Ok guys, this is the official first chapter of The Scars Not Seen and I sincerely hope you all enjoy it!

Thank you to Katherina9988, Trich, Bell16, arabella, StefanxKlaus14, chillwithJyl, deceptivedecadence, Sci-fi Christian, horsegirl75, redbudrose, Clara, Guest, lala931, Crazygirl8243, restlesssoul21, Luv22, Lily94, PsychVamp, shadowfaxangel, xx-MissM-x, Lazerlicious, Banana71588, InuGnome17, KahlanDarcy, nicaha23, angelvboo, I Love All Books TVD Klaroline, tearzofthestarz, babyvfan, mawwaw, Kat7CA, DawnWalnut, LoveandWinning, TaylorMikaelson, peachx89, BiancaR, v, epic sweetness712, clashcityrocker083, MarsterRoo, BlueJean452, Guest, ILoveYou1978, Garota for reviewing the prologue and to those of you who have decided to join us for this leg of the story, thanks also!

IMPORTANT: I went through TLTLB the last couple of days, editing some pretty horrid typos and mistakes and I just wanted to tell you all about the biggest change I made. I made it so that Caroline was actually SEVENTEEN when she was turned. So she is cannon aged (physically). She still met Klaus when she was a year younger, but I changed the time-skip in Chapter 17 'Down Days' of TLTLB from a few weeks to several months, therefore passing by her birthday ;) I did this simply because the age difference was bothering me AND I don't want everything to be different from the cannon. I hope you all don't mind!

I just want to apologize for the long wait for this chapter – I had major writer's block and the semester is starting again :(

Disclaimer: No TVD for me.

Chapter 1

Searching Souls

Mystic Falls, Virginia 2009

Caroline Forbes slowed the car down in front of the house, her house she had to remind herself, letting out a small sigh. The house wasn't particularly big, but she quite liked it. It was quaint and white and a place that could be called home.

She wasn't sure what she was doing here anymore. It had all been so clear to her when she had first made the plan, when it this idea first occurred to her. And now, here she was, but nothing was clear.

Nothing.

Paris, France 1560

Caroline woke up slowly, her eyes flickering a little as awareness came back to her and, when they finally opened, she was surprised to be in an unfamiliar room. Trying to clear her mind, she sat up slowly. Her head was pulsing in an awful way; it was as if someone had placed many hard objects in Caroline's skull and then shook it about until their arms had began to ache. The brightness around her burned her eyes. Even the wavering candlelight was almost too much for her head.

Taking a calming breath, Caroline scanned around the room, trying not to panic at waking up in a place she did not know. She tried to find something that was remotely familiar to her.

There was nothing

Where am I? The question kept popping up in her aching head as she tried to find the answer.

How did I get here?

She tried remembering how she had gotten to where she was but as she looked back there was only a blur. Confused, she tried to remember something, anything, about the days previous only to get the same result. Panicking, she tried to look back even further.

Her head began ringing and there was still not a single memory that she could recognize. She couldn't remember. She couldn't remember yesterday, or the day before, months ago... years ago. She couldn't remember a single thing. No memory. Nothing. Now was the time to panic.

W-What is this?

Caroline knew this was not natural. She knew that this should not be happening to any normal person. People had memories! They had lives and other people! So, why…? She didn't understand. What was going on?

She took a moment to calm herself. Alright Caroline, think about what you know, not what you don't. Caroline paused a moment to take a shuddering breath, trying to get her head to pulse less. When she was done with that, she focused on the task at hand.

She knew her own name, that much clear. Her name was Caroline Forbes, but who was she? As she thought on it, bordering on panic once more, she began to become aware of a burning in her throat and, for an unknown reason, she knew water would not be enough to quench it.

Knowing she should probably not waste anymore time trying to find some answers only to end up in another fit of panic, Caroline stood up from the bed, heading towards the door. She needed to get out of this strange place. Maybe if she went somewhere familiar, it would bring memories to her. Besides, she wasn't even sure what she was doing here... What if someone had taken her and planned to do despicable things to her?

Well, that was not going to happen, that much Caroline would make damn sure of.

