That night, as she sat cross legged on Tyler's spare bed, she opened up Matt's laptop again. This time she went to the emails and started a closer inspection. There was seemingly ordinary correspondence between friends, a couple of classmates, and some from professors. None from Professor Saltzman though, which in itself was strange, if Bonnie Bennet was right about how close they were.
She went to the locked folder and typed in a few different passwords. She tried her own name, her mom's, both birthdays. Nothing.
The screen blurred a little, and she dashed a hand under her eyes, finding tears dripping down her cheeks, unnoticed. She took a deep breath, tried anyway, and felt her throat close up. The fear and anxiety of the last 24 hours suddenly threatened to overwhelm her. She'd worked hard to develop a professional persona around her colleagues, unshakable and cool under pressure. Someone who could keep it all together, and keep a smile on her face at the same time. But now Matt was missing and there was a whole part of his life he had hidden from her. Burying her head in the pillows, she let her grief show and let it swallow her whole. She reached out for him, for a glimpse, even though it rarely worked that way, a thread of a future he was bound to have. Nothing. The darkness closed in, and how long she lay there, tears tracing a puddle on the pillow beneath her head, she had no idea but she finally drifted into an exhausted slumber.
.
.
.
.
The dream started slowly, where she was walking a dark corridor, turning down dark hallways, but she felt calm, she was not lost. She turned into a room and saw Jones, wearing a colourful kaftan and clinking jewellery. He was standing at the mirror, and the room around him was dark, moonlight flooding in the curtainless window beside him. There was a strange hiss, and a rattle, almost like a snake. It rose and fell, changed tone at times, and she realised, with no little horror, the noise was coming from Jones' mouth, as he seemed to hold a conversation with the mirror. In her dreamlike state, she drifted closer, though Divine did not turn, she reached his shoulder and saw in the mirror a room reflected unlike any she'd ever seen. It seemed to have been carved from stone, it was dark and cavernous, with flaming torches encased in silver cages providing light. Jet columns with intricate carvings roses from the ground up, ascending meters upon meters, until they brushed the sky above, no ceiling that she could see, only a velvet night without stars and two strange moons shone through. One red as blood, the other a cold silver crescent.
As she stepped back, she realised the hissing had stopped, and looked up to see Divine watching her, his eyes had gone completely white, as though the iris had slipped up out of sight.
"He's coming for you, little one. Better run" he whispered, before crying out, seemingly in pain. She saw the image in the mirror change as a dark figure had entered the cavern. A man, wreathed in shadows. He walked toward them. She turned from the scene, her heart in her mouth and started to run from the room. She came awake with a start, a scream on her lips, dying into the silence of her room at Tyler's, the instant normality grounding her.
It was quiet with only the far of sound of traffic outside to break to heavy silence. It was dark, very dark, and as she lay in bed, her hands locked around her knees, still in her clothes from earlier, her cheeks felt crusted with salt. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart.
"Caroline" she heard the voice, becoming familiar to her now, as it called to her, from a great distance as it always seemed.
"Who's there?" she whispered, fighting the urge to jump up and turn the lights on. She felt a prickling sensation run down her bare arm, and saw the darkness, once again thick like velvet brush past her, darker than the surrounding blackness.
"A friend" the voice teased, and she followed the black miasma as it swirled in the centre of the room.
"This can't be happening" she muttered.
"On the contrary, it most definitely is" the voice spoke softly, a hint of a smile in its tone.
"Where's my brother?" she asked, pushing herself up to a sitting position. The mist swirled around her before settling back into the middle of the room.
"I don't know exactly" truth, her senses told her.
"We parted ways, a little after arriving home." It was telling her the truth.
"Is he ok?"
"Define ok"
"Is he still alive"
"I believe so" it answered and she felt relief sink through her. She jumped as she felt a tendril of the darkness reach out and touch her arm.
"So soft, and so warm… I've never felt anything like it"
"You aren't warm?"
"Dead things seldom are" the voice replied, the voice fading for a moment before returning. She found she could feel when the strange presence was absent and when it returned.
"He doesn't like me touching you. He never could share his toys, even as a child. So worried others would break them, which or course, I always did"
"Who?" Caroline asked, her head spinning from the conversation and the surreal sensation of talking to nothing. She had probably lost her mind, and was at this very moment strapped down on a gurney with a needle in her veins, locked away in some sterilised psychiatric facility up north.
"All in good time. We were talking about Matthew"
"Can you bring him back?"
"That would defeat the purpose of taking him in the first place my dear" the voice said with a cruel laugh.
"I do have a proposition for you however" the voice declared suddenly.
"What?"
"A trade" it announced, and Caroline felt a familiar foreboding sensation.
"Go on" she said softly. The black air swirled around once more and then seemed to settle, drifting a little closer to her.
"One for another, a life for a life. Him for you" the voice said, silky and dangerous in its intensity. She pushed herself back into the padded headboard as the black mist surrounded her face. She felt it brushing against her nose, pushing against her lips, she turned her head from side to side to escape it, before jumping up and backing away from the bed, her hands clearing the air around her.
"He won't be so patient forever" the voice warned.
"Who?" the voice stayed silent, and she fisted her hands, frustration overriding her fear as she put her hands on her hips.
"I'm not going anywhere with you before you explain what the hell is going on"
"So fiery, he'll like that… try to keep it, as long as you can, before he breaks you" the voice whispered, suddenly sounding more menacing.
"Who?" she demanded hotly.
"Who, who, he, him, ha ha" the voice broke off in manic giggles, and Caroline strode toward the door. She felt the black mist swish past her as she went, and stopped short as she saw it swirling around the door handle.
