Chapter 11

Elena hadn't expected much to have happened in the time between her being locked up, and her being free, but she was all too wrong. Everything was different now. Caroline, Elena learnt, was the same age as her. Caroline also told Elena that the year was 2013, and that 1864 was a long, long time ago, and things had changed "like, a lot" were the blonde's exact words.

Elena liked Caroline, but she saw that they held very little in common. Caroline spoke so informally, wore tight fitting clothes, and her face was flushed with a perfect blush and glow- Caroline said it was make-up, but it wasn't just appearance that showed Elena how much she had missed. If Caroline behave the way she did now in 1864, she would have been shunned by society, and even when she was old- in her twenties- she would be alone, unmarried, and childless. Caroline's life would have been completely different if she had of been raised in the time and way Elena had.

Elena was in two minds. In one way, she thought it would be nice to have such a relaxed, unpressured life. On the other hand, though, how did a girl live when there was no guide? When there was no deadline for marriage or childbearing.

She asked Caroline many questions about the new world, and Caroline had a lot to say about that. Finally, Elena asked the question that was playing on her mind. "Why do you work for Katherine?"

Caroline looked down, "If I don't do as she tells me, she says she will kill me and my parents." Caroline smiled awkwardly, "I really don't have much of a choice."

Elena frowned. She still couldn't remember anything about Katherine, but that definitely didn't make her feel any kinder towards the young woman. From what she had heard, Katherine was awful- completely cruel and always out for herself.

Feeling a need to tell Caroline what she really thought of the girl who was controlling the blonde's life so relentlessly, but when she went to speak, he throat was dry, her mind blank. She couldn't say bad things about Katherine, and now that she thought about it, she felt different. She held no more sympathy for Caroline. She was a victim, yes, but only one human. She would be fine, as long as she followed the rules set for her by Katherine. Elena thought of the many years she had spent locked up in a tomb, her veins dry and vacant of any blood to thump steady, trustworthy. Katherine had saved her, and Elena felt that the only thing she really had to do was return the favour. Katherine had given Elena her instructions. Relax and feed on the human until she was given further instructions. With crimson eyes and startlingly white fangs biting into her lower lip, Elena turned to Caroline. "You should be more grateful." She said coldly to Caroline, standing and stalking towards the blonde.

Caroline stumbled backwards, eyes wide in fear. She had invested her trust in Elena Gilbert, but she knew now she shouldn't have. Not only was she a vampire, but she belonged to Katherine, and Caroline should know better than to trust someone who was under the instruction of Katherine Pierce. Caroline stuttered out her response, "Grateful for what?"

Elena was so close to her, she could hear the human's heart beating wildly in her chest. It gave Elena an odd sense of thrill to be so powerful over someone. She enjoyed the feeling, and she doubted she would enjoy the feed any more than she enjoyed the adrenaline of power, "Grateful to be owned by Katherine."

And with that, she leapt forward, closing the distance between the two, and sunk two perfectly identical fangs into the neck of the ivory skinned blonde. And, wow, was she wrong; the feed was like nothing she had ever experienced before.

Elena wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, smiling feebly. She was giddy with new excitement. She could hear Caroline's weak heart from across the room, and smell the delicious, intoxicating red liquid oozing from a fresh wound on her neck. In Elena's opinion, the girl was lucky to be alive. It had been extremely difficult to stop, when all she wanted to do was drain the blood from every single human in this town, but Katherine's instructions rang in her ear. She was to feed, not kill. She wasn't to leave the house until Katherine gave her instructions.

A low whine broke Elena from her thoughts, and she looked over to where the blonde was starting to return to consciousness, slowly starting to move. Elena stood, and went over to where the girl was laying, still groaning and grumbling. Elena fell down next to her, sighing. Her amusement was gone now, overtaken by savage boredom. She raised an eyebrow at Caroline, "When will Katherine be here?" She asked bluntly.

Caroline's eyes snapped open, and the memory of her attack came flooding back to her. While she hated it, it didn't surprise her, so she only slightly flinched at the sight of the brunette. She was used to being treated like a walking, talking blood-bag. She no longer expected anything else. "I don't know." Caroline replied flatly. She didn't attempt to sit up, because she knew that it would only hurt more; she would stay down until she could hear past her heartbeat. "She doesn't tell me when she'll be here. I'm not usually even here- she just texts me to meet her when she needs me." Caroline noticed that she had been asleep on her left arm, and it was now numb because of that.

Elena groaned, "What am I supposed to do now?" She mused, not wanting or receiving an answer from Caroline. "What are you going to do?" she addressed this question to Caroline.

"I'll go home- or else my mum would notice that something was wrong." Caroline seemed solemn as she considered her mother, "Then I'll finish my homework, go to bed, get up, go to school, and come over here." Caroline had closed her tired eyes, "Then the cycle repeats itself until Katherine skips town again."

Elena grimaced, "You're life is horrible; so dull. You're sort of unfortunate, aren't you?" Elena looked at her, "Let me guess, wrong place, wrong time?"

Caroline, who was almost too weak to move, just barely shook her head. "No. I made a deal with Katherine." She opened her eyes, but didn't continue. Elena didn't push her any further, and Caroline couldn't tell if that was because she pitied her too much, or just didn't care. Either way, Caroline was glad, because she didn't really feel like sharing her hard luck story with some parasite.