Hello, my lovely readers. It's time to find Caroline to learn how to kick some demon butt. Please review when you have time. Your feedback is what causes me to keep writing.
For anyone who is reading my other stories, such as HGD, HBS, The MF Dare Club, TVD Big Brother Edition, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Birds of a Feather, I am trying really hard to find time to get caught up on them. I did not abandon them I promise. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 7: Training Begins
The weekend of the first week of school Caroline had planned to go out with her friends but instead she was hiking in the woods with Stefan, Damon and Alaric. Damon had promised that they were going to train her. He had woken her up the night before to tell her that Saturday would be the first day of an intense weekend of training her to become "a vampire killing machine."
Caroline was tired. Although she had begun to drink the vervain three times a day she was exhausted. She no longer had dreams of Klaus since she had begun to drink the vervain but she could not rid herself of the images from the last one.
"You okay?" Stefan asked, coming to stand beside her as she took a gulp from her water bottle.
"Yeah, it's just been a long first week." Caroline replied. She watched Damon and Alaric's strange interaction. They were drinking from the same flask. 'Why did she have to get stuck with these people anyway?' Caroline shook her head.
"Hey, Blondie." Damon had appeared at her side. "Lesson number two: Know where your enemy is at all times. Otherwise this happens." Damon flashed behind her and pulled her head to the side pretending to bite her. "Grrr."
"Haha, Damon." Caroline pushed him away. "You are such a jerk." She shoved the elder Salvatore, who was laughing, away.
"Come on, guys. This is serious." Stefan complained.
Damon rolled his eyes. "You know what, Stef. Not everyone can be serious all the time like you, oh, broody foreheaded one."
Stefan groaned and sat down on a tree stump. "So, how was the date with Elena?"
Damon grinned. "Peachy. She kissed me good night last night. I do believe we're making progress."
Alaric raised his eyebrows. "I thought the plan was that you were going to protect, Elena, not to attempt to get in her pants."
Damon put his hands over his heart. "Ric, you wound me. I thought you knew me well enough to know that I would try to get in any woman's pants who would allow me." Damon's gaze swiveled to Caroline with an evil grin. "But I wouldn't waste your protégé's energy."
"Pig." Caroline snapped.
"Uptight, control freak." Damon shot back. They made their way toward each other. "Okay. Time for lesson number three: Learning how to use your anger as a weapon."
"Bring it, Salvatore." Caroline taunted him. Damon shot forward and Caroline dodged.
"Good." Damon said. "But not good enough." He reached out and grabbed her. He pinned her arms to her sides and leaned down to bite her neck. Caroline lifted her leg and kicked him hard.
"Damn." Damon said, going down.
Caroline cheered. "Vampire down."
Damon rubbed at the sore part of his body. "Stef, she's all yours."
Stefan stepped forward. "As a human you're at a disadvantage because you're slower and weaker than a vampire. You have to learn to sense us. Then you must learn to be resourceful. What around you could be used as a weapon?"
Caroline looked around her. At first she couldn't think of anything. "Um…" Then she saw a branch on the ground. She picked it up.
Stefan nodded. "Good. What else?"
Caroline looked around her. She spotted her water bottle and picked it up. "How about this? Does holy water work? We could have this blessed."
Damon chuckled. "Sure. Holy water works really well." He pulled out a bottle of water from a pack he had brought with him. "See this. I had it blessed at last Thursday's mass." After uncapping the bottle he began to gulp it down. "Ah. I love to do that." Caroline was gaping at him.
Stefan put a hand on her shoulder. "How about vervain in the water." He suggested.
"Does that work?" Caroline questioned, looking at him.
"I have no idea." Stefan replied, smirking. "But you know what? I brought some with me. Let's find out. Damon, can I see your water bottle for a second?"
Damon walked over, grimacing at his younger brother. He handed the bottle over to Stefan, who handed the bottle to Caroline. Stefan pulled out a packet of vervain powder and poured it into the water bottle. He took the bottle back and shook it thoroughly before handing it back to Damon. "Bottoms up, brother."
"Why?" Was all Damon said, before he uncapped the water bottle and took a gulp. The next thing Caroline knew Damon was bent over, gagging. "I'm going to get you, Stefan." Damon was bent over with his hands on his knees.
"Well, I guess it works." Stefan smiled, rocking on his feet, cheerfully.
Alaric was chuckling when Damon gave him a dark look. "I'm not giving you anymore of my bourbon." Alaric stopped chuckling and Damon smirked. "Hey, Stefan. Do you want to try the vervain water?"
Stefan laughed. "Damon, I'm not stupid."
Damon gave his brother a dark look. "I'll be the judge of that. Now, we need to work on Caroline's weapons training. This part you can watch and learn from, Blondie." He removed a stake and tossed it to Alaric. "Ric and Stefan are going to demonstrate the best way to stake a vampire."
