Hello, my lovely readers. Believe it or not, we're in the final three chapters. Finally. On with the show…
Chapter 12: How Did It Go So Wrong?
Abigail's feet led a helpless Caroline Forbes through the streets of New Orleans. Every part of her wanted to scream. She tried to lift Abigail's arms, to reach out, to grab a stranger and to beg for help. But she could not control this body, again. This was the worst possible scenario. She would sink to her knees and scream or sob, if she could.
Suddenly stopping, Caroline knew where Abigail's body was leading her. Back to the cemetery. What now?
Feet moving rapidly through the cemetery; Caroline found herself headed toward an altar. Her first thought was: What in hell is that for?
"Caroline. How good of you to join us." Bonnie turned to offer Caroline an eerie smile that chilled Caroline to her core. The knowledge that Esther Mikaelson wore her best friend's face made Klaus' playing body snatcher with Tyler look like child's play. "Oh. I'm sorry, dear, where are my manners?" Esther raised Bonnie's hand and waved it at Caroline. "You may speak."
"You bitch!" Caroline hissed at the ancient witch. "What are you doing to us?" she demanded. She did not want to die. She knew that Esther would likely kill her if she pissed the old witch off, but Caroline was pissed beyond words.
"Now, dear, is that any way to talk to someone who is giving you a second chance?" Esther asked Caroline. Her tone made Caroline curl Abigail's fingers into fists. If she couldn't use her vamp strength, she could still hit the woman and use her own fighting abilities to defend herself.
"You call body-jumping me into Sabrina the Teenage Witch a new lease on life?" Caroline demanded. She edged closer to Esther. She'd spent a little time in Lafayette Cemetery which allowed her to know where you could find something to use as a weapon in a pinch.
Esther's eyes were on a bowl in front of her. She seemed to be working on a spell as she talked to Caroline. "You have another chance, Caroline. As a witch, you and Klaus may have a happy life together. You will no longer have to kill to sustain your life. This is not what you wanted for yourself. This is not the being your parents wanted you to be."
"Do not talk about my parents!" Caroline snapped back. "You know, I thought that Klaus was overreacting to the way that you and his father treated him—but ever since I've been in New Orleans—I've seen the truth: You're the reason he is what he is and why he does what he does." As the words came out of Caroline's borrowed mouth; she realized just how true they were. She no longer blamed Klaus for many things he did; they weren't entirely his fault. Yes, they were horrible things, but what should anyone expect when you had someone like this for a mom?
"You hurt him. And you're still trying to hurt him. You're trying to take everything from him. Don't you understand that not everything he does is bad, and you're going to take the tiny shred of him that is not a monster, and you're going to destroy him!" Caroline had never been so angry on another person's behalf before. Now all she felt was an incredible rage building inside her, and magic with it.
Inhaling and exhaling, Caroline concentrated on the magic at her fingertips. Esther's focus remained on the earthen pot in front of her. She barely seemed to be aware of Caroline. Using Esther's distraction, Caroline began to raise her borrowed hands and her borrowed mouth opened to forms words that Bonnie used to use when a new voice joined them.
"I would not do that, Caroline; if I valued my life," Finn strode over to stand beside his mother.
Caroline let out a hiss of pain as Finn rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, speaking in French and she sank to her knees. Blood trickled down from Abigail's nostrils. Caroline felt the blood on her borrowed lips. The taste left her feeling the urge to purge.
"I have given you a gift, Caroline." Esther intoned. "You'll thank me, one day, when you and Niklaus are raising your own children. Far from here."
"Vampires can't have children," Caroline snarled back, spitting out blood and gripping Abigail's head between the girl's hands. The pain was making her dizzy. A few more minutes of this and she would be lying on the ground, unconscious and vulnerable to attack.
"As you sleep, Caroline, think of the life that you can have," Esther said, her voice quiet as she rounded the altar and came to kneel beside Caroline, stroking Abigail's hair while Caroline shook in agony and anger.
Eyes rolling into the back of Abigail's head, Caroline felt the body she was in pitch to the side. And then she felt nothing.
