Dangerous Light Ch. 25 Millie Lives On

Disclaimer-not mine

"Would you turn that down," Elena flipped her hair over her shoulder as she leaned down to check the oven. Tyler and Matt were yelling at the football game on the huge TV screen.

They ignored her and flopped back on the couch when their favorite team failed to make a touchdown. Their beer bottles consoled them. Bonnie breezed in through the front door and set a side dish down on the counter. Damon followed in after her and gave Stefan one of those guy handshakes.

"Can I just say for like the millionth time," Damon gave Elena a kiss on the forehead before pulling a glass out of the overhead cabinet. "That it's still really strange to have the Mikaelson's family come over for Sunday dinner."

"We find it just as weird," Rebekah brushed past him to put a loaf of French bread on the table. Her attitude was cool as always.

"Damon," Elena warned. "Remember why we do this in the first place."

"Because you like to cook even though as a vampire all the food tastes like crap," he mocked her.

"Speak for yourself," Matt nodded in appreciation to Elena. He always had her back. "The food is great."

"Thank you," Elena took out a bottle of wine. "And Damon we have these dinners because we need weekly reminders of why we're here on this Earth."

"Family and friends," Bonnie gave Elena a hug. "I love these dinners so don't let him give you a hard time."

"He's just being Damon," Stefan teased his brother. Their relationship had evened out lately.

"Hey," Jeremy came hopping down the stairs. "Tyler I saw Hayley come up the walk."

He let the girl in and Tyler was already out of his seat ready to give her a hug.

"Hey," Elena and Bonnie said in unison.

"Hi," she smiled really big. "I brought green beans."

"Yay," Damon said under his breath.

Elena hit him and took the side dish from Hayley. "Thank you."

"No thanks for having me," Hayley was still smiling as she shrugged out of her jacket. It was warm in the kitchen with the oven going and some candles wick's giving off heat. It was the two for twenty deal at Bath and Body Works so Elena had stocked up on all kinds of different fall scents.

"Of course," Elena gave her a glass of wine. "We were just saying that we have these dinners so that we all know what and who we're fighting for."

"It's a lovely reminder," Elijah came into the kitchen and stood by his sister. Kol and Klaus walked in behind him. Out of all of them Elijah was dressed the best with his proper suit and shiny black shoes. He had classic good looks. "I think I speak for all when I say we appreciate these dinners."

"But let's not lie," Kol opened the freezer. "Blood is better."

"Kol," Rebekah groaned. "Would you please learn some manners."

"I could say the same to you," Kol went to grab a blood bag but a look from his brothers stopped him. The family had come so far in this town. It was like they really were friends with the Scooby gang and he didn't want to be so rude. He would eat the food Elena had prepared despite it tasting like shit.

"I think it's almost ready," Elena finished setting the table. It would be a tight squeeze with all of them. "Guys, turn that down please."

This time they listened and Matt used the remote to turn the volume down. They stood up and walked to the table. Everybody sat and food was passed out. Elena would never have imagined three years ago when Klaus first came into town she would now be sitting with his family and her friends all having the same dinner. There was this understanding now between the two groups that they had each other's backs.

"Sorry," Tyler's phone buzzed and he reached in his pocket to grab it. They all knew how to read his poker face so it was obvious the phone call was important. So important in fact that he got up from the table and walked out the kitchen door into the back yard. When Hayley leaned back to look out the kitchen window from her seat she could see him pacing lightly back and forth. A look on his face made her worried. She started to get up a question in her mind when he came back in.

Tyler sat back down next to her and she squeezed his thigh and he leaned his forehead into her hair. She gave him a worried look that voiced her thoughts. He nodded his head lightly very aware who they were with at the moment.

"What's with you two?" Bonnie pointed her fork at them and raised an eyebrow.

Hayley shook her head trying to brush the whole thing off while Tyler kept his face pointed away from Klaus. But their friends knew them too well.

