Chapter 4: Lord of the lies
"I traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn't know which one was heavier. Which one took the most strength to carry around? It was a ridiculous question, though, because once you know the truth, you can't ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now."
She was lying.
As a young girl Caroline had quickly become accustomed to differentiating between lies. There were lies she considered as white lies and the other sort of lies, the ones that felt like a noose around your neck. Her human life as a teenager revolved around white lies, lies such as that dress doesn't make you look fat, and of course it's not you it's me. White lies were harmless, they kept her mother warm and cocooned in her world of ignorant bliss, they kept her teachers satisfied and her friends happy. No, white lies never hurt anyone.
It was the other lies, the ones that kept you up at night, the ones that clawed at your insides making you sick with anxiety, the ones that acted as a noose around your neck. The end of human life also meant the end of her white lies. She now carried the burden of the other lies. The ones that meant choosing between life and death on a regular basis, these lies meant honesty now came with a death sentence.
Caroline was lying.
When asked where she was going today she hadn't disclosed her location nor did she specify who she was going to meet. The lie was necessary; it was one white lie that would contribute to her biggest lie yet. She was lying to Bonnie.
In the past, Caroline had never felt the need to lie to Bonnie, Bonnie who never held anything against her, Bonnie who welcomed her friend with all her imperfections, welcomed her and loved her despite of them. The fact she was lying to Bonnie did not sit well with the young vampire, but it was a necessary white lie. Caroline would lie, she would lie for the rest of her life if it meant saving Bonnies life.
Caroline tapped her foot impatiently checking the time for the umpteenth time, he was late. She leaned against the hood of her taking in her surroundings. The woods surrounding Mystic Falls had seen a lot of strange things in its time, Caroline often wondered if the trees could speak what tales they would tell. The woods where Caroline, Bonnie and Elena spent their time playing as children were an important part of the town's history. Caroline wished they had agreed to meet somewhere else, suddenly she did not feel like tainting her childhood memories.
"Alright Blondie, I'm here. What's the big emergency and why the need for all the secrecy?"
Caroline grimaced in annoyance; she was beginning to question her sanity as to why she had chosen him of all people to have this conversation with.
Damon Salvatore.
She knew it was a big risk confiding in the oldest Salvatore brother, had it been was up to her she would have preferred the younger of the two brothers, the sweet brother, the good brother. However Caroline had witnessed a change in Stefan Salvatore ever since Elena had become a vampire, she had witnessed him slowly spiraling out of control, hanging on by a thread. No, this was too important, too precious. While Damon wasn't the better choice, he was the only choice and something told Caroline Damon wouldn't turn her away.
Caroline had made the decision to hate him. It was a simple choice to make, as a human he had used her, for sex, information, for anything. He moved her across the chessboard like a pawn, a pawn that he was willing to sacrifice. She hated him, and Damon being Damon did not disappoint, giving her reason after reason to continue hating him.
But things were different now, she wasn't human anymore, and few choices in her life were simple.
"I need your help" she replied simply.
Damon watched her warily, he hadn't known what to think when he received Caroline's vague message about meeting him in the woods but he was beginning to get the feeling that vampire Barbie was in way over her head.
"I'm assuming this help you need is a little on the naughty side hence why you asked me here instead of my brother?" Damon grinned at the look on Caroline's face; she was uncomfortable asking him for help, she was uncomfortable asking him for anything, this he knew. Damon smiled with delight. Things were about to get fun.
"Bonnie can't do it, I won't let her, and I need you to help me stop her"
Damon stopped smiling
Things had gotten a lot less fun.
"Have you recently taken a blow to the head? Do you understand what you're saying? If Bonnie doesn't do the spell Elena stays a Vampire forever. It's her only chance at being alive."
Caroline glared at Damon. It was easy to remember why she hated him on days like this.
"If Bonnie does the spell she has zero chance at being alive!"
Damon clenched his teeth, his hands itching to rip the neurotic vampires tongue out.
"I'll take those odds" he replied coldly.
Damon didn't understand why he was here. Had Caroline so foolishly thought he would risk Elena's life to save the witch's? She was mistaken.
Damon Salvatore was a selfish man, yes. It was something he had accepted many years ago. Sometime between spending 145 years waiting for the woman he loved and hating his brother Damon had come to the conclusion that it was okay to be selfish. The world was full of selfish people. Damon was a selfish man, he didn't find the need to stand in cues for something he wanted, he took it without asking because that's who he was. Until it came to her, Elena Gilbert. Sometime between spending 145 years waiting for the woman he thought he loved and hating his brother Elena Gilbert had happened.
Sometimes he thought she was a cancer.
The sort of cancer that crept up on you without you knowing, the sort of cancer that tests ordered by your doctor never picked up. Never picked up until the cancer had spread into your limbs, your organs, into your blood, by then it was usually too late. By then the disease owned you.
Sometimes he thought she was a cancer.
Elena Gilbert had crept up on him without knowing, he hadn't picked up on it until it was too late. She had seeped into his blood stream, her smiles, her hugs, her innocence; she had made her way into his undead flesh and set fire to him, bringing him alive. Yes, Elena Gilbert was a cancer. But he had long accepted his condition; he had no need for treatment. He had no desire to cut the cancer out of his flesh. Cancer or not, he had accepted his fate.