~0~
Eyes re-opening, Caroline looked down at her hands. Her own hands. She could cry with relief at seeing her own body parts. However, she had no idea where she was and what was happening to her. "Hello?" Caroline called out.
"Caroline?" Bonnie's voice made Caroline turn around to find her best friend right behind her.
"Bonnie?" Caroline let out a laugh and felt tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?"
Bonnie shook her head. "Esther's taken my body," Bonnie said, hugging Caroline tightly.
"I know," Caroline nodded. "Where are we?"
"We should be on The Other Side. But I don't think that's what this place is," Bonnie looked around her and Caroline did the same.
The two friends seemed to be inside of Lafayette Cemetery, and not in the cemetery, at the same time. "How is this possible, Bonnie?" Caroline placed a hand on the side of a mausoleum. It felt hard. It looked real. But there was something not right about it. Caroline was no witch but she could sense the wrongness of this place. Magic. It had to be magically built.
"Do you know how to get us out of here?" Caroline asked Bonnie. At the look on Bonnie's face, Caroline wanted to kick herself. Of course, Bonnie would have left by now if she knew how to. "I'm sorry. Stupid question."
"The only stupid question, is the one left unasked," Bonnie replied, her hands on her hips and she looked just like their history teacher from Whitmore.
Letting out a giggle, Caroline remembered her old life, the one back at Whitmore. She would give anything to wake up in her dorm room and for all of this to be a nightmare.
"Caroline? Caroline!" Bonnie cried out. She had ahold of Caroline's shoulders and was shaking Caroline.
Caroline's eyes flew open. "What?" She felt confused. Had something just happened?
"You fell asleep," Bonnie said. "You can't fall asleep in here."
"Why?" Caroline yawned. Pressing her right hand over her mouth, she stretched her left arm over her head and leaned her head back, arching her back. "I'm so tired, Bonnie. I just need a little rest. Okay?" She looked around for a place she could lay down. Just need a patch of grass. Or maybe I can find that crypt where Klaus took me. So creepy. Why did Klaus have to make things that would have had her human-self running, seem sexy? Ugh! What was wrong with her?
"Caroline, stay awake!" Bonnie snapped, shaking Caroline, again.
"Sorry, mom," Caroline groaned. Her eyelids just felt so very heavy. Just a little, bitty nap wouldn't harm anything, would it?
"Caroline!" Bonnie shouted at her.
But Caroline barely heard her friend's cry. She snuggled further into her warm sheets and pillow. "Mornin,' love," a voice whispered into her ear.
Turning onto her side, Caroline smiled, stroking the man's cheek and leaned over to kiss him. She ran a hand through his dark curls. "You had to keep the accent, didn't you?"
"You know that I did," he replied, kissing her collarbone and Caroline let out a low moan. It felt so good.
"Klaus," Caroline moaned.
"Are you two ever going to get up?" another voice called from the hallway. "It's not every day that you graduate," the irritable voice called to them.
"Go away, Bekah!" Klaus shouted back. He grabbed the covers and jerked them over their heads. Caroline giggled, kissing her until the door banged inward and against the wall.
"Get up!" Rebekah yelled at them.
Flinging the covers down, Klaus sat up and glared at his sister. She stood, a hand on her hip, her long blonde curls trailing down her back. Her brown eyes met Klaus.' "Get out of bed, or I will be forced to fling you out." She lifted a hand and waved it threateningly at Klaus.
Klaus sneered before he slid off the side of the bed and Rebekah let out a cry of disgust because he was naked. Caroline fell back on the bed and let out a laugh. "Sorry, Bekah. It's the night before the full moon. And you know how Klaus gets now."
"No. I do not. Nor do I want to. Get dressed. You'll be late," Rebekah called to them. She hurried out of the room.
Giggling, Caroline crawled over to Klaus, on her knees and began to kiss her way down his spine. He looked a little bit different than he used to. Brown hair. Brown eyes. She missed how he used to look. However, the Klaus Mikaelson Caroline knew would never have gone to school with her. But Esther placing him in the body of a werewolf teenage boy was changing their lives, for the better.
