This chapter will be fluff-free and more sort of dramatic. I kept listening to Lux Aeterna and E.S. Posthumus Unstoppable (and a bunch of Hans Zimmer) while writing this and I hope it turned out alright, even if I personally feel it's not one of the best chapters. Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews and if you want, there's a trailer for this story on my YT (there should be a link on my profile here too). :D

Here's chapter 6.

...

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

…

Caroline had no problem falling asleep that evening. She felt at ease and even if she was sure tomorrow would make her feel nervous and a bit sad about saying good-bye to the people and the town she had grown up in and loved as a child, she let her anxieties be.

The rain smattered against her window as the thunder roared in the distance. Dark, ashy clouds were rolling in as the summer storm crept closer.

Caroline's room was bathing in blue starlight as she slept peacefully.

But a few hours into the night, she began to toss and turn in her bed, an uneasy, crawling feeling under her skin and as the lightning struck into the ground with an exploding crackle she shot wide awake, panting as the adrenaline rushed through her veins.

She had never experienced a lightning storm since she had turned, but she had heard of the static energy it created and that it had an effect on supernatural beings that humans didn't feel.

Now she understood.

The hairs on her arms stood as goosebumps spread from her wrists and up her arms, all over her body.

She let out a shaky breath and ran her fingers through her hair. Her skin felt clammy and damp and she wished she could shower, but the thunder was close, almost pounding against the roof.

The familiar, itchy sting in her gums caught her by surprise and she glanced towards the mirror. In the dark she could make out her fangs and veins crawling from her eyes. Something wasn't right.

She was hungry for blood like never before and she couldn't shake the feeling of starving from her mind.

Quickly, but without a sound she made her way down to the kitchen and found the blood bags tucked away in the back of the fridge. She popped one open and squeezed the coppery liquid into her mouth, swallowing so fast she could barely taste it.

It was empty within seconds and she felt the cold drops run down her chin as she tossed the empty bag away, quickly grabbing another one as she sunk to the floor. She sucked the plastic tube harshly, feeling the veins under her eyes throb against her skin.

She had never liked the taste of cold blood, but she was clinging to the chilled bag for dear life, squeezing every last drop of the dark, ruby liquid down her throat.

The second bag was thrown next to the first and she panted from holding her breath as she drank. She caught herself thinking this wasn't normal, that something was wrong with her, but the thought of more blood kept getting in her way and she crawled to the fridge, heaving herself up like some animal and reached for the third and only bag left.

She didn't even bother to pop it open. She let her fangs pierce the plastic, shredding the top part of it in the process and squeezed its content into her mouth with shaky hands.

She had to stop. She had to do something.

She threw the third bag away and it hit the floor with a thud. What was she doing?

She stumbled towards the stairs and up to the second floor. She closed the door behind her as she entered her room and caught a quick glance of herself in the mirror.

She had blood dripping from her chin and onto the tank top she slept in. Her hair was messy and she was pale as a ghost, her eyes yellow and brimmed with red.

For the first time in a long while, she felt frightened and backed into the foot of her bed.

She did the only thing she could think of and reached for her phone with trembling, blood stained hands and called the first person she could think of that might help her.

Another bolt of lightning struck, this time hitting a tree on the other side of the street and it fell slowly as the entire street was lit up from the impact and with it came the howling of wolves in the distance.

The ground shook as the tree crashed onto the ground.

"Caroline?".

She had never appreciated hearing Stefan's voice as much as in that moment.

"Something's wrong, Stefan", she whimpered as she sat down onto the carpet. "I can't control it".

"It's the storm", he answered quickly and seemed to be wide awake. "Whatever you do, stay inside!"

She let out a shaky breath.

"What's happening… Why?", she asked quietly.

"I'm not sure, but someone's messing with the other side and we think it's Silas".

Caroline swallowed hard and flinched as the loud crack from thunder shot through her like ice.

