Dangerous Light Ch. 14 I've Got a Friend in You

Disclaimer- I only own the Rivers brothers….and I guess creepy Crosby

The sun was out and warming up the Earth. Caroline strolled down the streets of Germany. She was thinking that in the next few days she would travel somewhere new. Maybe Australia.

For now though she was going to take as much time to get one last look around the city. Her fedora kept the sun out of her eyes and she had a bounce in her step despite some of the alarming things Crosby had told her recently. It was just too nice of a day out to be weighed down by such things.

"Caroline," somebody called out. "Hey Caroline, wait up!"

Chase's hand reached out to touch her shoulder. He caught up to her and he had a wide grin on his face like he was happy he had run into her.

"Hey," he said again. "I told you we would see each other around."

"Unfortunately," Caroline said under her breath.

His ears picked it up though and he kept smiling at her. "You know you do that a lot."

"Do what a lot?" Caroline turned and walked away. He walked beside her.

"You ignore the things you don't like."

She scrunched up her nose at what he said. "I'm sorry what?"

"I don't mean to be rude," he said honestly. "But it just seems like you're always running."

"Thanks for the input," Caroline didn't bother looking at him. "But I don't need a werewolf telling me what to do. "

"That's cool," Chase replied. "I get it. Hey you should come with me. I'm meeting my family at a restaurant up here."

Caroline stopped abruptly and crossed her arms. "Why are you being friendly? We're not friends."

Chase shrugged. "I don't know. I guess after the whole biting you thing it seems like we're pretty close."

"You know most people would say that makes us enemies."

"We're not most people." He pointed out.

She thought about it. No they weren't most people. "Tell me more about Mystic Heights."

"Like what?"

"Like why you aren't controlled by the moon cycle." She took a step closer to him. "Did your werewolves come from Falls?"

"Why do you want to know?" Chase had sharp hazel eyes with golden green specks. When they looked at her she could see into him. His eyes showed how kind of a person he was. She hadn't known him that long but she felt like he already cared for her. She wondered if that was because he had helped her so much when she had been bitten.

"It's kind of a big deal." Caroline couldn't pull her own eyes off of his. "Do you understand how big of a deal it is that I'm still alive?"

"Yeah," he nodded his head. "I get it, but you still don't need to concern yourself about our history."

"Does Heights have vampires as well?"

"No," he admitted. "We're pure pack but like I said just forget about it all."

"How does nobody know about you guys not turning on the full moon? In fact if you can chose when you turn then why do you do it even?"

Chase figured that she wasn't going to let up. Together they walked to a bench and sat down.

"Don't let Milo or Jesse know that I told you this stuff." He was serious. "But there's no fear in any of us when it comes to turning. To many werewolves it's painful and you're a slave to it. Probably why Klaus can convince so many to become hybrids. When I turn though I feel a sense of freedom. The wolf is just a big a part of me as anything else."

Caroline took in a deep breath. "How long has your pack not been controlled by the moon?"

"For centuries," he told her. "About a thousand years."

"So your pack is the one that was there when the Originals first came." Caroline questioned. "But how is that possible when Mikael killed the wolf pack after becoming a vampire."

"I didn't say I would tell you everything."

"The wolves back then only turned on the full moon." She kept going though he had stopped talking.

Chase shrugged. His face was blank. "I'm sorry but you don't keep a secret safe by talking."

Caroline shook her head furiously. "But I don't understand how you're like this."

"Well why are you the way you are?" Chase challenged her evenly.

Her lips were parted slightly open. The question caught her off guard. In a split decision she decided to tell him the truth. "Because I had cancer and when I went in for surgery the doctor felt the need to give me vampire blood. Katherine came and killed me."

Chase looked down at her. He wasn't expecting so much information. "Why would she do that?"

"Because I was a message," Caroline stood up from the bench and started walking away. She had never felt like such a pawn before the moment that Katherine decided to turn her.

The wolf followed behind her. "Who was the message for?"

She tilted her head to look at him wearily. She kept walking briskly but he continued to tail her.

"Come on," he said. "Everybody knows Katherine only does something for her benefit. Why would you make it on her list? Did you know her?"

Shrugging slightly Caroline let a few key words slip out.

Chase stopped surprised. He held his hands up and his mouth dropped open. "Wait you're the girl everybody's been freaking out over."

"I didn't say that," she stomped her foot and swiveled around to face him.

"You didn't have to," he looked at her in a new way. "But you just said you used to be friends with the Doppelganger. For months everybody was abuzz about this girl who had run away."

Caroline walked away again disgusted. He wouldn't stop bugging her. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh no it's all coming to me now." He waved his finger knowingly at her. "Yeah they kept saying this vampire created by Katherine had disappeared in a blink. Shit it was because of you Salvatore almost died of a werewolf bit."

Caroline shrugged moodily. "Not like it worked."