"I love you, Klaus," Caroline murmured, pressing closer to him.
Turning, Klaus looped an arm around her waist. "I love you more, darling," he said, kissing her neck.
"Klaus, please, hurry up," Elijah's called from the hallway. He came to stand, halfway in the hallway, and halfway in their bedroom. "Everyone is restless to get this day over with." Elijah's blonde eyebrows scrunched together as he watched Klaus and Caroline.
"Fine," Klaus retorted. He pressed one last kiss to Caroline's lips before he began to gather his clothing off the floor.
Caroline felt giddy as she climbed off the side of the bed, looking for the clothes that Klaus had torn off of her the night before. She felt like these memories were a dream. A pleasant dream that she never wanted to leave.
"Caroline!" Bonnie's voice entered Caroline's head and Caroline looked around the room.
For a moment, the bedroom dissolved into a cemetery. Now that felt like a half-remembered nightmare. Squeezing her eyes shut, Caroline shook her head and the bedroom became firmer.
"Caroline?" Klaus called from the bathroom. "Do you prefer the blue shirt, or the red?"
"Blue," Caroline replied, absently.
"Are you alright, love?" Klaus called to her.
"Yes," Caroline called back. She walked over to the closet and withdrew a purple dress with bright sunflowers. She wanted to wear something that made her feel light.
"Hello, darling!" Kol's voice came from the doorway and Caroline turned to find Kol and Davina. "Where is my brother?"
"In here!" Klaus called from the bathroom.
Kol entered the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Caroline could hear a quiet conversation between the brothers, about going on a road trip, to celebrate Klaus' and Caroline's college graduation. Caroline thought she heard a mention of a ring that Kol was keeping for Klaus. She felt her eyes go wide and she grinned at the idea.
"Caroline." Davina came closer to her and Caroline smiled at Kol's girl. "Hi."
"Hi," Caroline replied. She slipped the dress off the hanger.
"You know this isn't real, right?" Davina called to Caroline, her hands folded in front of her. She looked so solemn for such a young girl. Caroline had to smirk at that. She was a young girl, too.
Caroline had been returned to the age she was before she died, minus a year or two. She could start over. Everything was new. And she had a limited amount of years to do what she wanted to do with her life. She had to work so hard to make every moment count. It reminded her of her first date with Klaus. Hummingbirds. They were like hummingbirds now.
"Caroline, you need to listen to me," Davina called to her. "You have to wake up. We're running out of time. We don't know what Esther is planning to do. We have to stop her. Please, Caroline! We need your help!"
Shaking her head, Caroline saw the cemetery again. "She's coming back!" Bonnie cried out.
"NO!" Caroline shouted. "Get out of my head!"
Falling to her knees, Caroline looked around, her hands were buried in her hair and she was panting. "Caroline?" Klaus knelt down before her. He gripped her arms in his hands and peered at her through his new brown eyes. "Love, what's wrong?"
"What's happened?" Kol demanded. "Is she seeing something?" He came to stand over Caroline and Klaus. His blue eyes darting over the two of them.
"I'm fine now," Caroline said. She allowed Klaus to help her to her feet. Turning around, she gave Davina a long look before she grabbed the dress off the bed and moved to the bathroom. "I have to dress."
"Don't be too long," Davina warned her.
Caroline locked the door. Closing her eyes, she took long, steadying breaths. She would be fine. Everything was fine. She was young and in love. She just completed college. Klaus was about to pop the question. Everything she dreamed of as a little girl was possible, again.
Quickly, Caroline went through her routine and left the bathroom. She found no one in the hallway. She decided to leave and go downstairs. There was a large banner hanging by the front door. "Congratulations, Caroline and Klaus!" it read.
"Hey!" more voices greeted Caroline. Many of the faces that greeted her were not from her old life. They were new faces, with familiar spirits inside them. Stefan hugged her, his large brown eyes warm with happiness for her and Klaus. Elena tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. Damon seemed to have found a guy who resembled him. Except his eyes weren't quiet as blue, they now had hints of green.
