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.
I apologise for the shortness of this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. :-)
Caroline walked up to the hotel room and knocked impatiently. Using the few seconds she had before someone answered the door, she fixated a bright, innocent, very Caroline-like smile onto her face, covering the monster within.
Enzo opened the door, eyes quickly scanning over her body. He was in a cape, and had some fake blood around his mouth, making him look much paler and more sinister. Then he smiled, and held the door further open in invitation.
"Hello, Gorgeous."
"Hey, Enzo." She said in a bubbly voice, stepping inside the small room. The bed right in front of her was littered with clothes, mostly female, in a variety of colours from black to bright green to red, and make-up cases. She saw Katherine in front of Silas, who was sitting down on the edge of the bed with an annoyed expression, applying make-up to his face with an alarming amount of zest. Both seemed to have settled with an all black theme, with boots and ponchos, and Katherine wore a black dress with grey see-through tights, whilst Silas sported black jeans and a button-up shirt.
"You don't need to go overboard. I think the clothes are enough." He grumbled, though Caroline noted he made no move to stop her.
"Silas, it's Halloween. We're witches. Might as well make use of it as an excuse to wear make-up. Besides, I've never celebrated Halloween before, it'll be fun." Katherine insisted, adding a final touch, before packing her make-up away and pecking him on the lips. She herself had dark eye-shadow and silver eyeliner with pale skin-toned blusher, which made her cheekbones look more defined and her nose look sharper, like a stereotypical witch.
"Ah, Caroline! Tell Silas to stop being so miserable about Halloween. The party's gonna be fun."
Caroline nodded blankly. "Yeah, free beer, free food, you'll forget about your makeover in no time." She said, trying to convey positivity and humor into her voice.
Katherine and Silas looked at her. "Are you okay?" He asked tentatively. "Because we heard about Stefan being such a royal ass and being really rude to you, and for some reason you like him, so..."
"I'm fine." She shrugged. "Thanks guys, but really, if he doesn't care, then neither do I."
Katherine frowned at her, and seemed about to say something, when Enzo interrupted.
"Guys, we'd best get going, that is, if we wanna merrily chomp and anuerysm our way through crowds of people, even if we're only a five minute drive away." He joked, before heading out the door. "Of course, I'd like to do the latter, so..."
"Great." Caroline said, picking up her bag.
Silas jumped up, frowning at himself in the mirror at his black eyeliner, before receiving a glare from Katherine that changed his mind, heading out with Enzo. Katherine lagged behind with Caroline.
"You sure you're okay? Because you seem different."
Caroline mentally groaned in her head. "Yeah, obviously I feel a little...upset that Stefan and I and friends any longer, but I'm fine. Really." Technically that was the truth. She didn't feel anything for Stefan anymore, so he no longer hurt or upset her.
"Hmm. Because you didn't seem to mind at all Enzo casually mentioning that he was going to feed on people tonight, when that normally drives you crazy." Katherine said, looking at her pointedly.
Caroline tried to laugh it off. "Katherine, Enzo always jokes about eating people. It's not really shocking anymore."
"But to you it always is. You can't stand it. Unless...ooh." Katherine turned to face her, and with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Caroline could see the cogs turning in her head.
"Flipping off our humanity switch. Clever. Do I dare ask how that came to pass?" Katherine enquired snarkily.
Caroline smirked, trying to hide her annoyance. She had no idea how Katherine had figured it out, but maybe it was because of the intense contrast between the girl she had been, and the monster she was now. "Nope, unless you want your pretty false eyelashes to be ripped out."
"Touché." Katherine replied snarkily, but Caroline didn't miss the flash of...disappointment in her eyes, that strangely invoked some flicker of emotion deep inside her that she couldn't quite pinpoint.
"Come on, guys!" Silas was yelling impatiently. Caroline sighed, before heading downstairs, leaving Katherine behind, shaking her head in amusement.
"Well, I'm sure going to love watching how this turns out."
-X-
The party was in full swing when they arrived. People both in fancy dress and casual clothes were in attendance, swarming and milling around the maze. Caroline felt a thrill of excitement chill her spine. Finally, dinner. Of course, she couldn't kill anyone, she would have to restrict herself so none of the vampires in attendance, like Alaric and Elena, could guess what was going on and lock her up.
"I'm going to find the others. I'll see you guys later." Caroline muttered, ignoring Katherine's concerned look, and instead fixating on a girl walking past wearing a T-shirt with fake gore and blood on it. She headed off into the crowd after the girl before Katherine could tell the others about her current predicament and have them stop her from having fun.
She pushed and shoved people away, slipping through spaces to reach her target a few feet away. When the girl headed off into a more secluded area, Caroline followed, speeding in front of her to cut her off.
"Uh...excuse me." The girl said, blinking confusedly at her sudden appearance. Caroline smiled, and moved to the side, then grabbed the girl's arm, looking into her eyes and compelling her.
"Don't scream, don't move." The girl froze, and Caroline let her fangs slip out, pulling the girl's head to the side and biting into her neck, drinking greedily, letting the blood smear; no-one would notice based on her costume. After a minute or so, she pulled back, the girl slightly limp from blood loss.
