Disclaimer: I don't own tvd, it belongs to Julie Plec and L.J Smith, I am using their characters for my own story. No copyright infringement is intended.

This chapter is kind of continuing from 6x04, I'm adding to it, so the maze isn't happening...yet.

Thank you so much for reading and for all your reviews, favourites and follows!

The problem with being light for so long is that you eventually crave the dark side. And right now, Caroline was embracing darkness. Drinking greedily from her victim, gulping down every drop, messily ravaging the woman's neck in an empty, emotionless frenzy and savouring her copper freedom.

God, she was having the time of her life, being able to rip into a vein, and drain it until there was nothing but an empty shell, and all she found she could do was want more. She felt refreshingly blank, a fresh start amidst the terror of humans, everything felt amazing, Elena had been right, she could revel in anything. Dirty thoughts of Klaus? Done. Nothing. Whatever minor spark she had once bore for him was now long gone, replaced by a sinister hunger, drowning out the 'light' he had seen in her. She'd yank out his heart in an instant if she had to, it wouldn't kill him, and she could think freely of their time together with a hint of bodily pleasure, and normally she would have felt terrible about it. Now he was meaningless, a non-existent blip in her otherwise pretty much perfect record that was about to get seriously messed up.

And then her ringing phone broke her out of her concentration. She snarled impatiently-they'd really taken almost two days to realise she was missing? Of course, she wasn't Elena Gilbert, but she'd almost been hoping for some comeback, for someone to take notice of her. She reluctantly released the barely conscious girl, deciding to compel her to forget and go to the near-by hospital with the memory of an animal attack, rather than killing her and then burying her; too much trouble right now, unlike the last two. Maybe next time, when her so-called friends weren't bugging her. Huh, it really wasn't such a big deal, like Enzo had said.

But it was essential that no-one found out that she'd flipped her switch. They'd kidnap her, torture her, try to get her to feel something again. And she really didn't fancy taking a trip down memory lane. But, she supposed that the good thing about Elena's breakdown was that she had learned from it. She knew how to avoid what Elena went through. Caroline had slyly adapted, without anyone realising.

She answered her phone, pressing it to her ear. "Hey, Elena." She forced meaning into her words. How had she done this before?

"Hey, where have you been? I got back, someone's trashed our room, and I was worried because I couldn't find you-"

"I'm fine." Caroline interrupted coldly. What else could she say? "I just wasn't in the mood for talking after you spontaneously ditched me for lover boy without a word." There. That sounded like something she'd say after being royally annoyed. She vaguely remembered that feeling, her tears, the pain, and reminded herself to bide her time. Elena would suffer soon enough.

"Is this what this is about?" Elena asked softly. "Me disappearing?"

Caroline snorted, before quickly making it sound like a sob. "Don't flatter yourself. It's just that," she made her voice tremble slightly. Only a vampire could have heard it. "I thought we were closer than you running off with the guy I have feelings for." Imperative that have was the key word. Make Elena feel guilty, and suck everything she had built since her memory loss out of her life.

"Come on, you know it wasn't like that." Elena said. "He's grieving his brother and Bonnie, and I wanted to make sure he did it the right way."

"Really?" Caroline smirked. "Your ex, who you left for his brother, completely trampling his heart without a second thought in the process, just let you check up on him when he wouldn't even speak to the one person that's always been there for him through everything for four months?" She asked dubiously, throwing in a catty tone, specially devised to spill secrets and to make cutting points that she hadn't used in, oh, years.

There was a pause, as Elena breathed in sharply, shocked. She wasn't answering, and Caroline knew she was right. Stefan had let her back in, that way. That was why she'd been away so long. That was why she'd driven off with Stefan. Despite Caroline's feelings, Elena had put her own, old and smothered ones first. She expected to feel some sort of jealousy, but instead she felt a cold rage that emptily controlled her actions and helped her remember how she should have felt.

