"Caroline! Oh thank god!" my mom cried when I walked in the front door, and she crushed me against her.
"Mom! What's going on?" I asked with wide eyes, meeting Stefan's questioning gaze over my mom's shoulder.
"What's going on? Caroline it's nearly 5 in the morning. Nobody could find you for hours and then Damon found your car at the bottom of the ravine-", my mom started saying as she ushered me into the kitchen.
"I'm fine mom. Tyler bit me but-"
"WHAT!" Stefan and Damon both exclaimed as my mom's mouth fell open.
"We have to go to Klaus and-", Stefan began to say but I had to cut him off to get the rest of my story out.
"I just came from the Mikaelson Mansion Stef. After Tyler bit me I found my way back to the car and I tried to drive myself home, but when it started to rain harder and the lightning started I veered off the road and crashed down into the ravine. And then… Elijah found me"
"He was following you?"
"Apparently" I sighed as I dropped into one of the counter stools, "Mom can I have a blood bag?"
"Of course honey" and she went to the fridge to get me a bag of B negative, while her back was turned I shot Stefan a look that said I would tell him the whole story later and he nodded in understanding.
"Ugh, I feel so drained" I sighed once my mom had given me the blood bag.
"You do look tired Caroline… whose clothes are those?"
"Oh, they're Rebekah's. Mine were, um, bloody…"
"You were bitten by a Hybrid Care, I would imagine the effects are much more severe than a werewolf bite"
"Hey! Werewolf bites are pretty shitty!" Damon said from his seat at the kitchen table and Stefan smirked at him.
"How about we have Klaus bite you and you can compare the feeling from Tyler's werewolf bite?" Stefan suggested and Damon just scowled at him in return.
"You should get some rest honey, your body needs to heal" my mom suggested as she brushed some hair off my forehead, and at the familiar and comforting gesture I felt a genuine wave of exhaustion hit me.
"Yea, your right. I'll see you guys tomorrow" and Stefan nodded as he and Damon got to their feet and walked out of the kitchen and out the front door.
My mom led me down the hall and into my bedroom. She picked out some pajamas for me and left me alone to wash up. I went into my bathroom and groaned when I saw my reflection. My hair was matted and had dried blood in it and I had some mascara under my eyes. I took off the borrowed shirt and saw that most of my body and legs had been washed off, but there was still random smears of dried blood in places. My muscles ached as I removed the rest of the clothes and got into the shower. The water was scalding hot, and I slid down the wall to sit under the stream of water as my thoughts raced. In one day I had turned 18 years old, been to my own funeral, been bitten by my venomous ex-boyfriend, totaled my car and was saved by an incredibly sexy and misguided Original. He was so convinced that I was this same girl that he met 500 years ago. Granted we did have the same name and I'm guessing we must look similar, but other than that I couldn't see how he could be so set in his ideas… but he did say that he had proof. Damnit! I probably should have heard him out. The sooner I could convince him he was wrong, the sooner he would leave me alone. And I wasn't a runner. I didn't cower away from difficult situations, so why was I doing it now? I shook my head in frustration as I got to my feet to finish my shower.
I dressed in the pajamas my mom had picked for me, and I walked out of the bathroom as I toweled dried my hair…. And I had to stifle a gasp as I saw Stefan laying on my bed.
"Jesus Stefan"
"Was this not what you meant earlier?" he asked worriedly
"No… no it was. I wanted to talk to you away from my mom"
"You're just exhausted" he observed as he got to his feet, "We can talk tomorrow… or later today I guess, its fine"
"No, if I don't tell you now then I might forget" and he nodded as he sat back down on the edge of the bed while I leaned against the pillows.
"I think I remember him pulling me from the car, but then it kind of gets confused with this dream I was having… anyway, I woke up in a bed at the mansion with him sitting by the bed reading. He told me that Klaus had healed me and Rebekah had changed my ruined clothes. He told me that it was time we had a talk, about the reason that he came back to Mystic falls"
"Because of you" he said and I nodded
"He said that he was in love with a girl 500 years ago, a human girl. He told me how beautiful she was and how she was kidnapped… and he told me that I was her!"
