Hello, my lovely readers. As some of you noticed, there was mistake made in the previous chapter but it's allowing me to flip the script. On with show…
Chapter 8: I Don't Remember!
Klaus' chest moved up and down in perfect rhythm. Caroline sat beside him, the sheets of the guest room, tangled around her legs, barley covering her chest. She watched Klaus. He looked innocent in his sleep. Her heart hurt and she wanted to lie down, pull his arm over her waist and fall back asleep, to pretend that what the other's told her meant nothing to her. But Caroline had always allowed others' opinions to get under her skin.
Slipping out of the bed, Caroline watched Klaus sleep while she dressed. She knew he would be disappointed to find her gone. He might even come looking for her. She needed time to think and he wouldn't allow her to, he would invade her space, force her to focus on him and their feelings for each other. Loving him scared her and the idea that she couldn't change him scared her more. How could she wake up every day next to someone like Klaus? What would she become in another thousand years?
Caroline carefully opened the door, glancing over her shoulder to see Klaus still sleeping before she slipped into the hallway. Hayley stood in the hallway, shaking her head, tears running down her cheeks. She caught sight of Caroline and Caroline placed her finger to her lips. Nodding, the wolf followed Caroline down the hall and down the stairs. They stopped in the kitchen which was, thankfully, empty. "Hey, what's going on?" Caroline asked the wolf.
Hayley drew in a shaky breath. "You remember the guy from before, the one I was with when you came home earlier?" she asked, her lower lip trembling.
"Yeah," Caroline nodded, going to pour herself a cup of coffee and Hayley a glass of orange juice.
Hayley continued. "That's Jackson. My parents decided when I was born that we were supposed to be married. Like I didn't get a choice and they're not even here for me to argue with." Placing a hand to her head, Hayley leaned against the breakfast bar before letting out a quiet sob.
"They can't just make you marry some guy. Even if they were still alive, they'd have to realize that is the twenty-first century and we pick our husbands." Caroline shook her head, taking a sip of coffee and feeling relieved that she could concentrate on something other than her Klaus drama.
"You're right. It's Stone Age crap." Hayley let out a laugh, drying her eyes. "And then there's the part where Klaus and Elijah and Jack can't see eye to eye on anything. I mean, I like Jack. He's sweet but it's like the life I meant to have and the life I do have are threatening to tear each other apart. And I don't know whether I'm supposed to pick one or the other. And I don't want to choose."
Caroline thought about it. "Then don't. It's your life. Not theirs. You should figure out which life will make you happy."
"But it's not just me I have to think about. It's her, too. And the Mikaelsons; they're her family. If I chose to go with Jack, I would deny my daughter her family. I never knew my own and I can't resent my parents for sending me away because they're dead. But if I did this to my baby girl, then she might grow up to hate me." Hayley looked like she was on the edge of tears again. "But if I don't go with the wolves then I'm denying my own family and my chance to lead my people."
"Isn't there a way to be both a leader to your people and not deny your child her family?" Caroline watched Hayley shake her head.
"I don't know, Caroline." Taking a sip of her drink, Hayley's head turned.
"Good evening, Caroline. Hayley," Elijah said quietly. By the look on his face, Caroline got the feeling that he had heard at least half of their conversation and he could see the tear stains on the wolf's face. "Is everything alright?" he asked the wolf who looked at the bar top.
"Yeah. Everything is fine. Did you want to talk about something?" Hayley asked him, searching his face.
Caroline felt like she had walked in on a private moment between the two. So that's why Hayley was struggling between the Mikaelsons and the wolves. Made as much sense as her loving Klaus. This family never did find love in a conventional manner. "I'm going to go find Bonnie," she said but Elijah and Hayley were lost in their own drama, secret words conveyed by their looks.
Walking out of the kitchen, Caroline walked through the house until she found the library. Bonnie sat on a couch, balancing a book on her knees with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. "Hey, Caroline," she greeted her friend.
"Bonnie, what are you reading?" Caroline settled on the couch beside Bonnie.
"Oh, nothing interesting. Just some old book about the French Revolution." Bonnie grinned at Caroline, setting the text down. "They have quite the collection of rare materials, just sitting on their bookshelves."
