The children were quickly ushered away by Kiera. Caroline felt sorry for the looks of shock and terror that was portrayed in each little face. By the time she looked around, Sophia had disappeared. Damon and Alaric were with Elena. Suddenly, she found herself in the middle of the mess with only Bonnie and Adrian.
"This has to be the worst thing I ever planned," said Caroline with a humorless chuckle. Turning to Bonnie, she said, "You saw Sophia. And you see him. Can you explain what is going on here?"
Bonnie nodded. "We should talk somewhere."
Caroline felt reluctant to leave the library in such disarray but if Bonnie had an explanation, she would choose to hear it first. She led both Bonnie and Adrian to the parlor room which was used by Alaric as an office space. It was one of the biggest rooms in the ground floor of the house. The space mimicked its user's tastes with the walls closely packed with ancient, molding tomes. A large desk stood by the wall, filled with more books and stacks of papers.
"Let's talk here," said Caroline, gesturing towards the couches in the corner.
"Do I have to be here?" asked Adrian. "I can give you guys some privacy."
"No, Ste- I mean, Adrian," said Bonnie. Turning to Caroline, she asked, "Have you shown him a picture of Stefan?"
Caroline shook her head. She felt nervous about it.
"Show him."
Taking a deep breath, Caroline took out her phone from her purse. Opening the folder of images, she clicked on the snaps she'd taken a long time ago. She handed the phone to Adrian.
"This was Stefan."
Adrian's eyes widened as he swiped through images after images of Stefan. He finally paused at the one that showed him with Caroline, dressed as a bride.
"This can't be possible…and yet, it feels like I have seen you before in a wedding dress."
Caroline looked towards Bonnie. "Tell me what you know."
Taking a deep breath, Bonnie launched into her theory. "Most ancient spiritual beliefs claim that even when the body has perished, the soul remains untouched and whole. It can be born into a new body and start a whole new life.
"Are you talking about reincarnation?" asked Adrian.
"Yes. There have been reports throughout history where people have been born with the memory of their previous lives. It is always related to strong emotion like revenge, hate or love. People have pointed out the place where their bodies were previously hidden and revealed who their murderers were. People reincarnated years later to seek revenge from the ones that tormented them."
Adrian glanced at Caroline. "What does it have to do with me? I have no intention of taking revenge on anyone."
Bonnie nodded. "According to Asian traditional lore, the strongest reincarnations occur when the soul's purpose in the previous life went unfulfilled. The yearning of the soul is so great that a body similar to its previous life is created to house it once more." She looked fixedly at Adrian. "Have you felt the sense of familiarity after you came to Mystic Falls?"
Adrian looked stricken by the question. Slowly, he nodded. "I especially feel it in this house…like I know where everything is. I should feel lost in a strange old house but I don't."
"How do you feel when people say the name 'Stefan Salvatore'?" asked Bonnie.
Adrian shrugged. "I guess I should feel annoyed by it…but I don't. Everyone who comes here and sees me, calls me by that name. Even Elena's husband called me that. If I am truly his reincarnated self, shouldn't I remember already?"
"Coming to Mystic Falls wasn't a coincidence. You were meant to be here," said Bonnie.
Caroline sat quietly, listening to her friend interviewing Adrian. Her heart thumped in her chest as the prospect of having Stefan started becoming a possibility. She was scared to even let herself hope. She wouldn't be able to bear losing him again.
"I want to cast a spell," said Bonnie. "I will put you under the effect of a sleeping drug that will put your body to sleep but your mind will be aware. We will find your memories together."
Adrian chuckled. "You're talking like you're an actual witch."
"She is," said Caroline.
"What?"
"Bonnie Bennett is the legendary witch of Mystic Falls. She is the batman of the supernatural world."
"You can't be serious!"
Caroline smiled. "How about we let her prove it to you?"
Bonnie raised her palm upward and uttered the word, "Incendia." Immediately, her hand was engulfed in flames.
Adrian jumped, staring at her with wide eyes. "Wow..."
"When can we do the spell?" asked Caroline.
"We can do it right now," said Bonnie. "Let's go over to my place."
Adrian looked nervous but nodded. "Let's do this. Let's find out if I am really Stefan Salvatore. He kinda seems popular among you guys."
"You have no idea," replied Bonnie.
Caroline and Adrian followed Bonnie's car to her house. The tension in the car was thick as both Adrian and Caroline remained silent, each lost to their own thoughts.
Reaching Bonnie's house, Caroline and Adrian waited for her to unlock the doors. Going inside, Caroline found the house to be bare. There was scarcely any furniture in the living room, making the stark space appear larger. Bonnie had moved from her parents' house to live here, taking only what she needed most as she spent most of the year traveling.
"Wait here," said Bonnie. "I will set-up a circle here and arrange the rest."
Adrian was tight-lipped but nodded. When Bonnie left them, he turned towards Caroline. "Let's say I am not Stefan Salvatore. Would you still want me around?"
"I think so." A long breath whooshed out of her. "It's not just me wanting to be with you. There's a lot you don't know about me. You should hear everything I have to say before making a decision."
"You are a beautiful person, Caroline," said Adrian, drawing her into an embrace. "Not just on the outside, but inside too. You have a light that shines through you when you smile."
Caroline pushed at his chest. "The photograph that you saw of me and Stefan…that was twenty years ago."
"Twenty…?" Confusion clouded his brown eyes as he stared at her. "How is that possible?"
"I am a vampire."
The words hung between them. Adrian's gaze never left hers.
"How is that even possible? You can be in the sun. You sleep like a regular person. You don't even have fangs!"