"What, he's started a war with the spirits now?", she growled as a shiver ran up her spine. Stefan sighed.

"According to what Damon found in one of the old writings, someone or something is using the spirit's anger to lure us out by creating this magnetic field through the thunderstorm".

Caroline closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"What do we do?".

There was a pause before he answered her.

"It'll be dawn soon and it'll be over. Just feed and stay inside, okay?"

"Okay… Stefan?"

"Yeah, Care?"

She sighed.

"Will Silas be stopped before it's too late?"

Stefan cleared his throat.

"I'm guessing you'll know before me. According to the writing, you can only get the spirits to create such a powerful storm through performing voodoo…"

Caroline frowned as she slowly put the pieces together.

"New Orleans…"

…

It had been the most threatening proof of how close Silas was to win and Caroline had remained on the floor with her eyes on her bedroom window as he had waited for the sunrise.

She let out a deep sigh of relief as the first glowing beams made the drops on the glass sparkle like jewels. She was almost afraid to move as the night turned into day and the terrifying sounds of the storm faded into nothing.

It was dead silent. Not a breeze, no tweeting birds, not even the aftermath of rain dropping against the asphalt. Everything was still and silent.

Caroline slowly rose from the floor and tip toed towards the window. It hadn't been as bad as it had seemed. Apart from the fallen tree and pooled water in the street, everything was just like it had always been.

Maybe she was going crazy. Everyone else seemed to, why not her?

She let a snort escape her lips as she made her way to the bathroom to take that long-awaited shower.

She was exhausted, but she knew she had no time to sleep. She would be leaving this evening and after the nights horrible storm she was more than eager to go.

As she came down, dressed in her lavender bathing coat, she found her mother sitting at the kitchen table, today's paper in front of her and a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. Caroline looked around the floor and found it to be empty and clean. She let out a sigh.

"Sorry about the mess", she said quietly. "It was the storm, I-I couldn't".

"You don't have to explain, honey".

Liz looked at her with kind eyes and nodded towards the seat opposite her own, asking her to sit down.

Caroline gave her a weak smile before she went to retrieve a cup of coffee and join her mother.

"Well, thank you", Caroline said and took a seat, her fingers clasped around her hot mug.

"I'm guessing it wasn't just a rain storm, then", Liz said without looking up from the paper. Caroline shook her head.

"Nope…".

There was an uncomfortable silence throughout the house.

"I must confess, I'm kind of relieved you're… alone", Liz said and raised her eyes to look at Caroline, who huffed.

"Seriously mom!".

Liz laughed and Caroline couldn't help but smirk a little. It was nice to hear her mother joke for once and take the edge off the otherwise very serious mood that this town had.

"I was going to ask you about his age, but I'm not really sure I want to know".

Caroline couldn't hold back her laughter and she covered her mouth to try to avoid snorting coffee all over the table. She swallowed the warm beverage quickly.

The blonde vampire shook her head in disbelief and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Is it weird that I know when he was born?", she said after she had calmed herself down from laughter and her mother raised an eyebrow.

"No, the weird part is that you do know and still make out with him in our yard".

Caroline felt a blush creep onto her face and she wanted to hide away. Vampire or not, mothers could still be just as embarrassing.

"He was born on August 17th, 984 a-d…", she told her mother and Liz licked her lips with a frown.

"See, when you have to add the 'a-d' thing, that should be a sign that he's a bit too old". The sheriff joked and then her face turned serious. "You're really leaving today?".

Caroline nodded.

"Yeah…".

Again, there was an uncomfortable silence, before Caroline suddenly got up.

"Where are you going?", Liz asked and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"There's someone at the door".

"No there i-".

Liz was interrupted by the doorbell and Caroline shot her a look that said 'I told you so'.

"I'll get it, it's Stefan", she said and the sheriff just nodded slowly, her lips pressed together. She would never get used to her daughter's vampire abilities.