"Caroline," Hayley called. She came to join Caroline. Her jade eyes sparkled as she shook her mane of red curls. "Elijah and I wanted you to be the first to know that we're expecting." Hayley took her hand and placed it over a tiny, tiny bump. "And we were hoping that you and Klaus would say that you'd be the godparents. I can't ask Bekah, 'cause she wanted to be the first mom in the family."
Rolling her eyes, Hayley looked to Rebekah who was making out with Marcel, who also looked a lot like his old self. Some guys' vanity just made Caroline laugh. The laughter dried when she spotted Bonnie.
Bonnie stood, just outside of the group of people. Her eyes were dark and she did not seem to be in the celebratory mood. Caroline made her way past the others until she was standing in front of her best friend. "Bonnie?"
"Caroline, can we talk?" Bonnie whispered.
"Of course. Let me just tell Klaus." Caroline turned to find Klaus when Bonnie's hand gripped Caroline's arm. "We don't have time. We need to go. Now!"
Eyes moving through the crowd, Caroline noted Klaus talking to Elijah and Kol. They all looked so happy. She did not think she'd ever seen Klaus look so relaxed. Her heart swelled with love for him.
"Okay. But I want to be back soon," Caroline said. She allowed Bonnie to lead her to the back door of the house and onto the lawn. They went through a gate and then down toward a car. "Where are we going?" Caroline asked. She paused beside the car.
"We need to go to the cemetery, Caroline," Bonnie told her. Her serious expression made Caroline feel like her friend was threatening her. And she did not like threats. "You know, Bonnie, I think I need to go back to the party." Turning on her heel, Caroline moved to go back to the house when she felt a surge of pain rip through her head.
"Bonnie, what are you doing?" Caroline demanded.
"This isn't real, Caroline!" Bonnie cried, coming to stand in front of Caroline who held her head in her hands.
"Yes, it is! This is reality. The rest of it! That was a nightmare! And you can't make me go back! This is the life I want now! I am in love! Klaus and I are happy! We can have everything, together!" Caroline pushed herself to her feet. She felt herself becoming stronger. "And you can't stop me!" She lifted her hands and felt proud when she sent Bonnie flying across the lawn.
"Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a party to attend," Caroline began to head toward the house when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning, Caroline opened her mouth to cry out when Davina blew a spray of fine dust in her face.
"Caroline!" Bonnie cried out, shaking Caroline, hard.
"What?" Caroline demanded. She sat up in the cemetery. "What just happened?" She looked around at her surroundings.
"Davina pulled you back," Bonnie explained. She glanced over her shoulder at the girl. "Esther was giving you a vision of the life you wanted. None of it was real. She did the same thing to Davina. It's the price you'll pay to have what you want that none of us can afford."
"What price?" Caroline still felt groggy. Part of her wanted to return to her perfect world, but she knew that Bonnie was right, she had to stay here. Caroline had to help stop Esther from whatever she planned to do to her family, even if it meant that Caroline would never have her fairy tale ending with Klaus.
"We don't know yet. That's why we have to go back," Davina said. "You have to help us find a way out of here. And you have to fight Esther's power over Abigail's body."
"That's easier said than done," Caroline muttered, pushing herself to her feet. "Okay. Where do we begin?"
"I think we're in what's referred to as a Chambre de Chasse," Davina stated, examining the cemetery. "I think that Esther is using it as a distraction, so we won't be able to enter The Other Side. See, once we're on The Other Side, we can try to make contact with people who can help us."
"You mean like Kol, the guy who body-jacked you?" Bonnie retorted.
Davina nodded. "To start with. I think he might be able to help us."
"Right. Kol Mikaelson, help someone other than himself." Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"Kol, was trying to help," Caroline said.
Bonnie turned to give Caroline a dubious look. "Really?"
"Yeah. Weird." Caroline shook her head. "And in my perfect world, you were his girlfriend," she told Davina.
"I know," Davina replied with a smirk.
Caroline shook her head. She was not sure what that meant but she had other things to worry about, like getting the hell out of here. "So, how you break out of this Chamber of Horrors?"
"You have to find something that symbolizes you," Davina said. "Think of it as a magical totem."