Stefan had his back to Damon concentrating on Ric. Caroline came to stand next to Damon as he removed a squirt gun. Caroline opened her mouth to ask Damon what it was for when Damon held up a hand. "Watch the show." He pointed at Ric and Stefan.
Ric had lunged three times at Stefan, who dodged each attempt at staking him. Then Ric lunged forward with the stake, knocking Stefan to the ground. Stefan threw him off and placed a knee on Ric's neck, holding him still on the ground.
"You see that, Caroline." Stefan called, turning to Caroline. "You never want to allow your opponent to get the upper hand." Then he noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Damon?" Stefan asked Caroline. Before Caroline could answer, Stefan gasped in pain beginning to howl as vervain was splashed on his bare skin.
"You also need a plan B and friends with weapons help." Damon informed the others as he squirted vervain on his brother and Ric knocked Stefan onto his back and placed the stake above his heart. Damon grinned at his younger brother.
They spent five more hours before calling it a day as Damon and Stefan took turns showing Caroline how to spar with a vampire. Caroline had heard so many comments about "Caroline being a cheerleader" but her flying kick lacked a certain enthusiasm or she needed to learn to do a back flip more quickly. She found herself yawning as they climbed into the car. Her head fell onto Damon's shoulder, who smirked. "Don't drool, Blondie. This is a hundred dollar t-shirt."
Caroline rolled her eyes as sleep claimed her. 'This was nice. Actually sleeping.' Caroline thought as she laid with her head on Damon's shoulder. She felt his hand stoking her back, lightly. Then she noticed that she felt a slight chill against her skin and it wasn't Damon's hand against her bare back.
"Wait." Caroline thought. 'That wasn't right." Lifting her head Caroline looked at the face of the man whose shoulder she was resting on.
"Good morning, love." Why should she not be surprised? Klaus didn't open his eyes as he lay in the bed. "Go back to sleep." He murmured pulling her head down to rest against his shoulder.
"You died." Caroline informed Klaus.
"I know, love." Klaus' eyes opened and he looked worried. This was not an expression that she had ever seen on his face before.
"Is that really going to happen?" Caroline questioned as she held up a hand waiting for Klaus to raise his own. Their palms pressed together and their fingers intertwined.
"Can you feel that, love?" Klaus asked her, looking into her eyes. Caroline nodded. He rolled on top of her and pulled her legs around his waist. "Hmm… Can you feel that, Car-o-line?"
Caroline sighed, closing her eyes moving with him. "Yes."
"What about this?" Klaus leaned down and kissed her on the mouth.
"Yes." Caroline answered as she opened her eyes.
Klaus smiled slightly brushing her hair over her shoulder and then kissing her there lightly while picking up the rhythm. "Then you know that there are things that are real. Like my biting you that night. Like my making love to you right now. And like my death. These are things that haven't happened yet but they will."
Caroline looked up at him. "I love you, Klaus."
"I love you, too, Caroline." Klaus replied and then looked down and there was blood pouring out of her chest and the sheets were being soaked quickly.
"Klaus." Caroline cried.
"Caroline." Klaus looked panicked as he watched the blood spread over the sheets beginning to pour onto the floor. He reached out to her but his fingers passed through the space where her flesh should be.
"What's happening to me?" Caroline asked Klaus as he began to shake his head. She closed her eyes and found that she was no longer in the bed. That Klaus was holding her naked, bloody body to his chest sobbing and rocking her back and forth.
"Caroline. Caroline." Klaus sobbed.
"I'm right here." Caroline cried out to him but he didn't seem to hear her.
Someone was shaking Caroline and she awoke to see that Damon, Stefan and Alaric were staring at her. "What happened?" She looked at the three.
Damon frowned. "You were dreaming."
"Oh." Caroline looked out the window of the car.
"Do you remember what you were dreaming about?" Stefan asked and Caroline shook her head.
"No. No, I don't." Caroline hated lying because she was no good at it. "Why?"
Alaric looked at her. "Because you were moaning Klaus in you sleep. You have been drinking the vervain, right?"
"Of course." Caroline told them.
"So, Blondie, how long have you been dreaming about the evil, Original vamp?" Damon turned Caroline's face, so that she was looking him in the eye.
"Six months." Caroline said in a monotone.
"Shit." Alaric said rubbing his eyes.
Damon frowned. "Well, I guess we're going to have some other training in which I'm going to be joining you at bedtime."
Caroline glowered at him. "I don't think so."
"We need to know why you're dreaming about Klaus, Caroline." Stefan reasoned with his friend.
Caroline sat back in her seat. She knew that Stefan was right but she was scared of what they would find out and what it meant for her future. Shivering she looked up at the moon which was a slim curve in the sky. She wondered what would happen before the next full moon and why that thought made her stomach turn.
Thank you for the favorites, follows, for reading and reviewing. Thank you WeasleysGroupie, laylaboo, Klaroline-teenwolf, and mscarson1369.
Love,
LL