"Bonnie Bennett, did you come all the way to New Orleans to study?" Caroline teased her friend.
Bonnie set her mug down on the floor. "No, Care, I came here to make sure that you weren't way in over your head."
"I'm fine, Bonnie, I promise," Caroline swore.
"Sure. I can tell from the fact that you've been here for all of two minutes and you're sharing a bed with Klaus." Bonnie gave Caroline a long, assessing look.
"Don't judge," Caroline snapped. "You have no idea what I've been through since I got here."
"I know a few things," Bonnie replied, picking up her mug and eyeing Caroline over the rim before adding. "Damon likes to talk."
"Of course. And where is he?" Caroline demanded, folding her arms over her chest. If he was running around, causing more trouble than New Orleans needed with their three-sided war going on, she would find him and kick his ass.
Bonnie took a second to reply. Her hesitation worried Caroline. "He went to a bar. With Enzo. Something about meeting up with a new friend. Does that mean anything to you?"
Gritting her teeth, Caroline got to her feet. "Yes, come on, Bonnie. I might need back up."
"What is it that they're doing—that's going to mean our tying them up in vervain soaked ropes—this time?" Bonnie fell into place beside Caroline on their way out the front door.
"There's this woman. She's Klaus' therapist and his friend and I have no idea what they want with her, but I'm guessing it's not to bake her cookies." Caroline would say something to Klaus but then he would tell Damon. Why that was a bad thing, Caroline wasn't sure about but Enzo was her friend. Sort of. And she didn't want him to die.
They made their way down the street and toward Rousseau's. Caroline felt her heart skip a beat when she saw that the lights were still on inside. Opening the door and cautiously taking a step inside, Caroline walked toward the bar, her eyes scanning everything around her for movement. There was nothing. The bar was incredibly quiet, too quiet.
"Hello?" Caroline yelled. No one replied.
Bonnie moved on Caroline's right side. "Maybe you should check the back. I'll yell if I see or hear anything funny." Bonnie grinned at Caroline who felt better having her friend with her. She may be a long way from home but home had come to her.
"Good plan." Caroline squared her shoulders, ready for any trouble that waited for her in the storage room. She walked into the back, looking around and found… Absolutely nothing. "Are you kidding me?" she asked the empty room. No one and nothing replied. Turning around, Caroline moved to leave the room when she heard the sound of people talking. The noise came from the bar. Walking out from the storage room, Caroline found that Bonnie had left. "Bonnie?" Caroline called, looking around her. "Bonnie?"
Bonnie didn't answer and Caroline left the bar. Cami, Damon and Enzo had to be here, somewhere. Cami would have closed the bar before leaving unless someone grabbed her. And Caroline figured that the most likely suspects were Damon and Enzo since Enzo had shown an interest in the bartender and Damon liked to play twisted games. If Klaus found them before Caroline, they were toast.
Heading down the street, Caroline felt a chill in the air. Then she saw a young girl walking down the street toward her. "Hi," the girl called, only a few feet away. "Davina's looking for you," the girl informed Caroline.
"Oh," Caroline nodded. "Okay. But my friends are missing. I need to find them first. Tell Davina I'll find her when I'm done."
The girl let out a laugh. "Don't worry about your friends; they're already at home. Come on, we've got work to do."
Caroline felt confused. "Uh-huh. How about no? I said I'm going to find my friends, and that is exactly what I'm going to do."
The girl turned back toward Caroline and Caroline saw that there was much more to her than she had first seen. This child was like Davina. Something old radiated from her. Something that made Caroline's skin crawl. "I tried to be nice. Now we do it the hard way." Caroline cried out in pain when the witch held up her hand and spikes of pain shot through Caroline's head.
"Ahhh!" Caroline cried out, sinking to her knees in the middle of the street.
"Very good, Monique," Genevieve said as Caroline's eyes rolled into the back of her head.
When Caroline woke up, she found Davina standing over her. "Genevieve, don't you think there are better ways of dealing with him?" she demanded.
"Such as?" Genevieve smiled, looking down at Caroline who felt panic filling her body. Genevieve placed her hand to Caroline's forehead. "You are safe, no need to feel fear. Relax," she began to rub Caroline's temples, her lips near Caroline's ear, whispering to her in soft tones while she stroked her temples. "You don't need to worry about anything anymore."