"Did I stutter? I said she's going to die if we don't do something about it"
Damon rolled his eyes at her flair for the dramatics, Caroline still didn't get it. He knew Bonnie would die. He had been the first to find out when creepy Professor Shane had pulled him aside to let him know about the consequences of the magic she was undertaking. He knew.
He just didn't care.
"I heard you the first time. But like I said, if she doesn't do the spell, Elena stays a vampire. Something no one is okay with so, sorry Blondie, you're asking the wrong guy for help" glaring at her angrily for wasting his time, Damon pushed past her, realizing he was about to leave without hearing her out, Caroline grabbed him by the arm pushing him back. Damon clenched his fists in an attempt to stop himself from strangling the blonde. Damon considered himself to be quite tolerant and prided himself on keeping a cool head in tense situations.
Who was he kidding; she had 5 seconds before he tore her throat out.
"There's another Bennett witch, an old Bennett witch. All we have to do is find her and convince her to help us. Bonnie doesn't have to die, there is another way" Caroline said quickly. Damon was famous for his impatient temper; she had seconds before she lost him. She had to act fast.
"That's impossible; there is no other Bennett witch. The bloodline ends with Bonnie, trust me. I would know. You're reaching Caroline, and take it from me, desperation isn't attractive"
Caroline growled angrily "The bloodline may end with Bonnie but it didn't start with her, I said there was another witch, and old Bennett witch"
Damon was impressed; Caroline really was pulling out all the stops. He almost believed her.
Almost.
"So where is this so called witch? If she even exists in the first place? Why is this the first time we are hearing about her?"
He had a point. Caroline had been thinking the exact same thing, how had a Bennett witch, an old Bennett witch at that, manage to stay under the radar without drawing attention of the supernatural world. Unless, unless someone was protecting her.
Klaus.
"Why do you think? Klaus of course" she replied simply.
Of course, Damon thought. Klaus was involved, anything and everything that was out of the ordinary had Klaus written all over it.
Somehow Damon knew he would regret this.
"Alright Blondie, you've got 10 minutes. Start talking".
Someone hated him upstairs.
Damon was sure of it; there was no other explanation for it. They were in the home stretch, the sword had been unearthed, Klaus was keeping his end of the bargain, Bonnie was juiced up and ready to go. The cure was simply one spell away.
Someone really hated him upstairs.
Of course it wouldn't be that easy, nothing in Mystic Falls ever was. The sudden emergence of a mysterious Bennett witch, a witch Klaus knew about but failed to mention meant two things for Damon Salvatore, the first putting Damon in an immediate bad mood as it was unlikely any of the Scooby gang would be willing to let Bonnie perform the spell if news broke out regarding her long lost relative.
The second bought a smile to his face.
Leverage.
However one question remained on his mind.
"Why did you come to me instead of Stefan? Isn't this something that would appeal to one with a martyr complex?" he asked despite himself.
He was right Caroline thought, this was something she would rather have trusted with the younger Salvatore.
"Because he turned Jeremy into Van Heisling just for the sake of the cure, and I don't trust him not to sacrifice Bonnie the first chance he got if it meant Elena could be human again"
Her answer didn't sit well with Damon.
"And you think for a second I won't?"
Finally a question Caroline had been expecting.
"No, I know you would hand over Bonnie in a heartbeat to make Elena human again. But I also know you're looking for anything you can to use against Klaus, This could be what you've been looking for, a weakness. Do it for Elena Damon, think about how she would feel if she found out there was a chance Bonnie could have been saved and not only did you know about it but you did nothing about it"
Caroline paused; taking a deep breath. She didn't want to beg and she didn't want to cry in front of him, not him.
"You owe her Damon. We all do. She could have let you die time and time again, and frankly you would have deserved it. But she didn't. You almost killed her, Her grandmother died to save you; you turned her mother into a vampire and yet despite it all she's still here, fighting to save us, fighting to save you. The least we can do is try, the least we can do is look."
Despite her efforts she felt the tears begin to fall.
"She's better than this Damon, she's better then all of us"
Damon wanted to say no, he wanted to say she was wrong. That they didn't need to look for another Witch, that they had one here, a witch that was willing to die. But the words died in his throat as he thought of her. Her warm smile, her beautiful face that had become a permanent fixture in his world, it was she who kept him grounded. Her warm eyes that stared at him in wonder and amazement, and with time, they began to look at him with complete trust. One word from her and Damon was sure he would offer himself in place of Bonnie only if it meant she would continue to look at him like that.
For her.
"I'm in".
Caroline was lying.
Caroline had to lie. She had to perfect the art of lying. Whenever Bonnie looked at her and asked her if she was okay, she had to lie. Whenever Elena asked her where she was Caroline had to lie. She couldn't risk anyone finding out about this, It was too important. She would carry her suitcase of lies with her if it meant it would save Bonnies life. If it meant saving the life of someone she loved.
After all, love made liars out of us all.