A/N: Thanks for staying with me, guys. I just moved to another country, so continuing has been challenging, but I'm still at it!
Chapter 7
Isobel looked at her hungrily and Caroline didn't know what to do.
"She looks delicious," Isobel was saying.
"Doesn't she?" Damon replied.
"You're sure I can't have a taste?"
"I don't really like sharing. It's so…unhygienic"
She gave him a skeptical look.
"You were saying… about Katherine?"
"I'm sorry, Damon, but you can't be part of the six. There's too much bad blood," she smiled. "No pun intended."
"It was more than a hundred years ago!" he protested.
"She did mention one thing. If you were to surrender your ring, you could join…on a trial basis."
Damon laughed. "And wouldn't her pals love that. No, thanks."
"Then just take it as what it is, Damon. You're a daywalker without any of the nonsense."
"Without any of the power."
"You have enough power. Look around you. It's a vampire's world."
"And I still can't talk to her?"
Isobel shook her head. "Katherine is very busy."
A waiter emerged and offered champagne to Isobel, who reached for the glass delicately. He offered it to Damon, then Caroline. She caught sight of something under the tray. The next was too fast to catch. The tray fell, the waiter advance on Isobel with a roar, stake in hand.
She moved much faster than he, wresting the stake from his hand, plunging into his chest. Blood seeped out, staining his shirt a deep red. Caroline stood, unable to move, unable to look away as he died, blood pooling on the floor everywhere, his shirt -
Caroline woke up with a start, breath coming in harsh pants, clothing soaked in sweat and immediately reached for the stake beside her.
She sat there for several minutes catching her breath, hands on the wooden pike. Trying to exorcise the blood from her mind.
She looked at the alarm clock next to the bed. She'd been asleep for a little over half an hour.
Caroline wondered if Bonnie was out there waiting for them. Her stomach grumbled and she realized that in all the excitement they'd skipped lunch and her stomach was about to inflict punishment for it.
She took the stake with her, more for her own sake than any danger and left the room, careful not to let the door slam.
Once back out to the lobby she spied Mike's form as he looked through the big glass windows, his back to her.
"Did you just wake up?" he asked, surprising her. She hadn't thought he could have heard her.
Caroline nodded. "I don't think I'll have much luck sleeping from now. Might as well wake up."
He turned and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Bad dream?"
"Yeah."
"Jeff woke me up about half an hour ago, screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm surprised you didn't hear him."
"I'm not." She shook her head. "Before I knew it I was gone. How is he?"
Mike shrugged. "About as well as anybody would hope. He drifted off a bit after, could barely stay awake, but night terrors. They're getting worse."
"I hope Bonnie comes back soon." Caroline finished the sentence with a yawn. "I'm so hungry."
"You're not the only one," he said, chuckling. "Seems like someone before us raided the minibar."
"It'd be too good to be true otherwise. How's your head?"
"Okay. Better than okay. Your friend's a miracle worker. I haven't had a headache since."
The whirr of an engine drew their attention and they approached the entrance to see Matt get out of the car. He reached for a box before walking towards them.
Watching him walk into the lobby, Caroline felt strangely tongue-tied. Now that she wasn't trying to save Damon, she had opportunity to think through the memory of him. His hair was shorter than it'd been in her memories, features slightly more angular, skin tanner than she remembered.
"Hey," he greeted them. His eyes flickered over her face, searching for a second before his expression turned guarded. He gave a nod to Mike and placed the box on the table. "I got some towels for you, some clothes, which might fit. I also brought some food in case you guys were hungry. There's a microwave downstairs in the kitchen."
Caroline smiled weakly, still feeling off base.
"Let me get on it then," Matt said, opening the box and taking hold of a box of hotpockets. "It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes." He grinned.
Say something. Say something. "Bonnie and Elena?" she blurted out, then almost kicked herself.
"Bonnie's bringing her in a few," Matt replied, turning to go down the stairs.
Caroline closed her eyes, feeling like an idiot.
"Are you okay?" Mike asked.
"Yeah." She faked a bright smile. "I mean, hungry, but I'm fine."
"Good. I'll get Jeff. He'll be starving."
Caroline watched him as he ducked into the hallway and sat down on one of the chairs. This was Matt, they'd been together and she could barely look at him, much less find something of substance to say.
She continued beating herself up for it until she heard another vehicle park outside. She walked out, catching sight of Bonnie. Now that the intensity of the past hours had died down, she took note of the changes in Bonnie too. Her friend looked a little taller, her hair was tied back in a short ponytail. She wore a t-shirt and jeans that looked like they'd seen better days.
Another girl got out of the cart next to her, but paused to tell Bonnie something. She was the taller of the two, hair cropped in a pixie cut, decked in sweats and a tank top.
It was only when they approached that Caroline realized that the second was Elena and she blinked, the visual departing the sharply from what she remembered. Elena in a blue dress.
When they neared, the first thing that tumbled out of her mouth was "Elena, your hair!"