"Go drink some water. Forget about this." She said, releasing her, licking the remaining blood from her fingers as euphoria buzzed through her system. She saw someone else walk past her, donning a mask with fake blood on it, and smiled, before slinking after him.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Irritably, she stopped, watching the guy slip from her view, and pulled it out. Stefan Salvatore flashed across the caller ID.
She pressed ignore.
-X-
"You need to go after Caroline and get her back here." Katherine said to Enzo.
Enzo looked at her. "Why? She left without saying anything, she obviously wants to be with her friends."
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Because, she's turned off her humanity, dumbass. Find her, distract her before she does anything stupid, do something!"
"What? No she hasn't. She seemed fine-" Silas said, before Katherine cut him off.
"Well of course you wouldn't know!" And then to Enzo, "go, go!" before turning back to her boyfriend. "Where's your phone?"
Silas dug it out of his pocket and handed it to her. "What are you doing?"
"Calling Stefan. He's the only one who can flip her switch."
-X-
Caroline watched her third victim leave with a surprising sense of regret.
After having a few drinks, dancing and exploring through the maze on a blood tizzy, she now found herself a little bored. Her system kept her in check, but now all she wanted to do was let go.
"Caroline." She turned around at the male voice, a tiny bubble of hope rising, thinking it was Stefan, until she saw Enzo heading towards her. She quashed the bubble, burying it inside her and headed over to him.
"Hey! Great party, right?" She said, giving him a bright smile.
"Yeah," Enzo muttered distractedly. He grabbed her arm. "Look, maybe...maybe we should go home."
"What? Why?" Caroline asked. Her voice was harsh, so she immediately smiled to soften the blow. "We've just got here." She frowned. "Wait, did Katherine say something was wrong, because I was speaking to her -"
He sighed and stepped closer. "You've flipped your switch haven't you? Katherine was right, you're...different."
Caroline laughed him off. "What? Just because I lose a friendship, acting different means I turned off my humanity? I think you and Katherine need to recheck your diagnostics."
"Nice try, Caroline, but he wasn't just a friend to you, was he? He really hurt you, no-one would blame you for escaping the pain, just let us help you -"
He was cut off as a car screeched towards them. Caroline whipped around, hearing it before she could actually see it, before diving to the side into a bush, the car careening past her. One of the branches sliced down her side, before she managed to twist back around and sit up again.
Enzo had promptly jumped to the other side, cape flashing foolishly behind him, narrowly missing one of the wooden tables. He quickly sprang to his feet, hurrying over to help her up.
"You alright, Blondie?" He asked, breathless, hauling her up by her arm. She sighed irritably and brushed him away. "Yeah."
"Okay," He looked around. "Come on, let's find the others."
She smiled at him. "Good idea. You go that way and I'll -"
"I'm not that stupid, Gorgeous." He muttered. He grabbed her arm again in a steely grip and marched her off through the screaming crowd. They were just approaching the entry to the maze, when Enzo's phone started ringing. He answered it quickly, his face growing tight as the other person spoke on the phone, Caroline's hearing blocked by people screaming to hear the conversation.
"Kat, Kat - calm down, we're coming. Okay? We'll find you." After he hung up, he turned around and took a confused Caroline back in the other direction.
"What's going on?" She asked as they ran along.
"All you'll want to know is we need to hurry up." Enzo said. They took a sharp left into another torn up clearing, where Caroline saw Katherine, next to a lifeless body on the ground. Silas. She was frantically clutching his stomach as though her life depended on it. As she got closer, Caroline could see, could smell, the blood from his wound spreading over his clothes in a horrifying amount.
"What happened?" Caroline asked, shocked. If anyone was likely to die, it wouldn't be Silas, not that easily.
"He-he couldn't move out of the way fast enough, the-the car just hit him in the side and he was thrown right on one of the tables!" Katherine sputtered, tears streaming down her face. "I don't-I don't know any spells -"
"Okay, move." Caroline said, pushing her out of the way before Enzo could react. She bit into her wrist, then shoved it into Silas' mouth, forcing him to drink it down. She knew if she let him die, she would never forgive herself once her humanity was back on, and it would ruin the friendship with Katherine she had slowly built over the last few weeks, so she did it. The blood loss slowed, the skin and broken bones shifted, and then healed over completely.
Silas coughed weakly, and opened his eyes, scanning above him, looking for something. "Katherine..." His eyes found hers, and she sobbed once in relief, squeezing his hand in her bloody one.
"Oh God, thank you...thank you..." She whispered gratefully to Caroline, kissing him on the mouth again and again.
"Huh, wow, Blondie," Enzo sounded shocked. "Thought you flipped your switch?"
Caroline smiled, then at lightning speed, grabbed a stake and then plunged it into Enzo's stomach before he could react. "I have, but it doesn't mean that I've turned into a stereotypical emotionless, idiotic vampire." She snapped the wood in half, leaving some of it still embedded in him, before speeding off.