The younger Salvatore had his head down, but raised his eyes to look at her as the door swung open. His eyes faltered, however, when he noticed she was only dressed in her bathing coat and he cleared his throat.

"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?".

She slapped him playfully on the arm and pulled him inside before closing the door behind him.

"Why does everyone think I spent the night with… someone else…?"

She hesitated before the last words escaped her lips.

Stefan smirked with his hands down the pockets of his leather jacket and he glanced over at the sheriff at the kitchen table.

"Good morning, sheriff Forbes", he said with a smile. She looked up from her paper and motioned for them to come with her hand.

"Morning, Salvatore", she said and the two vampires entered the kitchen. "I don't have any blood left, but please, help yourself to some coffee".

She gave her daughter a serious glance as she mentioned their lack of blood bags and the baby vampire refused to meet her eyes with a sigh.

Stefan poured himself a mug of coffee and went to sit och the far side of the table.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here", he began and his eyes flickered between the sheriff and her daughter. "Someone used a lot of dark magic to activate an electromagnetic field through the storm wich caused the entire supernatural population in Mystic Falls to turn against our will.". He was looking at Caroline when he continued. "We know that both vampires and werewolves all went crazy last night. What we don't know is how it affected the hybrids…".

Caroline tilted her head, her eyes proving to him that she knew exactly what he was after.

"Let me guess. You want me to find out if Klaus was affected by this supernatural-dark-magic-storm thingy…".

He nodded.

"Yep".

She sighed and took a sip of her coffee.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to act all sneaky around him, especially not when things are going so well and I will be spending at least seven hours in a car with him getting out of here".

Stefan sighed.

"Okay, I get that… And you don't have to act sneaky. Just talk to him and see if you can find out and then you send me a text".

Caroline thought about it. She honestly just wanted to move on and leave Mystic Falls, along with all of its problems, but apparently the Originals were going to New Orleans for a reason that could have a connection to what Silas was doing. She shook her head slowly with a sigh.

"Fine, I'll ask him about the thunderstorm, but that's all".

Her eyes fell on Stefan and it began to finally sink in. She would be leaving him, and her mother, and Matt… the few people that still cared about her in a matter of hours. It was as if Stefan read her mind because after watching her expression change from determination to a hint of sadness, he got up and wrapped his arms around her in a tight, brotherly embrace. Liz smiled sadly at the sight.

"I'll miss you", Caroline whispered and her voice hitched as her eyes glazed over. He stroke her back in comfort before he pulled back. Caroline wiped off the single tear that had rolled from her eye and chuckled softly. "Shouldn't you be saying good-bye to Rebekah?".

He looked at her without emotion for a moment, before a mischievous smirk stretched on his face. Caroline tilted her head with a look of confusion on her face. "What?".

He licked his lips.

"Actually…", he began and glanced down at his hands for a moment, before his eyes returned to look at her confused expression. "I will be seeing her again in a few days… and I hope to see you aswell".

Caroline was still confused, but slowly, her features softened and her mouth fell open.

"No…", she almost asked, her voice full of disbelief. He nodded and she let out a happy squeal. "You're going to New Orleans?!".

She was jumping up and down in her seat with joy and it made him laugh along with her.

"Yes. I'll just have to make sure Damon and Elena won't run this town first".

Caroline nodded, still smiling. Things were just getting better and better. She could see the beams of sunlight pierce the rainy, dark clouds above her.

Stefan got up and said good-bye to the two, keeping in mind that Caroline would probably want to spend the next few hours with her mother.

…

Most of Caroline's clothes were packed, but she managed to find a simple, summers dress in the back of her closet and was a little hesitant before she put it on. She hadn't worn it for years, but she was thankful that it looked good on her as she stood in front of the mirror. The sky blue fabric really brought out her eyes and she let out a shaky breath. She couldn't help but glance over at the clock above her door. It was almost two and in just a few hours she'd be on her way, far away from this little town and with the big, bad hybrid at her side.