"Perhaps they don't want to share," Rebekah finished off her wine. "God forbid it where to end up in the gossip mill."

"Everybody loves a bit of good gossip," Kol leaned back in his chair with his playboy attitude. He was always ready for a good rumor.

"Guys it's nothing," Tyler assured them and asked Jeremy to pass a dish to him.

"Let's not worry about anything but this amazing casserole," Elijah said. Everybody stopped to look at him.

"You are such a loser," Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Let's not embarrass ourselves by talking about casseroles now brother."

"Now you have to tell us the rumor," Stefan picked at his food. "Just to get the memory of Elijah saying casserole in his thousand year old accent."

Hayley lightly shook her head no hoping Tyler wouldn't give in. Tyler for his part looked like he was going to remain silent.

"It was the brother," Klaus leaned back in his chair while his fingers played with the stem of his wine glass. He looked straight into his hybrids eyes. "The brother of the leader from Mystic Heights."

"What," Bonnie looked back and forth between the two.

"Jesse?" Matt said. He shrugged sheepishly at Tyler's look. "I saw the caller ID."

"What does he want?" Damon sat up straighter.

"Nothing," Hayley began trying to defend her boyfriend.

"If my hybrid has anything to do with the pack I want to know about it." Klaus silenced the girl. He gave his unwavering stare to Tyler. "Best fess up now to what he wanted."

"It's not what you think," Tyler shook his head.

"Why don't you just tell us what he wanted." Elijah suggested.

Tyler hung his head before picking it back up to look at his friends. He shrugged. "Okay so they called me a couple of days ago."

"Are you in cahoots with them?" Elena wanted to know. This could be a bad situation.

"No," Tyler grew defensive. "It's not like that. They called me a couple days ago because Caroline went missing."

The table was silent before Stefan finally spoke. "What?"

Tyler shook his head just as confused. "They called asking if I had seen her. They knew we were still pretty good friends."

"Imagine that," Rebekah's knife hit the plate she had chopped through her food so harshly. "Once a runner always a runner."

"Did she run away?" Elena asked.

"No," Tyler said gravely. "I don't know what happened. But they hadn't seen her for a week and a half."

"Why are you so upset?" Elijah asked. With his critical eye he could see that something afflicted the boy.

Tyler looked around the table. "They called because they hadn't seen her like the way they just had."

"What do you mean?" Stefan tilted his head in wonder.

"She was close to mummification," Tyler stated to the surprise of many. "After a week and a half she was so starved they didn't know what to do. I told them she needed blood."

"What do you mean she was so starved that she looked like a mummy?" Elena leaned forward and everybody had the same question on their lips. It took much longer than a week to be so desiccated.

A week and a half earlier

"Polo," Caroline reached her hand out to touch his shoulder. She noticed that her porch light made a buzzing sound. A bug flew across her face in the night. "What are you talking about?"

"I found Millie," he said again. "Come on, I'll show you."

"Wait," she had to grab him to stop him from running off her porch. "Let's talk about this."

"No," she saw him start to make his usual nervous movements. "I need to show you something."

"Okay," she took a deep breath. "How about we slow down though just so I can change?"

Marko allowed her to change but she only had about two minutes to hop into a pair of boots and clean clothes. She grabbed a jacket on her way out knowing that the air was starting to get chilly at night.

"Come on," Polo walked off the porch as she turned back to lock the door.

"Where are we going?" she asked after following him silently for a few minutes. "Polo is this the cemetery?"

Polo nodded excited before opening up the gate onto the grounds. Mist covered the grass and dirt was fresh. They walked up the slope of a hill weaving over dead people. Polo stopped at a mausoleum. He took a flashlight out of his backpack and flicked it on. The light came out in a beam and he shined it along the wall of the tomb.

"Darter," Caroline read. She felt breathless. "Polo, this is the gravesite for Millie and Cicilia."

Polo reached out and jiggled on the door until it opened giving them access inside. Caroline had a feeling that this was a bad made for TV horror movie. She followed him in.

