprocated. She turned back to the door and to her surprise even Damon had come out. Tyler was there too. He took Caroline's hand gently and led her back into the town hall. The whispering ceased immediately. She left his hand and walked up to the podium, reading her speech word for word. Every here and there she would add a sigh, a quiver or a pause. All in all, it was an Oscar worthy performance. In the crowd, at the back of the hall, she spotted Klaus Mikaelson keeping to the shadows. Beside him was old lady Wickerman. Rebecca was also with him, as was Elijah. She continued talking, completely unfazed by their appearance. When she was done everyone stood. Tyler, Damon, Matt, (on the left side) Jeremy and Stefan (on the right) each held the coffin up. The crowd was standing and making their way outside, talking amongst themselves.

"We've got a problem, there are meant to be six coffin bearers." Damon whispered to Elena.

"No problem mate." Klaus said. He came up behind Elena and took the space that was unoccupied beneath the coffin behind Stefan.

Elena looked shocked, as did everyone else.

"Klaus wha-what are you doing here?" She asked, walking over to Caroline who stood in front of the Coffin. Elijah and Rebecca were walking up the aisle towards them.

"It's my fault." Rebecca said guiltily. "Matt told me about your mum and I felt it appropriate that we pay our condolences." She looked to Matt for his forgiveness; he smiled in re-assurance.

"I'm sorry about your mother Caroline." Klaus gave her intense gaze, thinking about how much she had been hurting.

"As we all are Miss Forbes." Elijah purred. They all looked at her. Waiting.

Oh right! I'm meant to reply! "Thank you." She said, looking at the ground. "We should hurry." She said. Wanting this whole thing to be over with.

"Yeah, everyone will be waiting." Elena added, signalling for the boys to bite their tongue and play nice. Tyler clenched his free fist. Elena took Caroline's hand and they walked out of the open doors of the town hall. Somehow the crowd of mourners had doubled under the twilight sky. They had moved the funeral to the town hall because the church hadn't been big enough to house everyone who wanted to come. Elena had arranged a spectacular send off for the beloved town's sheriff. A person moved between the mourners and gave them lanterns. Everyone parted to allow the Coffin bearers through. The crowd fell into silence. Behind them a young girl with a guitar walked. She strummed a played Liz's favorite song. Elena had asked Caroline what it had been one day when she was laying in bed. It was 'these arms of mine' by Otis Redding. The girl with guitar played it as she walked behind the Coffin, at the front of the crowd. Caroline and Elena were holding hands and at the head of the crowd. A few people here and there were crying at the scene. Elena was keeping it together for Caroline's sake. Caroline huffed in boredom, which she mistook for sadness. When the song on the guitar had finished they were only half way to the church. Suddenly, from behind the crowd the sounds of marching band drifted. The crowd parted to let the band reach behind the Coffin. They played 'over the rainbow' by Judy Garland. That was the final straw for most of the crowd who erupted in tears. Caroline thanked god when they finally reached the Cemetery. The Coffin took the route through the church and out the back, then down the gravelly path to the plot where Liz was to be laid to rest forever.

Tyler, Damon, Matt, Jeremy, Stefan and Klaus put the Coffin into place and stepped back. Damon had watery eyes. Matt had tears rolling down his cheeks. Elena went to comfort Damon. Caroline soon realized that she should do the same for Matt. Standing beside him, she patted his shoulder.

Once everyone had arrived the Pastor began reading a passage from the bible. The sky around them began to darken and the stars twinkled up above. The lanterns in everyone's hands provided an orange glowing light. Elena had planned the exact day down to the last detail. Had Caroline cared, she would have been proud. Though currently, she thought Elena was stupid for planning such a long day.

It was becoming harder for Klaus to stay away from Caroline. From the minute he'd seen her break down at Damon's moving speech he wanted to keep her by his side, to keep her safe and stop her hurting. Tyler wasn't doing a good job at it. This was one of those rare instance he was grateful for the Doppelganger; she seemed to helping Caroline and extra-ordinary amount. In truth, he had been a little disappointed to receive no recognition in Caroline's eyes when she first spotted him. There was nothing there...

"Liz Forbes was my best friend's mother." Elena said, speaking to the mourners gathered around the grave. They had taken up most of the cemetery. "She was more than that. After my parents died, she became a second mother to me. So could everyone please join me in raising their lanterns" Everyone raised their lanterns Elena looked at her watch, "and let go in...3...2...1" a large gust of wind swept across the cemetery and everyone let go of the lanterns. They soared high into the air. As they rose, the marching band began a Capella version of parting glass by Ed Sheeran. Even Caroline couldn't help but be a little impressed at the grandeur of the scene. There was no way Elena could have predicted that exact wind. There were gasps of awe and wonder as everyone watched them fly away. Caroline felt a hand slip in through her own. Klaus watched in envy as Stefan held hands with Caroline as they watched the lanterns fly across the sky, giving the scene a warm orange glow. There must have been a hundred in the air.