"Yeah we were wondering how he survived." Chase admitted. "Our information is limited sometimes because we keep our distance from others."

"So that your super-secret won't get out," Caroline mocked him.

"Yep," he said cheerfully. "Anyway news broke about the sheriff's daughter dying a while ago."'

"Yep," she used his word.

"Do you want to explain that?" he asked.

"I'm dead."

"Well technically, but you're here right now."

"Let's just say I needed to die."

"So you could run away?"

"Stop that," Caroline said loudly to him. "Stop acting like you know me. Yes I was once friends with the Doppelganger, and yeah Katherine killed me so she could use me for some message to Klaus, and yeah I ran away. So keep your mouth shut that about me being here because I'm dead."

Chase's jaw dropped. "Katherine's message was to Klaus?"

"Yeah," Caroline took a left turn.

"How do you know Klaus?"

"I was fucking him," she wanted to shock him.

After a minute of walking she realized he was no longer behind her. She turned back to see if he had gone off and left her but instead he was in the middle of the sidewalk on his knees bowing up and down to her with his hands.

"What the hell are you doing?" her voice carried a hint of laughter.

"I'm bowing down to you," his voice was muffled as his head was bent down towards the ground. "It's not every day that I meet somebody who pleases an Original in bed."

"Oh my God," Caroline rolled her eyes. "Would you just get up already?"

Chase stepped back onto his feet and smiled. "See," he said. "I think we just had one of our first friend moments."

"We aren't friends," she reminded him.

"I think we will be."

"Dream on," she exaggerated the words. "And if we were friends you would tell me more about your wolf pack."

"If we were friends you wouldn't ask about that."

"I don't know," she said. "I'm kind of a nosy friend."

He held out a hand to her and smiled up at her. "Friends?"

Caroline looked at the hand he was giving her. Against her better judgment she shook it. "Friends."

And somehow they instantly were best pals.

Together they walked side by side on the street. The air between them was lighter. It was an easy going feeling that Caroline had to admit comforted her. It had been a long time since she actually had a friend.

"Oh hey," Chase waved his hand to a girl that was walking to them. She carried her tall heels in one hand and had a swaying bounce to her step. She smiled dreamily at them. "This is Cora."

"Hello," she said nicely. "I didn't know you were staying so long in Germany."

"We're taking a nice long vacation." He told the girl. "Cora this is Caroline."

Caroline politely shook the other girl's hand. Cora was tall and lean built like a dancer. Long sunny blonde hair layered straight down her shoulders. It was almost lunch time but it was clear that she was just going home from a night out. It was also clear that she was another vampire.

"I met Cora in Florida," Chase explained. "A couple months back. It was a coincidence that we saw each other at a concert a few days ago."

"It's nice to meet you," Caroline smiled at the girl. She hadn't met another vampire her age in a while.

"You too," she was very agreeable. "I think I need to go rest my feet." She smiled before stepping forward and leaving them.

"She's nice," Chase told Caroline. "She never stops dancing though."

Along the street they came near a patio that sat restaurant guests. Caroline instantly recognized Milo and Jesse. More family members that she didn't know were sitting at the table as well.

"Was this your plan?" Caroline asked. "Walk until we meet up with your family at lunch?"

"Pretty much," Chase smiled mischievously. "It worked."

"I don't think your brothers care for me that much." She confided in him.

"Nah," he reassured her. "Jesse just gets really irritated and defensive when he's upset. And Milo has to be careful."

"What do you mean?" Caroline thought it was a curious way to describe the brother.

"He's the leader of the pack." He met her eyes.

The information was surprising to her but she masked the feeling. They walked towards the group. Milo nodded to her as a greeting. It seemed like he was the quiet one. Jesse folded his arms over his chest. A girl next to him elbowed him in the ribs and he broke into a more relaxed state.

"Caroline this is my brother Jesse's wife, Jess." He pointed to the girl who had elbowed Jesse. They shared a look about their names matching. "And their son James. And this is Marco but we call him Polo, I know it's not that original of a nickname."

Caroline looked at Marco. He was much smaller and scrawnier than the others. While he shared some similarities he didn't look close enough to be a brother. Maybe a cousin. He sat all the way in the back of his chair with his head bent down looking at his blue jeans. His right foot tapped the ground eight little times. One big stomp. A slap with his hand on his knee. Repeat. He never looked up at Caroline and she was polite enough to not point out that he seemed to be disabled.

"Polo has Asperger's but he's cool. He's our cousin." Chase confirmed everything she thought. "Anyway family this is Caroline." He pointed to her.

"It's nice to meet you," Jess said to her. She looked friendly. She kept watching her little son closely. He was still a toddler. They must be a young family.