"Is this what you meant when you said you found her?" she tried to understand.

Polo's shoulders were shrugging up and down. One foot stomp and then three short taps with his toes. It was nervous excitement that he had. "I think she knew. I think they always knew. And then they had to help me figure it out. I did it Caroline. I figured it out."

"Okay," Caroline realized Polo's brain was working much faster making his sentences come out short and cryptic. He didn't have time to explain. "Can you tell me more?"

"Stand here," he pushed her over into a corner. "And Aunt Care," he looked at her and she suddenly had a bad feeling hit the ball of her stomach. "Don't freak out."

She didn't freak out. She screamed. Just as Polo said his last word he pulled down on a lever that before she had just thought was an ornament in the tomb. The ground under here broke apart and she was dropped even farther into the darkness. It was a short drop but it had come so unexpected that she had to take a minute to recover. A flashlight barely missed her head as it was dropped down. Polo was going to leave her in the hole.

"Polo," Caroline screamed out. He had obviously meant to do that. She was now stuck in some creepy gravesite. "What's going on?"

"Keep going Aunt Care," his voice sounded distant.

She picked up the flashlight and held it tightly to her chest. She shook it once hearing the batteries in it clang and then pushed the plastic on button. The hole she was in was just a hole. It was narrow like a tube. Inching around herself she turned to see another opening close to the ground. It was smaller. Awkwardly she crouched and bent down into the second hole and scrapped through. Dirt smeared onto her face. She felt like she was ten seconds away from a panic attack she had no idea what was going on.

There was more standing room now. She stood up and figured out that she was in a tunnel. The light from the flashlight guided her. Thick slabs of rock were all around her. She didn't know how long she would have to keep going. She prayed there were no spiders around. Caroline moved the light around trying to see anything.

The tunnel kept going and going. It widened the more she walked. It wasn't as dark anymore as her eyes adjusted. The rocks became a lighter grey. The only thing to do was to keep walking forward.

She would have missed it if she hadn't of flashed the light in the right place. The glow only illuminated the carving in the wall for a second before it moved on. Catching it from the corner of her eye though she aimed the flashlight back at the wall.

There were names on the wall. Carved rudely into the stone in sharp cuts. She moved closer putting the light right up over them. She brought her hand up to the rock and ran her hands over them feeling the texture. Cicilia, Dina, Delilah, Maya, Bathsheba, and Mildred. They weren't the only names as hundreds filled the wall. Century's worth.

Caroline kept the light steadily on the wall as she followed it. Pictures were painted and cut. It was like a timeline. A story. The Darter's story.

It explained to Caroline how Cicilia had come to the new world. She lived in the village balanced between the humans and wolves. The vampire's creation wreaked havoc on the peace. A girl figure was drawn next to a river with a bloody man lying by it. It told about the day Cicilia had found Ray. She persuaded him to change to his wolf form in order for him to survive.

Caroline walked down the tunnel. Mystic Heights was created. Descendants of Cicilia were born. Mesmerized by the art she ran into a wall. So startled she shook her self out of a daze and beamed the flashlight at the wall in front of her. Rungs of a ladder were dug out of the stone. There was nowhere but up to go. Putting the flashlight in her mouth she climbed up and put her arm to the ceiling using her strength to push open a very old and crusty trap door.

Relief flooded her as she saw stars scattered above her. The trap door had led her out of the dark tunnel. Her upper body strained as she lifted her body out. Letting out a few heavy breaths looking around.

She was in one of the most beautiful gardens she had ever seen. Tall hedges of shrubs lined it and an array of brightly colored flowers blossomed. Fountains poured out streams of water. It was perfect. Standing up she saw the house. It was massive, a true mansion of its own. A huge window faced the garden and she walked forward. A chandelier could be seen inside. The whole place had a magical touch to it.