If they only knew the other side of him.

But for now she only had to focus on a late lunch with her mother. She pulled on her pair of white tennis shoes and grabbed her bag from the bed and headed downstairs. Her mother was waiting in the hall, ready for a trip to the Grill.

"Let's go", Caroline said with a smile.

As they drove, the baby vampire couldn't help but think about her latest encounter at the Grill, when Elena had attacked her and she hoped, for Elena's sake, that she wasn't there today. She had thought about telling both Stefan and Klaus about it, but had in the end decided not to. Stefan would have taken out his anger on Damon for not keeping her in check and Klaus could very well have killed her and Caroline didn't need any of it.

"So did he say at what time you're leaving?", the sheriff asked and shook Caroline out of her daze.

"Uhm, no but I'll walk over to their house later. I don't think they'll mind if I'm a little early… I hope". She answered and her mother shrugged.

"I could drive you".

Caroline gave her a smile.

"Thanks, but I think I'll walk and, y'know, take a final look at this place".

Liz nodded understandingly, but felt a little sad to lose a few extra minutes with her daughter.

The Grill was relatively quiet, as it was past the lunch rush and the only people there that Caroline recognised were April and some of the girls from her cheerleading squad. She was surprised to also see Rebekah in the corner, staring out of the window, playing with the straw in her glass.

Caroline was about to walk over to her, but decided against it. She only had so much time left with her mother and would most likely spend a lot of time with all of Klaus' siblings later on.

Matt came in through the doors leading to the back and greeted them with a genuine smile.

"Care! I thought I wouldn't see you again".

He gave her a hug and nodded politely at her mother. Caroline returned his smile and took a seat on the bar stool.

"We'll be going in a few hours", she said and Matt nodded slightly while inspecting the cloth in his hands.

"So it wasn't just a dream", he chuckled. "Can I get you anything?".

"I'd like a long trip-friendly meal, thank you", she said with a twinkling giggle and Matt could tell she was happy about leaving and it made him a little less worried. He turned to her mother.

"And you, sheriff Forbes?".

Liz smiled at him and nodded.

"I'll have what she's having".

"Two bacon pies coming up".

Caroline just shook her head, laughing at him. It was weird how both he and Stefan were so much like brothers to her, no matter what and it sent a warm feeling through her chest.

Liz leaned in closer to her daughter.

"Isn't that Klaus' sister?", she asked in a low voice and glanced over at the corner. Caroline nodded.

"Yep".

The sheriff let out a hum, as if in thought.

"She doesn't look so dangerous".

Caroline chuckled.

"She's not so bad, if she's in the mood for it", she said and glanced over at the blonde girl, still looking out the window, lost in her own thoughts. "And when she's not she usually ends up daggered in a box".

It was even weird for Caroline that the words had slipped out, but even more so for her mother. Liz shook her head with an expression of trying to grasp the whole thing.

"You say it as if it's so normal", she said to her daughter and Caroline shrugged.

"Believe me, I don't agree on everything that Klaus does, but he do them for a reason".

Liz shook her head.

"What could possibly be a good reason for running a dagger through someone's heart and put them in a box?".

Caroline rolled her eyes.

"You clearly haven't met his little brother".

Matt returned with their food and the three of them talked for a bit, before he let the sheriff and her daughter spend some time together.

…

They had just finished their meal when they heard a glass explode and Caroline quickly turned to the direction of the sound. Rebekah got up, the glass in pieces all of the table and the young original's eyes met Caroline's, before Rebekah turned her attention back out the window. Something was up.

"What's going on?", Liz asked and Caroline turned her head to face her mother.

"I don't know… I should go look".

She stood and felt her mother's grasp around her arm.

"I'll come with you".

She moved her jacket slightly to show Caroline she was armed and the baby vampire nodded.

The two met up with Rebekah in the middle of the Grill and Caroline gave her a questioning look. Rebekah seemed annoyed, but at the same time it was obvious something was up.