Everyone threw a handful of soil onto the grave as they passed. Damon, Elena, Stefan, Tyler, Matt, Jeremy and Caroline stayed behind as everyone made their way to the Mystic Grill for food. Everyone took one of the ten shovels on the side and began piling the soil into onto the ground. Apart from Caroline. She stood watching them. They were going so slowly. It was irritating.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there love." Klaus whispered as he stood beside her. Tyler shot him a glare and was about to start up and argument, but with one look at Caroline's blank face, he bit his tongue. She found it amusing how people looked at her expressionless face and saw whatever they wanted too.

"It's fine." Caroline said, not bothering to mask her monotonous voice. It was Klaus; he didn't know her well enough to understand her different tones.

"I should have been there to protect you. Like I was last time." He grimaced, referring to the last time the veil was down and the witches attacked. Matt had told Rebecca how Liz had died and Rebecca relayed the information. Klaus had wreaked an entire suite because he felt responsible. In truth, it was him who had wanted to go to the funeral. "I'm truly, more sorry than you will ever know, for leaving you."

Tyler's teeth were grinding loudly. Something inside her heart began struggling, an emotion begging to be let out. She wanted him to stop talking.

"Hey, Klaus, how's you pregnant were-slut?" He voice was even and uninterested.

Klaus stood in shock. The color drained from his face. "How do you know?"

"Bonnie." She answered, looking at her watch. It was nearing to eight o'clock. The winter brought darkness quickly. Bonnie had found out that Hayley was pregnant when she conversed with another witch on the other side of the veil. Needless to say they were all shocked when Jeremy told them, but felt it was none of their business. Apart from Caroline. As soon as the Silas business was done she had planned to go to New Orleans and give Klaus a good shouting. She had left a threatening voice mail to the Hybrid telling him to call her, but never got around to talking to him.

"Caroline you have to kn-"

"Don't care." She rolled her eyes and gracefully walked away from him and out of the cemetery. Leaving Tyler with a smirk so wide it flew off his face and Stefan had an equally large one. Elena and Matt had the decency to refrain from smiling.

"She'll definitely be okay, Liz." Damon smiled down at the grave.

Klaus looked at her retreating form in shock. "That she will be." He mumbled, taking a spare shovel and helping them.

"Speaking of, what about Hayley?" Tyler said. He leaned against his shovel. "Is she okay?"

Klaus sneered at him. "If you must know, I don't know where she is."

"What?" Tyler practically shouted, dropping his shovel. Damon caught it before it fell into the grave and looked murderously towards Tyler.

"Sorry." The boy Hybrid mumbled. "But how can you not know where she is? She's pregnant with your kid!"

"Actually not anymore. I'm assuming you're all familiar with my reasons for going to New Orleans?" They all gave guilty nods. Bonnie had found out everything and told them everything about Marcel. "Well the witches' method of getting rid of Marcel was irritatingly slow. When he insulted me I made sure it was the last time he would ever do it. It resulted in messy murders- I'll spare you the gory details- needless to say the witches deemed it fit to kill the foetus." He gave Tyler a glare. "The only reason they spared your precious wolf girl was because I felt nothing for her."

Tyler gave a sigh of relief knowing Hayley was alive.

The rest of their short time together was spent in silence. When they were done they all headed in silence to the Grill, only to find Caroline nowhere. Klaus left to go back to Mikaelson Manor.

"What?" Jeremy almost yelled.

"I didn't say anything." Elena replied.

"No!" Jeremy struggled, "I'm talking to Bon."

"What's she saying?" Damon asked.

Jeremy just stood eyes wide in shock.

"Jeremy?" Stefan shook him a little.

"It's Qetsiyah." He said. "We have a problem."

REVIEW PLEASE! I'M EVIL, SO I'VE DECIDED I'LL POST THE NEXT CHAPTER ONCE I'VE GOT 10 REVIEWS. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *DIES OF LACK OF OXYGEN* JK. I know the funeral may have seemed really cheesy and stuff, especially with the songs. But I really wanted to give Liz a proper send off. Also, I wanted to portray Elena in a good light, because in every story she's always portrayed as someone selfish with no real love for Caroline. But I always figured there would be a reason they were friends. My guess is Caroline behaved similarly to Elena when her parents died and Elena's kindness in this chapte is a repayment of the favor. Also, In the episode 'The originals' the witches were able to sense when nature 'cooked up' something big, so I figured Bonnie would also be able to sense it and she would tell everyone.