Just as she was about to leave, the very same door she was headed to cracked open and a young brunette girl walked in, a worried look on her face. Caroline didn't even realize what she did next, reacting purely on instinct. She ran to the girl fast, blurring, and held her to a wall. It would only occur to her later just why and how she had such speed.

"Who are you?" She demanded with a hiss.

"My name is Anna, I am a friend." The girl said, surprisingly calm, even at being pinned to a wall.

"How would I know you are a friend?" Caroline bit back, her confusion and desperation making her seem harsher than she truly was.

"Well…" Suddenly the girl had Caroline pinned, holding the taller blonde up by her throat, though not squeezing enough that she would lose her breath. "… I could have done this right away."

Caroline gaped at Anna, her eyes wide even as the other girl dropped her gently to the ground.

When Anna held out a hand to help Caroline back up, the blonde girl accepted it gratefully.

Mystic Falls, Virginia 2009

Caroline wasn't sure if she could do this. Sure, she had moved around before. She had been all over the world, from big cities to exotic forests; she had seen it all. Yet, now as she stood in front of the house, she was hesitating.

She had never before really made a place her home. For the past centuries Caroline had been a nomad more than anything else. Travelling, never staying in one place too long. Though, she had rather liked her nomadic lifestyle, it was not the true life she yearned for.

But, she kept travelling. Searching. She looked and looked for her past.

Caroline just didn't realize it would be so very hard to find.

Paris, France 1560

Caroline stared wide-eyed at her two companions, her face a mask of confusion and shock.

"You-you are both like me? Vampires?" She questioned, her voice quiet and a little desperate sounding.

"Indeed." The answer came from Pearl, who Caroline had found out was Anna's mother. The older woman across from her regally, her burgundy dress wrapping perfectly around her figure. She was what Caroline pictured nobility to be like.

"How old are you?"

"Close to a century now." Pearl replied, glancing at her daughter. "I have passed my ninetieth year some months ago." Caroline gaped at the mother and daughter pair. They look so young…

"Do you know how old I am?" She asked, wondering how much her 'friends' really knew about her. After Caroline and Anna had met, the apparently younger vampire had tried to ask her companion questions, the ones that had been plaguing her since she first opened her eyes. All Anna told tell her was her name and that she was a vampire, both of which Caroline already knew about herself. Before Caroline could query some more, Anna had insisted that they see Pearl.

Maybe Pearl knows, after all, it seems Anna defers to her, perhaps her mother has more knowledge… She does seem the type that wishes to know everything about everyone… Caroline looked at the woman across from her with hope in her eyes.

"I am afraid not, my dear." Caroline's face fell as her little sliver of hope was crushed.

"Do you, per chance, know anything about me? At all?" She knew her question may have come off as rude, but Caroline cared not. She just wanted some answers.

"It seems I know even less than you, Caroline. I suppose you do not remember but my daughter and I met you only yesterday, when you visited our apothecary. We recognized that we were of the same kind and began to converse. We had eventually agreed to meet at a later date. However, when we came to see you, we found you lying on the floor, unconscious it seemed…" Pear gazed at her with dark brown eyes.

"If you had only met me yesterday, why did you stay to help me? Why not just leave?" The question came out in honest curiosity.

"Dear girl." Pearl laughed. "One does not simply abandon a friend, even a new one, for what is the purpose of eternal life without friendship and loyalty?" Anna nodded in agreement, smiling at said 'girl'.

That was all it took for Caroline to decide she liked the little family and she grinned, however small and depressed that grin was, at them in return.

Paris, France 1600

For the past forty years, Caroline had lived with Anna and Pearl in the house that she later found out was actually hers. They had become her family, in every sense of the word. Caroline did not remember her own mother, but whenever she imagined her, the nameless figure in her mind took the shape of Pearl. She and Anna also had gotten on extremely well; like sisters, in fact.

Still, even as she relearned how to live life as a vampire, she felt something missing. The first twenty years of her stay with the other vampires, or, rather, their stay with Caroline herself, they had, all three, vigorously searched for clues to Caroline's past.

Try as she might, Caroline could not stop trying to find her lost memories and as she looked in her black void, she realized that her heart was missing something as well. Something important, like a part of her was just gone.