"But, anyway, that doesn't matter, right? Because what Elena wants, Elena gets, and I'm sick of being second place in the wanted pile." Caroline smiled coldly.

"Look, Care, I'm sorry, just come back, I just-"

"And I. Don't. Care." Caroline interrupted emotionlessly. "Goodbye, Elena." And she hung up before the other girl could respond, slipping the phone back into her bag and getting back into her car. The iPhone was way too expensive to ditch, and she was way too inexperienced to try. She was uncontrollable, but she wasn't stupid.

She veered down the road, intent on finding a hotel to clean up, act unsuspecting, lay low for a while. Her own mum was the sheriff, she would know about the two murders by now, particularly because they were barely two miles away from Mystic Falls. And emotionless or not, she wasn't killing her own mother, that part of her remained intact, her love for her mother, though buried, Caroline was still very much aware of it.

She hurried into Lawson's emptyhotel reception, quickly grabbing the receptionists attention and compelling her to ignore her state and give her a free room. If push came to shove, she'd just kill her anyway. Taking the key, she hurried up to her room, unpacking some clothes she'd taken from her dorm, and stripping, before getting into the hot shower. Just what she needed after the last few days. So she could think of where to go next, how to make Elena suffer rationally. She'd still never gotten back Elena for the way she'd treated her when her emotions were off, now her payment was due.

She scrubbed the blood off her face, soaping herself up quickly, before rinsing, drying and was just about to pull on her top when her phone rang again. Impatiently, Caroline reached for it and was about to turn it off when she saw who was calling.

Enzo.

Okay, not Elena. And to be honest, Enzo hadn't done anything personal to her, so why not? Besides, her guilt gone, she could think freely of him, of anyone as she liked. So she picked up, putting on a cheery tone. As much as she doubted Enzo would care about her non-emotional state, if he found out why she'd done it, he'd go after Stefan, most likely accidently blab about it, and everyone would know.

"Hey, Enzo."

"Barbie, you've been dodging me. Where are you?" He said as way of greeting. Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Some hotel named Lawson's, or something. Why? Am I that important to you?" She smirked flirtatiously. No harm now, since she didn't care about what damage was done.

"Funny, gorgeous, listen, there's some frat party going on for Hallaween at Whitmore college tonight. Fancy coming along? Silas and Katherine are going as witches, very British sense of humour." He said smoothly. A party. Interesting. Despite herself, Caroline felt a jolt of excitement. Parties meant food. Parties meant fun. If Elena was there, then maybe this was her chance to give her hell.

"Sure, why not?" She faked reluctance, barely containing her hunger.

"Okay, see you at six by the maze, gorgeous." Enzo said, sounding pleased, before hanging up.

Caroline sighed, and threw her phone onto the bed before continuing dressing. He'd left her an hour to get changed. An hour. She smiled, approaching the mirror. Good thing she'd done Drama in high school, since she'd need her acting skills if this was going to work.

She smiled in cold warmth at the mirror. "Hey, I'm Caroline Forbes. Nice to meet you." Throwing in sincerity, using her looks to her advantage, she had her former personality nailed.

She smirked, letting the warmth drop away, revealing the true, relishing monster underneath, before re-packing her things, then heading back out to her car, starting the long twenty mile journey back to Whitmore.

It was only then that she realised Enzo had actually asked her out on a date. She used to recognise the signs, but now she couldn't. She wasn't sure she wanted to. For a minute second, her switch flickered, just a little, to let a sliver of shame that she was using Enzo for her own amusement and pleasure seeped through, and for a brief moment, she was sorely tempted to turn around, go to the border and call her mother, so all the good memories could come flooding back.

But that wall clicked firmly back in place and she was a blank piece of paper again, calm and collected, with just a hint of an intense desire for revenge and a ravaging thirst, tinging the mix. Just the way she liked it. That way no-one would suspect her.

Elena and Stefan would never see her coming.

Thanks for reading! Please review! I'm sorry this was so short, it was essential to get to the next chapter. xx