Elena threw her head back and laughed, then rushed to her wrapping her arms around Caroline in a hug as tight as the one Bonnie had given her the night before.
"Yours!" Elena exclaimed. "You're a redhead!" She pulled away to look at her.
"It looks good on you," Bonnie added.
"I think so too. It's just a surprise." Elena smiled.
"I still have hair though." Caroline lifted her hand to Elena's hair. She wrinkled her nose. "And you're sweaty and have, like, Madonna arms." She gave her an envious look.
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Elena's day hasn't begun if she doesn't get her morning routine done. And it doesn't continue until she's done afternoon training or her night routine." She smiled wickedly. "She's put on pounds though."
"Shut up, you know it's all muscle. If it were up to you the day would begin at two p.m."
Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "Witches love the night. Witching hour and all that."
"Witches," Elena corrected. "Love to oversleep."
Bonnie turned away from her in a feigned huff. "We sent Matt ahead with stuff."
Caroline nodded. "He's downstairs microwaving some hotpockets."
Bonnie grinned. "Aren't you guys lucky. I haven't had a hotpocket in ages. They're gourmet food around here. How is Mike's head doing?"
"He's waking Jeff up. Said he was fine."
Just then Mike returned, a sleepy Jeff behind him.
"Speak of the devil," Caroline added.
"I'm hungry," Jeff announced.
Mike looked apologetic. "Called it."
Bonnie took one look at him and didn't miss a beat, "Why don't we skip the introductions and I'll take them downstairs and see if Matt needs help. I'll catch up with you guys later," she looked over at Elena and Caroline.
Caroline nodded and Bonnie impulsively hugged her again. "I'm so happy you're with us."
Caroline bit her lip. Bonnie let her go and gestured to Mike and Jeff.
"How are you?" Elena asked.
"Okay." Caroline tried to keep her smile steady. "Mike took the worst of it."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then?"
"Damon," Elena said. "Bonnie felt you were compelled."
She felt uncomfortable under the look Elena was giving her. "I mean, I was, for a while, but not anymore. I've been taking vervain."
Elena nodded. "Good. That's kind of part of the diet here. Everyone takes it. I wonder why Bonnie sensed the haze though."
"The haze?"
"Bonnie calls it that. It's how compelling works- partitions your mind. Bonnie taught herself how to sense it."
Caroline hesitated. "Well, he said…he blocked my memories. I haven't gotten it all back yet, so…"
"He blocked your memories." Elena's lips tightened. "You mean he erased them."
"No!" she shook her head forcefully. "I still have them. They're coming back. Really slowly—"
"Caroline, vampires don't block their victim's memories when they mess with their heads. They erase them. Usually so they can keep them for the rest of their lives."
"Damon didn't do that."
"Caroline—"
"Believe me, Elena, he didn't." She leaned forward, words coming in a rush. "I'm remembering. I just dreamed about prom—your blue dress—I'll get the rest back eventually."
"This should have never happened," Elena said sharply. "I'm so sorry," her voice softened. "We should have gone back for you."
Caroline closed her eyes. "You couldn't have known." She summoned a small smile. "How are Jenna and Jeremy anyway?"
A second after she'd asked Caroline knew she'd made a mistake. Elena's face went completely blank. "They didn't make it."
"Elena, I'm-"
She shook her head. "It's been a while now and everyone's lost people they care about. What's important is that you're okay and you're with us. Now we just got to get you trained."
"Trained?"
"Like how to use that. You're kind of holding it the wrong way."
Caroline hadn't realized she was still carrying around the stake and forced a laugh and she turned it over.
"No, really. Anyone wanting to survive needs to learn the basics of self defense," Elena said. "It gives you a fighting chance."
"It's like being in the army or something." Caroline snorted. "Like this is war."
Elena looked unamused. "Exactly."
Caroline frowned. "Elena…about Damon."
Her friend lifted a hand to ward her off. "I don't want to hear it. We just can't afford it."
"He saved my life."
"Probably as part of a scheme to get you here—"
"Look, I know he's shady—"
"That's the problem."
"I know that. It's just—"
"He compelled you for years." Elena flashed her a dark look. "Why are you defending him? Aren't you angry?"
"I am, but not enough to be ok with murdering someone who saved my life. More than once, Elena!"
"Don't you see, Caroline? You were his ticket in. No one would have given a thought to staking him if it hadn't been for you." Her expression hardened. "Don't doubt for a second that everything you did played right into his plan. He compelled you right in front of us when he first got to Mystic Falls— made you think he was your boyfriend and then he went and did it again, didn't he?"
Caroline felt as if she'd been slapped.
"You didn't remember." Elena made it into a statement. "You can't trust him. We can't trust him," she continued. "And if we can't trust him, the best thing he can be is dead."
"I can't..." Caroline looked at her in disbelief, trying to sort through her thoughts. "This isn't right."
"Damon made his choice a long time ago."
"You guys coming?" Bonnie interrupted from the bottom of the stairs.
Caroline looked at Elena. "Let's talk about this later. Please."
But Elena's expression didn't soften. "There's nothing to talk about."