"I do apologise, I don't socialise much, it quite goes to one's head. He is Niklaus, Prince of the Night Garden, Lord of the dark" the voice recited these titles as though it were announcing someone's arrival at a ball. Caroline thought for a moment, and then raised her hands to her head, massaging her temples.
"This is mad. I am going crazy, I am talking to myself and imagining things"
"On the contrary, this is the most yourself you've been in years" the voice mocked. Dropping her hands in frustration she glared at the darkness.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Why do you have to speak in riddles? This is madness" she said, sinking onto the edge of the bed.
"It's quite simple my dear, if you want to save your brother, I am offering you a way. No need to over think it." The mist had settled around her shoulders, though it was in no way warming or comforting.
"What would I have to do?" she asked in a whisper, fear and desperation warring in her. She could practically feel the excited charge run though the strange energy in the room with her.
"Not much at all darling. Simply go to the place where he is, and he will be able to leave, the trade will be complete."
"If I knew where he was I would have already found him"
"But you do know, the witch Bennet told you."
"The Night Garden" Caroline stated cynically.
"Yes, The Night Garden… it's waiting for you…. As is he" Caroline shivered at the softly spoken words.
"This… Niklaus. Who is he? What does he want?" there was a pause as the black swirling mass contemplated.
"I believe he would prefer to speak to you about all that in person."
Caroline felt her head shaking in response as she stared numbly at the wall, at the slates of light bending across it as a car passed by outside.
"Do not be afraid, sweet sister" the voice whispered in her ear, so quietly she could barely hear it. She felt a new tear run down her cheek and drop onto the pillow. She was afraid, afraid that she had begun a descent into madness that nothing could halt. She had long feared her powers had all been in her head, even when they helped her to solve crimes, and had proved themselves to be genuine. Next, the worry had developed that since her mind was already compromised, what would come next? Her sanity? How long before she became some lost soul wandering the halls of an asylum, stuck in her internal world. Had it started? And if it had, where was Mat really?
But under that fear, that paranoia so closely linked to the growing insecurities she'd harboured since she was a teenager and her powers had first manifested, was another, all too chilling prospect.
What if it was real?
"I don't know how to get there. Would you take me?" she asked.
"I'm afraid I cannot, you must make the journey yourself… but you do know, you have been to the threshold."
"The door in the Explorers club, of course. And I suppose Katherine won't actually be an assistant at the library and really quite difficult to locate as well." She said bitterly, as she went over how she had been led to this path so obviously.
She sat for a long while, thinking about how she'd come to this point, of having to accept something so utterly unbelievable, or the alternative, that she'd lost her mind. Neither were particularly appealing.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
"Car, are you up? I heard your voice" Tyler's voice came to her through the door and she stood up to open it.
"I wouldn't do that, Klaus hates to share" the black mist whispered around her head as she shook free of it and opened the door. Tyler stood in the hall, his bare chest painted in moonlight and shadows, his dark hair tousled as though he had just rushed from sleep, his deep eyes concerned as they swept over her.
"Caroline, you've been crying" he said, his arms going up in shock as she stepped into his embrace, burying her head on his shoulder and letting the tears streak over the smooth, taut skin of his shoulder.
"Hey, shh, you're alright, I've got you" he said, gently manoeuvring her back until they reached the edge of the bed.
"Did something happen? I heard talking" he murmured into her hair.
"Did you hear anyone else?" she asked in a tear strained voice, caused Tyler to tense and look quickly around the room.
"No, why? Was someone here? Are you alright?" her asked, pulling away to look down into her large liquid eyes. She shook her head, biting her lip to stop the flow of tears.
"No, I guess not… just me. Just crazy old me" she said with a ragged laugh.
"What are you talking about? Caroline, you're sort of worrying me here. I think you're too close to all of this, I'm surprised the Captain even let you stay on in the first place. You need to rest and take your mind of it, and let the rest of us find Matt."
"You won't find him" she said with certainty. She knew that to be the truth. Only she would find him, her gift told her as much. She shifted to look up at Tyler then, suddenly aware of how little separated them, as her hand rested on the hard muscle of his thigh, his arm strung loosely around her hip as she sat close to him. His eyes roamed over her face, taking in details. Suddenly, she wanted to be closer to him, immerse herself in this living breathing person who was her friend, who was real. She reached up and slowly placed a kiss on his lips. He was startled, she could tell, but recovered quickly, kissing her back gently before pulling away.
"Car, I hate myself for saying this, but we can't. God knows I've wanted to since I first met you, but you're upset, you're not thinking clearly." He said, and while the rational part of her mind knew that it was true, and he was doing the right thing, another part, some deep primitive part that wanted to rebel against this unwanted destiny that was being thrust upon her pushed her to capture his lips again, brought her hands up to the back of his neck and pulled him in.
Before Tyler even had a chance to respond, there was a small scraping noise, and then, a loud explosion, as the glass of the window across the room broke with a loud shatter, shimmering shards flying in all directions. They both jumped up in surprise, and looked at the jagged black hole that had been torn through the glass, the cool of the night and street noises oozing in.
"Shit! What the hell just happened" Tyler cursed as he headed toward the door, stepping gingerly over bits of glass.
"Don't move, I'll clean it up" he called over his shoulder as he left the room. Caroline stood in the darkness looking at the broken window and felt fear snake up her spine. Who or what could have punched a hole through a window of a 10th floor condo she didn't know, but she realised with a sinking feeling, that she was soon going to find out.