"Great," Caroline muttered. "In a cemetery, I'm supposed to find something that symbolizes me? That should be easy." Blowing out a breath—Caroline began to look around for something—anything that might symbolize her. "I don't see any little vampire dolls around here."
"That's too obvious," Bonnie replied. "Maybe a statue." She walked over to a statue atop a grave stone. "Like this angel, maybe?" She placed a hand on top of the angel's head.
"Sure," Caroline came over to the stone angel. "I'm not an angel. But we can always try." She placed both her hands on top of the angel and knocked it over. She smiled when it crashed, smashing into little pieces. "Sorry, Bon. Looks like that wasn't meant for me."
Lifting her eyes, Caroline noticed that Bonnie was not there. "Bonnie?"
"Well, we now know what symbolized Bonnie to Esther," Davina quipped and Caroline turned to find Davina walking away from her.
"Where are you going?" Caroline called to Davina.
"I've got to find my own way out of here," Davina called back.
Following the teenage witch, Caroline searched for her own way out of this place. She wondered if what symbolized her was here, in this place, or if she would spend eternity here, fighting with visions of her perfect life, until she succumbed to them.
"A rose," Davina breathed. She held up, one perfect, long-stemmed rose between her fingers with a smile. She sniffed it before she smiled at Caroline. "You'll find your way home." Lifting the fingers of her left hand, the rose gripped in her right, Davina spoke a word of French and the rose blew up, ceasing to exist.
Caroline blinked, finding herself completely alone. "Davina?" she whispered into the darkness.
When no one answered her, Caroline straightened her shoulders. "I am getting the hell out here, Esther. And so help me, I'm going to make you pay." Stomping through the graveyard, Caroline continued her own search.
It felt like hours when Caroline found a mausoleum, with a new name etched on it. Her eyes widened as she noted the name: Hope Mikaelson. "No," Caroline breathed. Tears pooled in her eyes. "No. No, no, no." She never heard Klaus or Hayley mention Hope as a baby name. But she knew, without a shred of doubt that this was the baby's name. And that Hope was her totem. Or, rather, the death of the baby was. "NO!" she shrieked. "You can't make me hurt Klaus' baby! You won't make me be the reason he loses his humanity!"
Turning, Caroline felt her body shaking uncontrollably as she looked for a weapon. Seeing a gate, she ripped off a metal rod with her magic and sent the thin metal through the marker, shattering it.
~0~
Eyes opening, Caroline sat bolt upright. She found herself lying where Esther and Finn had left her. She could feel the young witch's heat hammering inside her borrowed chest. "Hope," she cried, pushing herself to her feet. She had to get to the baby before Esther did.
"Going somewhere?" a voice called and Caroline turned to find Finn standing near. "It's interesting that you were able to find your way out of the Chambre de Chasse. Most of the vulgar women who share my brothers' beds do not have the fortitude to work out such a puzzle."
"I guess we've evolved since the billions years ago that your brother put you down," Caroline snarled. She pushed herself to her feet and sneered back at Finn who watched her closely.
"And, you know, for a half a second, I felt bad for you. I thought that only a monster would put their brother to sleep for a thousand years, looks like my opinions are evolving, too." Lifting both of her borrowed hands, Caroline sent Finn to his knees. "How does it feel, Finn?"
Finn lifted one hand and began to speak an enchantment. "That's enough of you, brother." A man stood over Finn, his grin making Caroline's eyebrows rise.
Davina came over from the other side of Caroline. She took hold of Caroline's hand and squeezed it in her own. "I told you you would get out," Davina said before she directed their hands toward Finn who let out a gasp and then fell to the ground.
"Nice work, Ms. Claire," the strange man said.
"Thank you for the help, Kol," Davina said with a grin. She let go of Abigail's hand to move to Kol's side. "Let's see what we can do with him," her eyes fell to Finn, "before we go pay your mom a visit."
Caroline, Kol and Davina looked at Finn. Caroline hoped that they could find a nice, quiet place to keep Finn prisoner until they saved Klaus, Hayley, and baby Hope.
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Peace,
J