Caroline wasn't sure what to do. There was a point to all of this though, she was sure. She had no choice but to open a door. Taking one step into the house she felt wrong. It was like she was breaking and entering. Pushing the uneasiness away she kept her feet moving forward. The house was grand and full of antiques. It was empty but she swore she was being watched. At one point as she walked up the stairs and through a hallway she thought she saw somebody before they swiftly moved back into the shadows.

Caroline felt like she was about to go mad. Her skin crawled. Her brain kept telling her to run the hell out of here. But she couldn't. Something made her move forward. She wasn't sure what she was looking for but she continued poking around. She made it to the fourth floor when she stopped. A room had a light on. The house had been dark everywhere else but in that one room. She stepped forward and peeked through the crack of the doorway.

A girl was standing in front of a three way mirror. She had a huge floppy hat and a dress probably from the 18th century. Strands of pearls were layered over the tiny girl's chest.

The girl froze in the mirror when she caught sight of Caroline in the doorway. Her eyes bulged out like she had been caught doing something wrong. She put her finger to her lip telling Caroline to be quiet.

"Please don't tell," she twirled around to face Caroline. "I just wanted to try it on."

"Uh, what," Caroline didn't know what to say. The girl was acting so normally even though she had never seen her. This kid really needed to learn about stranger danger.

"Don't tell anybody," the girl's eyes were huge. They startled Caroline. She knew those eyes.

"Okay," Caroline nodded and came forward in the room.

"Mildred," the girl who could only have been about eight held out a hand for Caroline to shake.

"Mildred," she whispered back. "Millie."

Millie smiled up at her. She had red lipstick on. She was just a kid playing dress up. Caroline stood frozen not knowing what to do. She finally put a hand down to shake Millie's hand. Her fingers sliced down into the girls. Millie wasn't human. She was a ghost.

"What?" Caroline was on the verge of tears her body was so stressed out. "Millie?"

The girl's bold eyes just stared up at her not blinking. She looked so brave compared to the blubbering vampire in front of her. She tried to console Caroline.

"It's okay," Millie told her. "I feel fine now."

"But how?" Caroline shook her head. Her best friend was standing in front of her as a ghost in the form of her eight year old self.

Millie turned back around to see herself in the mirror. She gave a playful curtsy into the mirror and smiled. "Eights my favorite number. I've always loved it."

"Millie," Caroline wiped up her tears. The little kid was speaking cryptically like the girl she knew. "What the hell is going on?"

Mildred was silent for a minute. She slowly and ominously turned back around to face Caroline. "We want to help you."

"What?" Caroline felt scared. The door behind her creaked open and she turned her head just a centimeter knowing somebody else was in the room. She turned her head more and was in full panic mode. The room was filled with ghosts. Not just any ghosts though. They were Cicilia's and Millie's family.

Millie stepped in front of Caroline and held out a hand. "Trust me Care."

Caroline stared down. This girl didn't have the crazy voice like the Millie she had known. There was a calmness to her. The other ghosts, all women, were solemn as they circled around her. Millie reached up for Caroline's hand and this time she felt the solid feeling of another limb.

"Caroline," the blood dripped onto her mouth. It rolled over her lips and hit her tongue. Jerking up she felt all the bones and muscles in her complain with stiffness. She felt like a rock, not having moved in a very long time. Hank's face swam in front of her face. What was going on?

Everything was blurry but after a few more drops hit her tongue she was able to sit up though she was still very confused. Hank was the only other person in the room. She looked around but no Millie ghosts were around.

"Are you okay?" it was like he was shouting at her.

She jumped out from his reach smelling the blood. His arm was bloody where he had cut it letting the wound bleed into her mouth. Jesse came into the room followed by Milo and Jess. All had the same very worried looks on their faces.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jess screamed.

"Not here," Jesse restrained his wife. "Let's just go."

Caroline didn't realize what was going on. Milo and Jessed helped her up and she tried to gather her bearings. "I don't what?"

"You're in the Darter's house," Jesse let her know. "You've been gone a week and a half."