Honestly, how stupid of them all to think that even emotionless, she wouldn't prove them all wrong.
As she exited the maze, heading out towards the road, she collided with someone, sending her toppling sideways. She quickly straightened, and jumped at the person, fangs out, ready to rip into their throat, when they grabbed her by her upper arm, twisting her towards them, and all of a sudden she was face to face with Stefan.
She looked at him with a cold sneer, and his own icy features seemed to melt. He knew. And she should have relished in the horror in his eyes, but for some reason she just couldn't hate him. She couldn't feel completely empty about him.
"Oh, Caroline." He whispered softly.
And if there was a moment her uncaring stony heart thumped a beat again, she would have had to say it was that.
-X-
"Why?"
The first thing he had said to her since carting her off from the mayhem that was the Halloween party.
Caroline laughed, cold and mocking. "Why? Are you serious?" He remained silent, face impassive. "Oh, that's right, you couldn't be bothered to stick around and help bring your brother and Bonnie back and let anyone else from your old life help you. Apparently we're not good enough for the oh - so sacred Stefan Salvatore." She smirked, taking sadistic pleasure in the way his jaw ticked and his eyes darkened.
"Look, I was just trying to move on. It wasn't my fault that you and Enzo just turned up unexpected at my house! And I'm sorry you felt you had to turn off your emotions, but what I don't understand is why you did it. Or how you could have been hurting that much." He sighed impatiently. "Please just tell me, Care."
Caroline looked at him coldly. "Sorry, we're not friends anymore, so you aren't privy to the details of my former friendship with you, especially since I've never been important enough for you to treat me with respect when I still cared."
"I'm apologising now." Stefan said. "That's why I'm here, that's why I've been calling. To say sorry for how I treated you."
"Well, next time you want to apologise and do a good deed for a girl, try not to sleep with your ex." Caroline rolled her eyes impatiently.
"Right. She really said that?" He asked, sounding amused. Caroline said nothing, instead choosing the ignoring tactic. He was pushing at her, and she didn't want to face the pain that was loving him all over again.
"She kissed me. I rejected her."
Okay. She hadn't expecting that. Caroline fought back a thrill of happiness that ran down her spine, and pretended to be bored, which she was anyway, but her switch was like a detonating bomb, set to explode and destroy the wall she'd built between her and her emotions.
"Oh, sorry, am I meant to inject a commentary about my feelings on the matter?" She turned away. "But wait! I don't feel anything, so that must have ruined your amazing plan to win me over."
"My amazing plan doesn't just involve telling you about Elena and I, you know. Caroline, you're a good person. You don't run from your problems, you shouldn't be running from this."
She snorted, and giggled, sounding insane to her ears. "Says the one person who doesn't do anything but. You're a hypocrite, you know. Do you think I'm stupid? As soon as you flip my switch and raise my hopes again, you'll run for the hills as always, because Damon will still be dead, and that's an acceptable enough reason for you."
"I ran, but then I stopped."
"No, you ran, and I chased, but when I gave up, you realised your life was much funner with me stalking you, and then you stopped. To start the whole humiliating process all over again." She corrected coldly. "You can go now, in case you can't tell, you're not wanted." She added, pushing away the niggling protests at the back of her mind, begging him to stay.
"Caroline." There it was again. That tone, the way only he said her name that nearly, nearly somehow managed to send her heart into a tailspin, pushing up the buried nostalgia. She turned away and he stepped closer, brushing her hair back with his hand. "Please come back."
Shivers spread down her spine as he stared at her, brow furrowed in concern and frustration. Even now, he still didn't understand why she wouldn't come back. And she didn't think he ever truly would. That was the price of loving Stefan Salvatore. Her emotions faded away once more, as she refused them, pushed them away from her conscience and she grabbed his arm, shoving it away from her face.
"You shouldn't have done that." She snapped and without thinking twice, she violently grabbed his shoulders and twisted, before he could even register what had happened. His head lolled back as she let him slump to the floor, smirking in triumph.
Freedom. Now she had to leave, before Elena or Alaric found her and vervained her, so she quickly pocketed Stefan's car keys, injected him with his vervain intended for her, and shoved a pole through his back, pinning him to the floor, and rendering him immobile, before locking the door. But there was one more thing she wanted to do.
She smirked as she painted the outside wall of the garage in her own blood. It said poof! She knew if Enzo found it, he'd find it funny. Just her representing all the times Stefan Salvatore had poofed away from her life.
Now, to drive off into the sunset. And start her own brand of nightmares in her newfound freedom.
Okay, first of all, I just want to apologise for not updating for over a year. There admittedly isn't really an excuse, except for exams, other story ideas, and the fact that I completely lost inspiration for this fic. I think I will only do a few more chapters, since it isn't fair to any of you who actually like this having to wait so long for an update, but I promise I will start to update quicker. I am so sorry if there are any who want the story to be longer, I just don't have the inspiration any more, and I don't think there is a lot more to this story. I also want to thank the people who kept favoriting, following and reviewing, encouraging me to continue, it was wonderful to know that there are people still interested in this story. Thank you so much for the support.