Another Caroline chapter :) and Dorothy, I don't know why I posted the story as complete, must not have been looking! I have several more chapters planned out, will fix it now. Enjoy!


I was tired when I got home, pulling into the driveway in my cruiser and taking note that Caroline's car was also out front. I didn't know how to approach the subject of my recent discovery with her, so I decided I would attempt to make dinner first before getting to the tough questions.

"Hi mom!" she smiled brightly, greeting me as I entered. The smile I returned to her came to my face easily. I found it easier every day to believe that she was still my daughter. After all, how could a soulless bloodsucker fake the way she fussed over her hair or woke up two hours early to pick out a perfect outfit for the day?

"Hi Care… How was school?"

She launched into an epic story of the drama going on at school. It was so mundane, but apparently who was cheating on who and who had dared to wear last year's fashion was important to her and it felt so much like the things she would go on and on about to me before the divorce, it warmed my heart.

I wondered what her father would do if he knew about her now.

As I settled in to attempt to make something edible for the two of us, she sat up at one of the bar stools that circled the kitchen island. She chatted easily with me as I trimmed the gristle off a couple of steaks- Caroline had always refused to eat the fat since she was watching her figure. I couldn't hide the soft smile that touched my lips as she started talking about Matt and how she was happy that he was beginning to accept her. He had said even before everything came out in the open that she hadn't changed, vampire or not, she was the same old Care. I took the cutting board and popped open the trashcan lid and froze.

"Mom?" I heard her question in the background as I fell silent, setting the cutting board down shakily on the neighboring counter as I reached into the bin to pull out a spent blood bag from Mystic Memorial Hospital. It had a bit of ruddy red residue, proudly proclaimed O negative, and looked so out of place sitting in the garbage in my kitchen with a straw sticking out of it like a Capri Sun.

Caroline was a vampire. I knew this, but the idea of her drinking blood forced to the forefront of my mind so suddenly sent a wave of pain and disgust through me.

I slowly turned to her, still holding it. There was a look of hurt in her eyes and I suddenly hated myself for the reaction I was having. "I have to eat, mom…" She said softly, then hopped off the stool and hurried out of the room.

"Caroline!" I called after her, but she had already made it up the stairs and I heard her door slam.

I dropped the offending item back into the garbage and slowly went to the sink to wash my hands. Setting my slippery fingers on the cool metal border of the sink, I leaned in and took a deep breath.

Letting it out, I brushed the water off on my khakis and followed her up the stairs. I turned the doorknob and my heart cracked a little as I saw her curled on the bed. "I'm sorry." I said, not really feeling like I was there in the moment.

She still didn't look at me so I stepped in and sat on the edge of her bed.

"I know you have to eat… and I'm glad that you're drinking from these and not hurting people. It's just… whenever I remember what you are… I remember how much I've failed you."

She was looking at me now. "This is what I am now, mom. I don't regret it, I can't."

"But… I wanted you to grow up… have a family."

"I don't have to worry about wrinkles now. Can you imagine how much I would have spent on beauty products and laser treatments by the time I was forty?"

I managed to smile at her joke.

"I already mourned my humanity, mom. It's gone and I can keep going and be happy. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm strong now, I can handle myself out there."

"You were always strong." I whispered. Caroline sat up and pulled me into a hug.

"I shouldn't have stormed off… I just… after everything that's happened, I keep forgetting that this is still new to you." She said into my shoulder.

"I'm trying, Care…" I gave her a last squeeze. "So… you steal this?" I cocked a disapproving eyebrow to lighten the mood.

"You can arrest Damon for that. He supplies both of us." So Damon drank from blood bags as well? I filed that away with a sigh of relief. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all?

"What about Stefan?" I tested.

A dark shadow passed over Caroline's face before she answered me. "Stefan usually drinks animal blood. Bunnies, deer, whatever. Kinda gross." She wrinkled her nose. "He tried to get me on the animal diet, but bunnies are way too cute."

That would explain all the animal carcasses my deputies kept finding in our regular combs of the woods. I didn't miss her wording or the look on her face, but decided not to push it. "Can I ask you something?"

She looked alarmed for a moment but then nodded. "You can ask me anything. I figure if you understand more about us, it'll be easier to accept."

"Actually… it's about Elena. She's not a vampire right?"

Caroline snorted as she choked back a laugh at that. "Not at all mom. She would probably make the worst vampire ever."

I let out a breath and explained. "I found a picture of someone when I was researching Stefan and Damon. Someone who looks exactly like her."

Caroline was suddenly serious again. "Katherine." She spat out angrily.

"Katherine?" Should I be worried that Caroline seems to know all about this?

"She's a vampire. She's the one that turned Stefan and Damon, pitted them against each other," Caroline said. "Then she faked her own death and left them to fend for themselves. She may look like Elena, but they have nothing in common. She's nothing but a selfish bitch."

I might have given Caroline a look for her colorful choice of words, but I had other things to process. "Is she still around?" I asked in alarm at the prospect of a vampire older than Damon running around. Is this the vampire he was afraid of?

"Not likely, she left town about a week ago. The same time you found out about me. She better not come back."

"You really don't like her." I observed.

"No. She's… she's the one that killed me." Caroline growled.

And suddenly I hated her more than Caroline did.


Next one is already written, just needs some touching up. Please Review!