For some reason, she liked to imagine that that part had the most spectacular blue eyes.

It was to no avail, however and, as the years went by, the priority for her past went down and down until the search had become virtually non-existent.

But in the last few weeks, Caroline had been plagued with thoughts on her empty memories. Not to mention, the dreams. For as long as she had known herself, ever since the day she first woke up, Caroline had dreamt those same dreams.

When she closed her eyes and slept, they would just always be there. The most prominent dream was the one with the faceless man. He would hold her tight and make the black hole inside her, the one that inundated her waking days, disappear. The shadow man, the faceless man, he made her feel more whole than anything else.

And Caroline longed with her entire heart to know why.

She had told Anna about her dreams, once and, though Anna tried her best, she did not understand, and the blonde vampire had the feeling that maybe she never would. When she spoke with Pearl, the woman had told her to try and move on, to leave the past behind.

But how could she? She did try, really she did, but how could she leave behind her past when it wouldn't let go of her?

So Caroline knew she had to go her own way, even if just for a little while. She would begin her search again.

Mystic Falls, Virginia 2009

In hindsight, Caroline realized how lucky she had been with Anna and Pearl as her companions. Maybe she would have been better off if she had stayed with them, she did not know. It had been many years since she had last seen Anna, even longer since she had seen Pearl, but Caroline did try to visit them every now and again, just to see how her first friends in the world were doing.

After finally deciding to end her tireless, hopeless search for something that probably no longer existed, Caroline had briefly considered looking for the other two vampires and joining them again. In the end, she had decided against it. Although she still considered the pair to be dear friends, she stood by what she had decided all those years ago.

Caroline had to go her own way and hopefully this time she would do it right and actually live.

And to start her new life, she would do what every other kid her age, physical age that is, did.

Yep, Caroline Forbes was headed to high school.

As Caroline finally moved from her car and headed towards her new house, her new home, she realized that the one thing she truly regretted was never finding the shadow man, the one she would forever dream about.

Caroline did not get nervous. She just didn't. It wasn't her thing. There was a completely reasonable explanation as to why her stomach was doing somersaults and it was not because she had just entered the front hall of Mystic Falls High School. And it was definitely not because she had just enrolled in her sophomore year.

Oh come on! Get a grip! You are nearly five hundred years old, act like it! Caroline considered that idea idly for a moment. Inwardly, she cracked a smile at the thought of reactions the students would have if she actually did act like a centuries-old vampire… On second thought, that was probably not her brightest idea.

Caroline was forcibly yanked out of her thoughts when a decidedly male body crashed into her, sending her sprawling to the floor in a heap. There goes vampire grace…

"Oh, crap! I'm sorry." Suddenly there was an outstretched hand waving around in her face and Caroline glanced up to the owner of the hand with a heated glare. Staring down at her with a worried expression was a blond-haired, blue-eyed teen wearing a red letterman jacket. "I didn't see you there, y'okay?"

"Fine." Caroline stated, trying to keep her calm and hesitantly taking his hand, allowing him to pull her up. He quickly bent back down to giver her schoolbag back to her. "Thanks." She said, quirking her lips slightly.

"Hey, you're new, right?" The guy asked, his tone friendly, smiling at her with a row of shining white teeth.

"Yeah." She paused for a moment, wondering whether or not she should introduce herself. Who are you kidding? You wanted a new life, right? What better way to start then by talking to a cute boy? "I'm Caroline." This time she held her hand out, 100 watt smile on her face.

"Matt." He replied, grasping her hand in a firm, yet still soft grip. "Nice to meet you. So, I'm guessing you need to get your schedule, huh?"

"Yeah, I just have to find the office."

"Come on, let me show you. It's the least I could do after knocking you over like that." Matt offered.

"Thanks. That'd be great." Huh, Caroline thought, maybe this whole school thing won't be so hard, after all.

Caroline dropped her bag heavily on the desk just as the bell rang, relieved she found her way to her second class of the day with no problem. As she relaxed in her chair, she found herself seated next a pretty, brown-skinned girl who was looking at her in interest. As the teacher busily wrote on the board, the girl leaned over and tapped her shoulder.