"Elena", Rebekah said simply and Caroline let out a frustrated sigh. "… And your ex".

Her last words completely shocked the baby vampire. Was she talking about Tyler? Was he here?

"You're wrong", Caroline said and marched towards the door. Rebekah gave the sheriff a look that was something similar to pity as she shrugged and followed her brother's love interest. If Caroline got hurt in her presence, he'd probably kill her.

Much to Caroline's surprise, Rebekah wasn't wrong. Elena stood in the front, like some Admiral in front of his army.

To her left was Tyler and the wolf-bitch. To Elena's right was Bonnie and her mom.

"What's going on?", Caroline asked as she took a few steps closer. An evil smirk spread slowly on Elena's face. Tyler left his spot next to Hayley and made his way towards Caroline, who backed away. Sheriff Forbes got her gun out.

"Stop right there, Tyler", she yelled and surprisingly he did, but his focus was on the blonde, baby vampire.

"Is it true? Are you leaving with him?"

Caroline didn't answer. It was none of Tyler's business. Rebekah got her phone out, but Caroline held a hand up to stop her from calling her brother.

"I suggest you answer him", Elena said.

"And I suggest you go and play elsewhere", Rebekah said and took a few steps closer until she was one step ahead of Caroline. Elena snickered for a moment, before her face turned to stone and she raised her hand.

"Playtime's over".

She snapped her fingers and chaos was suddenly a fact. That's when Rebekah noticed Elena was missing her ring.

Sheriff Forbes fired a shot, but missed Tyler by an inch and he quickly had Caroline in a tight grip, his arm around her neck. Bonnie and her mother did nothing but stare at the scene.

"Katherine!". Everyone stopped, Hayley halfway towards the blonde original. Elena glared at her. Rebekah suddenly smirked in her most evil way that somehow was so sugary sweet at the same time it gave her an aura of being extremely dangerous if you crossed her path. Elena smiled.

"You're not such a dumb blonde after all, Mikaelson!".

Rebekah, again, reached for her phone.

"I don't think my dear brother would want to miss this", she said and she could see Katherine swallow hard.

"I could make the werewolf kill her", Katherine said.

Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please shut up", she said and nonchalantly searched through the contact list on her phone. Katherine grew her fangs out.

"I'm telling you, Mikaelson, I-"

There was a shot fired and a fountain of gravelled asphalt exploded right next to Katherine's boot.

"And I'm telling you to shut up!". Rebekah had within a second been able to grab the sheriff's gun and fire it. "…bitch…", she murmured and handed the gun back to the sheriff.

Katherine's chest was heaving with anger.

Caroline saw her chance and bit Tyler in the arm, giving her seconds to escape as he flinched and loosened his grip. She glared at him, feeling the anger rise in her body.

"First you run away with that bitch-", she turned to Hayley and smiled sweetly. "-no pun intended", and she turned back to Tyler. "-And then you come back here and threaten me, doing Katherine's bidding?!".

Tyler just glared at her.

"Seems I'm not the only one to join the dark side", he said and Rebekah laughed.

"Need I remind you, I can have my brother here in minutes and I'm quite sure he'd love to rip your heart from your chest and make your little wolf girl choke on it…".

Caroline was beyond angry. Everything was just giving her more reasons to leave and if there had been any doubts left, they were definitely gone now. She took one step closer to her former boyfriend and she could feel the veins pulsate under her eyes as her fangs grew.

"Stay-away from me or I'll do it myself".

Suddenly, Rebekah's phone rang and she answered with a smirk.

"Brother, dear".

Within a fragment of a second Katherine was gone. She had fled like a coward and the rest of them backed a few steps before they took off running towards the woods, dragging Bonnie and her mother with them.

Caroline turned to Rebekah with a raised eyebrow. Rebekah then spoke again to the person who'd called her.

"Oh, Elijah if you only knew what an impact you just had on your girlfriend".