"So that's what this is about? He thinks you are his long lost love! I'm sure you told him that's impossible"
"Yea I did, but he told me that he had proof"
"What was it?"
"I don't know. I guess I panicked, and I left"
"Why? Wouldn't it be better if you saw his proof and could dispute his claim?"
"Yea it would… but then a small part of me wondered if it was true… I mean one of my best friends is a witch and the other is an ancient mystical reincarnation creature, and if that can happen in a small town in Virginia then what if this could be true"
"Okay I dare you to call Elena that the next time you see her!" Stefan burst out laughing and I scowled at him while I tried to hide my own smile, "And you do have a point Care, we just don't know enough about this yet" he said when he calmed down.
"He did say something though… He said that I was born to a Lord William Forbes and to a Lady Elizabeth Rigali"
"Rigali? Isn't that your mom's maiden name?"
"Yea it is! He said she was a descendant from that line from Italy and that my dad was a direct descendant from the Forbes line in England"
"So he traced your ancestry? That's… thorough"
"Tell me about it… but what if it's true?"
"If what he's saying is true then we'll figure it out Care" he smiled at me
"You won't disown me if I turn out to be the long lost love of a psycho Original?" I asked as my eyes watered, the relief settled over me as Stefan reached over and took my hand.
"I could never disown you Care, who else would keep me in check?" he chuckled
"I'm sure Damon and Elena could do the job between then two of them," I smirked before continuing with a frown, "But there's something else… I, um, I've been having weird dreams lately"
"What kind of dreams?"
"I'm not sure, but they're like super clear and vivid and I remember everything the next morning. But they're not like… normal… like I'm not normal. They always take place at this like old castle, and I'm always wearing these wicked long dresses"
"Do you think they're memories or something?"
"I was starting to think that it was Elijah, giving me the dreams to try and convince me, but now I don't know"
"We'll figure this out, don't worry" he said, squeezing the hand he was holding before getting to his feet, "Now you need to get some sleep, you look like death"
"Wow, that's what a girl wants to hear" I said sarcastically as I got under the covers.
"If I can't make fun of my sister then who can I make fun of?" he chuckled as he opened my bedroom door, "Text me when you wake up and we can decide what we want to do. Feel better Care"
"Mhmm" I murmured back as my eyes closed and I settled against my pillow. I wasn't even awake to hear him close the door.
"So this wasn't a complete waste then" Niklaus said as he strode into the library a few hours after Caroline left.
"I wouldn't classify it as a success either" I replied as I looked over the latest report of our vineyard in Italy.
"You need to be more optimistic brother. You have saved the girl and planted the seeds of curiosity in her mind. I wouldn't be surprised if at the next meeting she was more open to the idea"
"Since when are you the optimistic brother?" Rebekah asked as she entered the library and joined Niklaus on the couch.
"I must take on the role when the eldest is all gloom and doom about his uncooperative love"
"I can't really blame her" Rebekah said, and I looked up at her, "Well think about it, if someone you had never met before, but who had a brutal reputation, came to you and told you that you and she were lovers but you had no memory of it, wouldn't you be suspicious?"
"Of course I would, but I would endeavor to collect all of the evidence first"
"You remember how Caroline is, act first ask questions later… and knowing Caroline, she is beating herself up by not hearing what you had to say" she reasoned and I had to agree.
"I will just have to keep trying until she finally hears what I have to say, and once she does she can decide what to do"
"You're leaving the choice up to her?" Niklaus asked with raised eyebrows
"Yes… I do not know what sort of magic is at work here… I do not know if she can even regain her memories-"
"All the more reason to never give up brother!" Niklaus exclaimed
"I will not have her put at risk"
"But once she remembers then we shall finally know what happened while you were gone"
"We know what happened brother, our father took her and… killed her I suppose"
"You suppose! But you do not know! And then how is she here now? And why?"