Caroline drifted, forgetting that she lay, chained to a table in an unfamiliar green house with Klaus' crazy ex-lover doing who knew what to her.
Opening her eyes, Caroline stood in a garden. A woman stood with her back to her. The woman stooped, caressing a flower, they were all innocent. It's my fault and I have striven to correct my mistakes but they resist me. Perhaps you can help ensure that they stop, Caroline. The woman turned and Caroline's jaw dropped when she took in Esther Mikaelson.
"What is going on? You're dead," Caroline cried, looking around her in fear, feeling desperation clawing its way up her throat before she opened her mouth and screamed. "Am I dead?"
"Dear, you were already dead," Esther said, calmly, plucking one of the flowers that she had been tending. "You see this?" She gestured to the flower. "Separated from its sisters, it will wither and die. But if properly cared for you, can extend its life, watch in admiration of its beauty still. That is all I wish for my children. To watch them for a time, to stop them from withering after being plucked so cruelly from this world. But it was not nature's wish. Instead, I brought a plague that haunts me, and them, although they do not wish to admit it. Will you, Caroline, admit your life is a cruel joke, that feeding from those who cannot stop you is not a life you would have wanted for yourself?"
Caroline sucked in a breath through too tight lungs. "It's not your choice to make. That's what free will is for. You chose for them once, now it's their turn."
"You're evading my question," Esther said, bringing the rose beneath her nose and sniffing. "Given the choice, would you wish to be a monster?"
"Yes," Caroline snapped. "I am strong. I am young. And I am fearless." She watched Esther's smile dim.
"Yes, I see that my son has convinced you of the benefits of immortality. Even the devil can seem charming if you do not know him to be what he is." Looking away, Esther examined her garden. "I have tried to reason with my children and now I have tried to reason with you, to give you a choice but you, too, chose to turn your back on what is right."
"You're not giving any of us a choice. You're telling us what to do!" Caroline argued.
"My son is to become a father and should he be one? To raise a child in his image? Look what has happened to poor Marcellus. Such a pure soul to be corrupted at such a young age by the likes of my son who turned him, against his better judgment, into a monster like himself. And now his son walks among the living, a poor parody of a human, so much like my Niklaus." Crushing the rose in her fist, its petals falling between her fingers, Esther gave Caroline a look that terrified her. "No more. That child will never be born and you, Niklaus our entire family will understand the error of your ways. One way or another."
"We will fight you!" Caroline shouted, moving toward Esther, reaching out to grab her and choke the life out of the dead witch.
Esther smiled as Caroline's hands wrapped around her throat. "Oh, poor girl. You have no idea what or who you are dealing with."
Waking up, Caroline wondered what she was doing in the middle of an unfamiliar street. She sat up, feeling groggy. "What in hell just happened?" she wondered aloud. She didn't remember getting here or what she'd been doing. "Bonnie?" Then she remembered looking, first for Bonnie, and then for Damon and Enzo. And Cami. And now she was lying outside, in the street.
"Hey, lady, you okay?" a man asked her, coming over to check on her.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Caroline nodded. Forcing a smile, she got up on shaky legs and moved down the street. She didn't see any sign of her friends. Nothing looked familiar in this section of town.
"What are you looking at?" an older woman, pushing a grocery cart full of odds and ends, snapped at her.
Caroline looked away. She hurried up the street before moving to find her phone only to find it was missing. Great. Waking up in a street, her phone gone and having no recollection of how she got there. Could this get worse? she wondered.
"Get out of the street!" a cabbie yelled, honking his horn and waving for Caroline to get out of his way.
Hurrying over to the sidewalk, Caroline headed further into town or she hoped she was on her way into town. At some point, she would get her bearings and know how to get back to Klaus' place. On her way, she noted anything that might be familiar. It felt like nothing she looked at she had ever seen before. Hadn't she walked these streets before? Continuing to walk, Caroline felt relieved when she saw Hayley heading down the street but the wolf did not seem to see her. She stopped, looking down the street at someone.
Jackson. That Caroline knew. She knew Jackson's name. He seemed to be upset about something, his shoulders rigid, his expression set in a frown and they moved away from Caroline's line of sight. Not knowing what to do, Caroline followed them, if nothing else, Hayley might take her back to the compound. But when she heard their words, she thought that, no, they would not be helping her with anything at the moment.