"But, no I haven't," she mumbled. Where had the time gone?

"A week and a half," Jess seethed. "We had no idea where the hell you were. How did you even know this place? You're lucky Hank thought to finally check it or who knows what would have happened."

Caroline stumbled. She had the feeling that she shouldn't tell them about Polo and the tomb. She shook her head. Her blond curls were limp and dirty.

"Hi," Jesse hander her a cigarette. She was sitting on her back porch. Leaves were floating in the water of her pool. A thick knitted blanket was wrapped around her shoulders, tucking her up tight. "You want to tell me what happened?"

"I don't know what happened," Caroline admitted. Milo and Jess were too upset with her to talk to her. "I don't know how I could have been gone for so long. I swear I didn't mean for it to happen."

"How did you get to Millie's house?" Jesse was concerned.

She shrugged. "I just did. Why didn't you ever tell me about it? It's like a freaking castle out there."

Jesse was silent and Caroline looked over at him. His face was drawn tight with worry.

"What?" she prompted. "What's wrong?"

"What did you see when you were there?"

Caroline's navy eyes hit him. "Would you believe me if I said I saw Millie?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I would believe you. Caroline I think I have to tell you something."

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly. Jesse was usually so laid back that he frightened her with his seriousness.

Jesse turned to her and finished off his own cigarette. "I don't think Chase ever explained much about Millie's family before he introduced you guys."

"Yeah," she agreed with that. "Just about Cicilia and Ray."

"Yeah well there's a lot more than just that."

"Like what?"

"Millie was crazy."

Caroline didn't react. "Well yeah I kind of figured that out."

"No," Jesse's eyebrows were knitted together. "I mean like really crazy. As in they were cursed."

"What?"

"The women in the Darter's family all had this curse on them. When they turned a certain age they started to go insane."

"Couldn't that be like," Caroline shook her head. "A disease?"

"No it was a curse," Jesse was insistent. "You know why they went crazy?"

Caroline told him she didn't know and he kept going, "Because they live on as ghosts all in that one house."

"What?" she said again. "What do you mean they lived all in that house?"

"Their ghost live there." He told her. "They have this curse thing on them. When they die they go back as ghosts to live in the house. Millie grew up there with all her dead ancestors. After a while every female decedent starts to go crazy. Luckily it skips the men."

"That's crazy," she rebutted.

Jesse just stared at her. "Millie's our cousin. Our mom was her aunt. Right before my mom died in that car accident she was starting to go kind of crazy."

"You're related to Millie?" Caroline said. "And Raynerious.

"Yep," Jesse looked at the pool. Their conversation lagged.

"I didn't mean to scare everybody by disappearing."

"I know," Jesse kept his eyes on the water. "Milo and Jess were just scared anyway though. Milo hates that house because he saw more of mom's craziness right before she died. He thought they were going to do something to you."

"I think they did," Caroline said quietly. "I think they wanted me to come there to remind me about something."

"Something?" he wanted to know.

She nodded and tucked a curl behind her ear. "Jesse, Millie told me about all kinds of things that were going to happen in the future. Like about this war. I never believed her but I think they had me come to them so they could remind me."

Jesse didn't reply to her. He didn't know what to say.

"Jesse," she said. "What would the pack do if war started?"

He shrugged. "It'd be up to Milo."

Caroline leaned back into her lounge chair and thought about it. Milo was so bent upon Mystic Heights staying peaceful but what if they needed to fight one day.

"So I saw Klaus go into your house the other day," Jesse's voice brought her back to real life.

"Crap," she looked sideways at him. "You saw that?"

"You want to explain?" he didn't yell at her. He was actually very calm about it. She wondered if he had told anybody else. It didn't seem like he had.

"Nah," she scrunched up her nose. "Not really."

Caroline walked to Millie's house the next day by herself. The wind was blowing her hair everywhere and leaves scattered the streets. It was weird to see the house from the front. It was as grand that way as it was from seeing it from the back garden. She opened the iron rod fence and walked across the grounds. She felt a surge of energy as she opened the front door.