"Well then I suppose it will be in your best interest to continue helping me" I say to Niklaus as I get to my feet and exit the room. Everything he had said was true, and I was burning to know what had happened to her and why I was getting this second chance… and I wasn't willing to do anything rash to ruin this second chance. But I needed more proof…
I sat in the cafeteria beside Stefan, eating my yogurt and cheeseburger as I watched Elena and Bonnie walk toward us with their own trays.
"Caroline you have the weirdest taste buds" Bonnie laughed when she saw my tray, which also consisted of a carrot stick and a cookie.
"Well I needed to stay in shape when I was a human, so I got used to eating healthy, and now I don't have to worry about gaining weight so why not enjoy it?" I smirked and the other two rolled their eyes, clearly jealous.
"Then why not just go all out fatty foods?" Stefan asked
"Because that would look weird if I stayed the same but drastically changed my eating habits… plus, I like yogurt and carrots"
"God I wish you guys could gain weight" Elena sighed and me and Stefan smirked, he reached over to my tray and picked up my cheeseburger, taking a huge bite out of it before putting it back down. Elena narrowed her eyes at him as she started to cut up her salad and Bonnie had to hide her laughter behind her ice tea.
"Anyway… what are we going to do about dresses?" I asked after a minute of silence
"What dresses?" Bonnie asked
"For the decade dance! The theme is the twenty's so we need to go out and get flapper dresses"
"Oh right. Well I already have one. My aunt Jenna had one from when she went to school and it's gorgeous"
"Alright. Bon?"
"I'm sorry Care… I'm wearing my great grandma's dress…" and I groaned. Not only did I not have a dress, I had no one to go with.
"Who am I supposed to go with now?" I whined as I looked sideways at Stefan, pouting a bit.
"No… No way. No Care I do not want to go dress shopping!"
"You need someone to go dress shopping with?" A voice said from behind me and I spun in my chair. Rebekah was standing behind me with a junior from the team, both holding trays.
"Umm yea, I do" I said slowly. I hadn't really talked to Rebekah since the night of the bonfire all those weeks ago and it was bit awkward as she stood there now with Elena glaring at her.
"I was planning on running to DC this weekend to look for a dress, and no one else will have dresses from there. If you want to come?" she smiled and I found myself smiling back. I had gravitated toward this girl when I first met her, but that whole mess with Tyler had driven a wedge between our budding friendship. Tyler was no longer an issue in my life, despite his efforts, so there was no more reason for the wedge… but that didn't mean that I suddenly trusted her, she was still Elijah's sister.
"Who else is going?" leave it to Stefan to ask the important question that I didn't even think of.
"So far just me… Your welcome to come too Stef" She smiled at him and I heard Elena scoff from behind me, and Stefan heard her too because he half turned to look at her.
"You know what, I think I will. What do you think Care?" he asked me
"Um… yea, that sounds like fun. Thanks for the invite" I smiled at her and she brightened further.
"Awesome! I'll pick you both up from the Boarding House Saturday morning?" and when we both nodded she smiled again and walked away.
"What do you two think you're doing?" Elena hissed once Rebekah had chosen a seat with a few of the other teammates.
"What? Caroline needs a dress and Rebekah offered to take her to get one" Stefan responded blandly, obviously avoiding Elena's issue.
"She's just doing this to sink her claws into you and Caroline" Elena argued
"Well then I guess it's a good thing that what I do is no longer your business" Stefan said as he got to his feet and walked out of the cafeteria, all of us watching his departure with open mouths. He had told me a few days ago that he was officially done trying with Elena, since she was clearly so in love with Damon now. But even I had to admit that Elena had a tendency to get possessive and play mind games. And then Elena turned her stare on me.
"Don't look at me! I was about to politely refuse…" I said as I took another big bite of my cheeseburger. Elena and Bonnie both looked down at their food and didn't say anything for the remainder of the lunch period. I was almost sure I would've said no. I'm sure of it. Her generous offer and genuine smile had not been swaying me in any way… right?