"Hi, you're the new girl, Caroline right?" She asked, curiosity shining out of brown eyes.

"That's me!" Caroline answered, trying to sound somewhat perky and high-schoolish... Is that even a thing?

"Great! I'm Bonnie, by the way." She said with a welcoming smile, before turning back to face the front as the teacher began reciting her classroom expectations and handing out the syllabus for the year.

Throughout class, Bonnie and Caroline were whispering to each other, just some friendly girl talk, and Caroline found herself easily warming up to the other teen. It had been a while since she could last just relax into a conversation.

By the end of class they had exchanged phone numbers and Caroline was happy to find she was already making a friend.

When the bell rang again, Caroline was quick to leave the stuffy classroom, wanting nothing more than to have some fresh air. Don't get her wrong, she didn't mind class, it's just she hadn't been around this many people in a long time. Making her way to her designated locker, she spotted someone that was eerily familiar. It couldn't be...

Caroline froze as she saw her, the girl. The one that looked exactly like her, like Katherine. What...? That can't be... She stared at her, wondering what to do. She couldn't just ignore her, could she? Unknowingly, she had almost approached her when, to her shock, Bonnie went over and gave the brunette a hug. Even more shocking, the brunette hugged back. Bewildered, Caroline listened in.

"So, how'd the big date go last week?" Caroline immediately recognized Bonnie's voice.

"It went great! Matt was just so sweet…" 'Katherine' replied. Well, there goes the distracting cute boy…

"And a good kisser, right Elena?" Bonnie teased.

Elena? Caroline thought. Could it be possible that this wasn't Katherine? Surely… But as she continued to observe the two friends, she became more and more convinced that maybe this really wasn't Katherine. It should be impossible but… It was in this Elena's demeanor. Katherine, though she was a good actress, could never really hide that confident saunter of hers, nor could she keep that look out of her eye, the one that, once you saw, you knew things were going to go terribly, utterly wrong. But, Elena had warm brown eyes, how was it possible? There were differences between Katherine and Elena, but so many similarities as well.

The one thing that had her more convinced than anything that perhaps this was not the same vampire she knew was that whenever Caroline saw Katherine, she always felt oddly wary, frightened almost. Yet, now, she had no such feelings.

Mystic Falls, Virginia 1864

Anna giggled as Caroline regaled the tales of her time in Ohio. Both girls were happy when Caroline finally decided to come for a long overdue visit. She was to stay for a few months with her old companions and help Pearl run her apothecary.

"That is enough, girls. Anna, you have chores. Caroline, I need your help organizing the containers." Both vampires in question immediately moved to help their elder, sighing a little.

Just then the door opened, and Caroline glared as soon as she saw who walked in.

She had always hated Katherine Pierce.

Mystic Falls, Virginia 2009

Maybe there was more to the story, maybe there was a spell; witches and their spells always seemed to be able cause the wackiest things. It didn't matter, but Caroline knew she would have to find out more about this Elena, human or vampire, old nemesis or not. So when Bonnie finally walked away from the brunette, Caroline decided to make her approach. Now or never...

Caroline looked at the girl that looked so much like Katherine but, yet, seemed human and kind. She approached slowly, a confident smile on her face.

"Hi. I'm Caroline, new here in Mystic Falls… I was wondering if you could help me find my way to history? I'm kind of lost…" The brunette nodded at her understandingly, brown eyes filled with sympathy.

"Of course!" She replied. "It's nice to meet you, Caroline. I'm Elena."

Caroline may have expected a lot of things, but she never expected that moment to be the beginnings of a life-long friendship.

That's it for now :) This is more of an intro chapter than anything else so it's a little shorter than the rest will be. In case you missed it, Caroline's estate is the one that Klaus had originally bought for the two of them. Since the school year is starting again, I'm afraid updates will probably only come once a week :( By the way, the first one shot for this series is up in The Stories Of Old!

Bonus points for anyone who can find the preview flashes (there are two in this chapter) that were in TLTLB :D

Next chapter: More flashbacks, Klaus' POV, and... the Salvatores?

Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave any questions or comments!

RW