"This is Klaus' work Hayley, two dead wolves! It had to be him!" Jackson's voice came out lower than usual, his expression intense while Hayley wrapped her arms around herself, her look full of rage.
"Klaus was at home all night," Hayley argued.
"You know that Klaus can get things done. He could have compelled one of those vampires from that town to do it for him. They don't have to play by Elijah's dictates. They didn't sign a treaty which means nothing anymore. They broke it by coming after our people. We can't just let this go, Hayley, we have to act now!" Jackson's words hit Caroline with the force of a sledgehammer. Would he attack the Mikaelsons? Would Hayley let him? Did she have any real control over the wolves?
Slipping away, Caroline stopped herself from taking off at vampire speed. The last thing she needed was to attract anyone's attention, let alone Hayley's and Jackson's. She had to find Damon and Enzo, now, and make sure they hadn't done anything seriously stupid last night. Finally spotting a street that looked familiar, Caroline kept going until she stood outside the compound, hoping that her friends had made it home, safely, last night.
Before she could walk into the courtyard, Elijah came hurrying out, only stopping when he noticed Caroline. "Miss Forbes, Niklaus has been distraught since your disappearance. Are you alright?" he demanded, grabbing her arm, examining her injuries.
"I'm fine. I think. I woke up in the middle of a street. Is Bonnie here?" Caroline looked behind Elijah.
"Yes, Miss Bennett arrived last night but—" Elijah began when Caroline moved around him, hurrying into the courtyard.
"Bonnie!" Caroline shouted, moving at vamp speed into the house, looking in her friend's guest room. She didn't see any trace of Bonnie, Damon or Enzo rxcept for their things, just as they left them the day before.
"Caroline!" Elijah cried, coming into Enzo's guest room which Caroline stood in the middle of. "As I was trying to tell you; Bonnie is not here."
"Where is she?" Caroline demanded, feeling hostile.
Elijah gave her a cool look. "She was taken to the police station to file a report after she found Cami O'Connell in a pool of her own blood. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" His eyes never left hers as Caroline shifted uncomfortably. She might be able to distract Klaus but Elijah was different. If she were Hayley, she might be able to distract him, if only Hayley weren't pissed about a possible vampire attack.
"Caroline, if you know something, you should tell me before Niklaus hears about it. You and I both know that he acts rather than thinks." Caroline knew Elijah was right but she couldn't risk her friends. Not when she didn't know what they did and she did not want them to suffer New Orleans justice.
"I don't know anything, Elijah. Now, can we go get Bonnie? Please?" Caroline forced herself to concentrate on Bonnie to make the lie sound like the truth.
Nodding, Elijah seemed resigned. He led the way down the hall, down the stairs and into the courtyard. Hayley was on her way in. She marched up to Elijah. "Two wolves were killed last night. Jack thinks Klaus had something to do with it. Care to explain what you know?" she demanded, glaring up at Elijah.
Elijah just stared back at her. Caroline couldn't read his expression. "Hayley, I will discuss the matter with you at another time. I have a pressing issue I must attend to." He started to walk away when Hayley grabbed him by the arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"So there's something more important to you than someone targeting my pack. Really, Elijah?" Caroline could detect pain buried under all the anger, feelings she was quite familiar with with her previous relationships and current one.
"We must be leaving," Elijah said, his tone cold. Hayley dropped her arm and backed off. Caroline followed Elijah out of the courtyard. He led her to a car and they drove to the New Orleans Police Station. Bonnie was released ten minutes later.
"Bonnie, are you okay? What happened?" Caroline demanded of her friend.
"Someone attacked Cami and where did you go last night? You said you were going in the back of the bar and then you disappeared." Bonnie's words were rushed and quiet on their way out of the police station.
"I was looking for you. You're the one who keeps disappearing, Bonnie!" Caroline argued.
Bonnie shook her head as they got into Elijah's car. "Can we go to the hospital to check on that woman?"
"Yes," Elijah started the car and Caroline sat, staring out the window, not knowing how to account for her missing time. Nothing made sense to her anymore.