"Uh, hello," she said to any ghosts lying around. "Millie?"

"Hi," Millie leaped down a staircase. She was older than last time, now a teenager. "I'm sorry we got you in trouble. We just wanted to study you."

"Yeah," Caroline strung the word out. "Why didn't you tell me about the curse?"

Millie's face grew tight. She swung her shoulders side to side. "It's just what it is. We don't like to think about it."

Caroline followed the ghost up the hallway. "You grew up in this house, always being able to see your ancestors."

"Can you believe there was a time when I thought I would be the first one to not go crazy?" Millie as a ghost actually looked more down to Earth than she had as a human. "It doesn't matter anyway."

They ended up at a library.

"What now?" Caroline questioned her.

"These are books about all kinds of things." Millie floated through the stacks of books. "I thought you would like to read them."

"Is that why you had Polo come get me and bring me here?" she studied her friend. "To do more research?"

Millie's body language didn't give anything away. "No, I just wanted you to know that we're here. That if you ever needed anything this house is open to you."

Millie brushed by Caroline on the way out leaving her alone. This time the house did seem friendlier than last time. But Caroline wasn't sure what the point of all of this had been. Maybe the whole Darter family was bat shit crazy.

Sighing Caroline put her purse on a table and for something to do she fingered a stack of books. She examined some picking them up and then setting them down. Mystic Heights High School was the title of a yearbook. She opened it and flipped through the glossy pages. Picture after picture it went. Milo was a sophomore at the time and Jesse a freshman. Chase wasn't even in high school at the time. We love our Honor students a page read out. Bright smiling faces looked up at her. Millie Darter, Valedictorian.

Caroline kept staring at the picture. It was hard to believe she had lived a different life than the one in Germany. She was just a teen working so hard on her grades. Her destiny ended up being cruel to her. Sadness hit her.

With determination Caroline sat down in the chair at the table. She opened another book this one was full of handwritten notes. She wasn't sure what she was researching but she trusted Mildred.

This had been the most exhausting last couple of weeks for Caroline. And to top it all off Jess and Milo were still upset with her for disappearing. Not like she had meant for that to happen. Either way with blood back in her system and a headache from reading books all day in Millie's library she was ready for bed.

Pulling PJs over her head she walked back into the main part of her room. She frowned noticing something lying on the bed for the first time. She must have missed it coming into her bedroom. A blue velvet jewelry box was rectangular. Caroline picked it up and snapped the lid open. A stunning diamond bracelet sparkled.

Totally confused Caroline picked up the scroll of paper under the box and unrolled it.

Love,

I have not seen you for the past week and a half because you were starving yourself from blood. How careless of you.

I know our last encounter did not suit you though I must admit I enjoyed every minute of it. I would tell you this in person but I have a feeling you would not allow that. I will take the time to explain myself in this note, though I have always thought leaving such messages were for cowards.

Take this bracelet fit for a queen and know that I fancy you despite my head telling me you are just the enemy lying with werewolves and taking my brother as your hostage. The heart is complicated and for my entire existence I ignored it.

But three years ago I crashed into you and you were nothing. Just a girl that I compelled. I next saw you in the Grill and I became infatuated. We started an affair and I do not regret our actions. I regret that I never told you how special you were. I fear you ran away in the first place because you believed you had nothing in Mystic Falls in the first place. I think we all realize now our loss. For now I will leave you your secrets though do not for one second think I will not come for my brother at some point.

Klaus

Caroline reread the letter before letting it fall to the bed. She didn't know how to react. Honestly she just wanted to know what the fuck kind of letter that was.

Well I hope you enjoyed finding out a little bit more about Millie. And how about that note? It seems like Klausy just doesn't know how to deal with his feelings for her. I'm very excited for next chapter because Rebekah makes a new friend in the form of a curly blonde. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!