They were just so friendly to her. They asked a few questions but never peppered her on any sensitive information. Jesse relaxed and he was actually not a bad guy. In a lot of ways he was like Chase in that he was easy going and liked a good time. Milo reminded her of Matt in that he was the silent strong type. He seemed very shy and she wondered how he became leader of the pack at such a young age. The answer was that their parents had died in a car crash a few years ago.

They welcomed Caroline in with open arms and took her as she was.

It was a nice feeling knowing that they treated her like nothing was wrong with her. They didn't ask for any details on Mystic Falls which was a relief.

She hadn't planned on staying in Germany any longer but time had flown by. It was one night while she was dancing in a club that she looked around and realized something. The floor was packed and she was in between Chase and Cora. Chase had been right when he said she only danced. Caroline opened her eyes swaying to the pulsing music and felt her heart lift. For the first time in a very long time she was happy. Unconditional happiness swarmed her. She had friends that made her feel good about herself.

Weeks went by and she lived in her happy bubble. Cora was fun to talk to. The funny thing too was that they found out that Caroline was actually the older vampire between the two by about a month.

The Rivers family left Germany to go back to Mystic Heights but Chase stayed. He had graduated high school and had decided to not go to college. He had all the time in the world to hang out with Caroline.

The feelings between them simmered. They flirted and talked and were playful. They were just friends but they were so comfortable. It didn't take any time for them to become so close. If they spent all night dancing it wasn't unusual for them to stumble home with sore feet and crash in the same bed.

Months went by and Caroline felt like she could talk to him and tell him everything. She told him about being best friends with Bonnie and Elena and how everything changed when the Salvatore's came into town. She told him about being feed off. She gossiped about the cheer squad and for the first time she told somebody about how she felt when her father left her mom for another man. She admitted that she had handled situations rather badly and had tried to piss people off by sleeping with Klaus.

They were lying in bed as the morning light came in. Nobody said anything as they kept the easy peace going. Chase traced figure eights on her arm as they both lay on their backs looking up at the ceiling. It was so peaceful.

"I want to tell you about Mystic Heights." He broke the quiet.

Caroline turned her head on the pillow to look at him. He kept his face towards the ceiling.

"You don't have to," she told him. "It doesn't matter."

"It does," he looked at her and sat up in bed. "We keep this secret hidden but you came along and I think you deserve to know. I mean look at how well you fit in with my family. You're not just some average vampire. I think you need to figure how you survived the bite."

"And how can I figure that out?"

Chase took in a deep breath. "I need to take you to the witch doctor."

"The what?" Caroline sat up in bed.

"Okay so she's not a witch or a doctor. Actually she would probably hate us if she knew we called her that behind her back. She doesn't get along with witches."

"Who is she?"

"Somebody from Mystic Heights," Chase looked at her and she knew that he was breaking all the rules. He was nervous and jittery as he talked.

Chase turned so he was facing more towards her and he started with his story.

"You were right about the first werewolves from Mystic Falls only turning on the full moon. Klaus's real father was a man named Raynerius. He came before the Vikings. He was from an area that's the present day Croatia. The wolves settled first and then the Mikaelsons came."

"You guys were there first?" Caroline tried to keep up.

"We were in the area," Chase said. "And when Esther created the vampires Mikael figured out that Klaus wasn't his son. In retaliation like you said he killed all the werewolves."

"I don't get it," Caroline was completely confused. "So you aren't the pack from back then. You came later?"

"This is why it's such a big deal that we remain a secret." Chase looked so distraught as he talked. He had never had to explain this to an outsider. "Mikael thought he killed Raynnerius. He didn't."

"What do you mean he didn't?" Caroline sat up straighter. "This still doesn't answer how you can turn whenever you want."

"Henrik had been mauled by the wolves that killed him. Mikael decided that Ray deserved the same wounds his son got. But the wounds given to him weren't fatal enough. Raynerius managed to hold on to his life. A woman name Cicilia found him in the river. He was a fisherman and that's where Mikael hurt him and then killed the other wolves. She convinced him that the only way he would be able to heal is by turning into his wolf self that healed much faster."

"But let me guess," Caroline was breathless. "It wasn't a full moon."

"Exactly," Chase nodded. "Somehow he managed to do it. He broke away from the moon cycle. He healed and ended up settling Mystic Heights passing on the new gene. Nobody's ever known that it's a wolf town. In fact it's believed that werewolves came back to Falls when the Lockwoods arrived."

Caroline didn't know what to say.

"Millie is the witch doctor," Chase told her. "She's a descendent from Cicilia. She actually lives in the country out here. I think if we go to her she could explain some things."

"Okay," Caroline nodded. Answers would be good. "But you do realize that it's going to take me a little bit to get over this. I mean this is huge."

Chase nodded in understanding. He couldn't believe he was telling her everything. "Do you realize why we have to keep it a secret?"

"Yeah," Caroline swallowed. "Because you're related to Klaus."

Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think!