Once they stopped outside of the hospital, Elijah took the lead, holding the door for Caroline and Bonnie but walking to the front desk and compelling answers from the woman on the desk. They went to the ICU where Cami lay, hooked up to a ventilator. A priest sat beside her. He must be the uncle Klaus mentioned. His head lifted when they entered the room. "Get out, Elijah! This is your kind's fault!" Kieran snarled, his mouth twisting.
"I can assure, it is not," Elijah replied. "Let me heal her, Kieran."
"Klaus already offered and I will tell you what I told him: Go straight to hell! I won't allow you to give her blood just so she can die and come back one of you!" His impassioned speech hit a cord with Caroline.
"Hi. I'm sorry. You don't know me but I was turned into a vampire when I was in the hospital. So I totally get where you're coming from," Caroline took cautious steps toward the priest and Cami. "But if you let me heal her, I will make sure that nothing else happens to her."
Kieran stared up at her, his eyes bloodshot and wary. "I don't know you, vampire."
"I'm Caroline Forbes. I'm from a small town in Virginia called Mystic Falls. I was a high school cheerleader and head of a ton of committees. My mom is a sheriff and still, very much human. One of my closest friends, Matt, is still human, too, and has so many close encounters with the supernatural but he's still alive. So, is that enough to let me help your niece?" Caroline gave Kieran her best wholesome smile.
"Fine." Kieran nodded but she could still see the distrust on his face. Elijah turned off the ventilator and unhooked the tubes while Bonnie watched for nurses and or doctors to come piling in when Cami's vitals went crazy. Caroline quickly ripped into her wrist.
"Come on, Cami, drink," Caroline whispered. After what felt like forever, the human latched on, her eyes wide as she drank. Pulling her wrist away, Caroline smiled. "See, not so bad," she declared.
At that moment nurses and doctors came running into the room. "What are you doing in here?" one of them demanded.
"She's awake," a doctor pointed out, staring at Cami.
Cami sat up on her bed, looking around before her eyes settled on Caroline. "Get away from me!" she screamed. "You attacked me!"
"What? No!" Caroline shook her head. Bonnie and Elijah were staring at her and Kieran's lips curled back from his teeth. "I didn't hurt you!" she tried to say but Elijah began to haul her out of the room.
"Security!" someone yelled.
Elijah ran with Bonnie struggling to keep up and Caroline writhing in his arms. He did not stop until he shoved Caroline into the back of his car and took off. Caroline felt tears prick at the back of her eyelids. "I didn't do this," she said, weeping.
No one replied as Elijah drove toward Algiers. "Where are we going?" Bonnie demanded.
"To a safe house until this confusion is cleared up. It will be safe for both of you there." Elijah told them.
"What about Damon and Enzo?" Caroline asked Elijah, tears still running down her cheeks. "And Klaus? He won't think I did this, will he?"
Hesitating, Elijah looked back at Caroline and she felt her stomach twist. Klaus thought the worst of everyone. His paranoia might lead him to make a false assumption and Caroline could not account for her whereabouts. She began to sob when Elijah got out of the car and then helped her out.
When they made it up the stairs, Caroline tried to calm herself while Elijah knocked on the door. After a long moment, Marcel pulled it open. "What brings you here and with her? I heard what you did to Cami, Kieran called, so if you are looking for sanctuary, you're knocking on the wrong door." His eyes were hard as he glared at Caroline.
"I didn't do it," Caroline cried when Marcel moved to close the door in her face.
"And why should I believe you?" Marcel snapped.
Caroline was at a loss for words when Bonnie stepped in. "Because someone is messing with her memories," she stated.
For a moment, Marcel just stared down at Bonnie. "If you did hurt Cami, Klaus and the police will be the least of your problems," Marcel warned Caroline before letting her and Bonnie inside. He looked at Elijah. "Don't say I never did anything for you, against my better judgment."
Caroline stepped down the stairs, looking around her at the faces of the other vampires. None of them seemed to want to welcome her with open arms and for the first time since she got to New Orleans, she felt unwelcome.
In the next chapter we see who else is beginning to lose their memoires.
Answer to guest review:
Guest: Thank you for thinking so. Sorry about the wait, I hope this chapter was worth it.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Peace,
Jessica