"There's much to explain," said Caroline. "Let's talk after Bonnie finishes her spell. If you do get back your memories, I won't have to tell you anything. You would know everything that happened between me and Stefan. If it doesn't work or nothing happens, I will let you choose. If you want to forget about me and the underworld of Mystic Falls, I will wipe your memories of me and this place. Either way, I promise not to hurt you."
"It's all too much to take in at once," said Adrian slowly.
Bonnie came into the room with a basket containing candles, bunches of dried herbs and bottles of oils and potions. She began by drawing a wide circle with pink chalk on the gray carpet. She added several different runes around it. Nine black candles were set at specific points. Choosing her choice of herbs, she sprinkled them inside the circle.
"Rub this over your forehead," said Bonnie, handing him a bottle of green-tinged oil.
Adrian stared at it dubiously. "What does it do?"
"It will help you relax and put your body to sleep."
"Right."
Adrian took a few drops in his palm and smeared it over his forehead as Caroline watched from a corner.
"Lay down inside the circle," instructed Bonnie.
Adrian did as he was told. Bonnie sat down beside him.
Closing her eyes, she uttered, "Incendia." At once the black candles leaped to life, illuminating their figures. "I call upon the ancestors to help me." A minute passed away. Adrian's eyes drooped shut as Bonnie remained silently praying.
"You can't be here, Caroline," said Bonnie, looking towards her. "It is his journey alone. The ancestors will guide his soul to remember using me as the medium."
Caroline nodded and went out of the room. She went into the kitchen and put the kettle to boil. Anxiety weighed heavily inside her. After making tea, she looked into the fridge. It was stocked full, which told her Bonnie had just gone shopping. To keep herself busy, she began taking things out. She would cook while Bonnie continued with her spell work.
Hours seemed to have passed. Caroline finished cooking Bolognese sauce with spaghetti, baked an apple pie from scratch, and began kneading dough for bread. From time to time, she could hear Adrian's anguished voice floating through the walls. It sounded like getting memories was a painful business but as she thought of Stefan's past, she knew it wouldn't be easy. Stefan's last few days as a mortal had been filled with utter guilt and remorse for the lives he had destroyed. It still made tears roll down her cheeks as she thought of his suffering.
When the bread was in the oven, she sat at the table drinking the cold tea that she had brewed earlier. The subtly flavored liquid did nothing to quench her actual thirst. She needed to feed soon or it would be hard to control the beast within her.
Suddenly footsteps were heard approaching the kitchen. Caroline looked up from the cup to stare at Bonnie and Adrian. Bonnie looked surprised but Adrian's expression struck her the most. His eyes were brimming with tears but his lips were curling into a smile.
"Caroline," he called out to her.
She stood up uncertainly and glanced at Bonnie who was staring at the spread of food on the table.
"Caroline," Adrian called her name again.
"What happened? Did you remember anything?" asked Caroline, feeling like her heart would burst from suspense.
A single tear rolled down his chin as he nodded. He rushed towards her and pulled her into a tight hug. "It is incredible to be in this body as me." His lips captured hers in a passionate kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she poured all her emotions of love and loneliness into the kiss.
"What possessed you while we were gone?" asked Bonnie.
Caroline was laughing and crying at the same time. All she could do was shake her head and keep hugging Adrian.
"I am starving," said Bonnie, sitting down at the table. "If I knew this was waiting for me here I would have asked the ancestors to hurry things along."
"I didn't know what to do with myself while you and Adrian were in the other room," said Caroline. "So I cooked."
"You can call me Stefan."
Caroline started. "Really?"
"Yes. I've lived with that name far longer." He went to sit at the table and said, "I am hungry too. I hardly ate anything at the party. This is surely a moment to celebrate."
Caroline laughed and began loading their plates. As she stood back to watch them eat, she couldn't hold in her excitement. "I can't wait for Damon to see you! You didn't recognize him before but can you imagine how he will react when he realizes it's really you in there."
Stefan laughed. "I kept calling him 'Dr. Elena's husband.'"
"Did you know you have nieces?" asked Bonnie. "Two of them?"
"There's so much you guys have to tell me. A lot has changed over the last twenty years."
Caroline's eyes pricked again. Even though the world had changed, she hadn't. She was still the same, yearning for him every day. A sudden cracking pain in her throat told her she had reached her limit. She needed blood.
Bonnie was the first to notice. "Are you okay?"
"I need to feed," said Caroline. "Is it all right if I go for an hour or so? I'll be back soon."
"You deserve a break too," said Bonnie.
With one last look at Stefan, Caroline walked out of the house. Bonnie's house was in a suburban space with other buildings in the block. She decided to drive near the woods of the Salvatore House that was teeming with wildlife because the area was not as populated as the main town.
Happiness swelled inside her as she reached the front of the house. Climbing out of the car, she breathed the night air. She hadn't felt this light in ages. There was excitement bubbling inside as she looked forward to the coming days. She no longer feared the never-ending monotony of her life.
"Hey there," someone called to her.
Before she could turn back to see who it was, she felt a sharp, piercing pain in her neck. A cry rose out of her chest as she felt the poisoning effects of vervain rushing through her veins. The instant agony brought her to her knees.
"I knew you a girl as pretty as you couldn't be a normal," said the voice.
Caroline made an effort to look at the figure standing close by. The glittering black eyes and the long, dark tresses could belong to only one person. "Sophia?"
"I prefer the name 'Katherine'." With that, Caroline felt the stab of another needle in her exposed neck. Fear choked the cry threatening to burst out of her chest.
Her erratic diet had made her body weak. With no recent feeding, she felt her strength ebbing away. She fought to stay conscious but the dose of vervain had been too strong for her. Her vision darkened as she prayed for Stefan.
