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Yes, I am still alive… I am so sorry for the long wait in between updates! Life got in the way… Anyways, this is a little look into the centuries after Caroline lost her memory and a bit of what Klaus has been up to in that time. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I still don't own TVD.

Chapter 3

Life of Lies

Pennsylvania, 1688

Caroline sat in silence by the girl's broken body, watching as her pallid complexion slowly regained its color. The vampire had only seen part of what had happened, much to her anger. Of course, when she had discovered the group of village men harming one of the new arrivals, she did not have to think for a moment. She immediately jumped in and snapped their damn necks. For now, she did not regret her actions; the men were animals. Yet, she knew she would feel the regret, the pain, later, just as she always did, even if they had deserved all they had gotten. Life was still life and Caroline did not like to be the cause of it ending.

Caroline's thoughts were interrupted when suddenly the girl sat up, gasping. Her hands flew to her chest as she whipped her head around, the hood of her cloak falling from her head, exposing long blonde curls of hair. Her breathing quickened impossibly more and Caroline knew the girl was in the midst of a panic attack; the fact that she was in the middle of the transition certainly didn't help that either.

Immediately, the vampire reached out to help the frightened, formerly human girl. She took the other's hands into her own, trying to find a way to calm her down. The only way to do that now, she knew, was through to her with physical contact.

"Sh, it's alright. It is all alright." Caroline said, attempting to sound as soothing as she could.

"W-What? I-I don't-" The girl sounded utterly bewildered as her eyes flickered around.

"Breathe, just breathe. You must calm yourself." Caroline replied catching her eyes; it was times like these that she wished she could compel more than just humans... Not that she really used compulsion much...

"W-Who are you? I was sure I was..." She trailed off.

"My name is Caroline Forbes. And you are?" Caroline tried to get the frenzied dead girl to focus.

"Alexia. Alexia Branson."

"Well, Lexi, can I call you Lexi?" The newly dubbed 'Lexi' nodded her head dubiously. "Anyways, Lexi, I am afraid what I have to say does not bode well."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"You know what happened, Lexi, you must only let yourself remember." Caroline's tone went completely serious.

"Let myself..." A sudden horrible recognition lit up Lexi's eyes. "The men, they attacked me! But then something else, someone else took them off of me... I was alive but then..." She glanced up to Caroline's with realization. "You! You forced me to drink something... And then you- You snapped my neck! But how-?" Lexi ripped her hands away from Caroline as if burned.

"I cannot deny any of it."

"W-Why did you do this to me?" The blonde girl asked, looking confused and heartbroken.

"You were dying… I could not just let you die so I saved you, gave you new life." Caroline replied meeting the woman's blue-eyed gaze, scanning her for further signs of the transition.

"You would save me? But, you do not even know me..." The other returned.

"You remind me of someone… someone in my dreams…" Then Caroline smiled at her sympathetically. "You have a choice now. You can choose to live or choose to die. Your new life would be different, it would be difficult but you would remain young forever and I would help you… I will not abandon you." She said, her voice sincere. She knew all too well the pain of being alone.

"What do you mean, I have a choice? I don't understand, what's going on?" The girl sounded heartbreakingly confused. "Why did you do this to me? Why did you attack me? And why does my head hurt so much?" As if saying the words made her head pound more, Lexi lifted her hands, cradling her head between them.

"I am going to show you something, but you must promise me not to panic; this may come as a shock to you."

"Why should I promise you anything? You were the one to attack me!"

"And yet I was also the one to save you from those fiends. Please, all I ask is a chance to explain." Caroline practically pleaded, not wanting the girl to leave and hurt herself, or others.

"Very well." She sighed after a minute.

Caroline paused for a moment; she had never done this before. The few friends she had knew of what she was, even those who were not vampire. However, from the stories she had been told, it was best to tell or show in no uncertain terms.

So, taking a deep breath, she allowed the bloodlust to take over. She soon felt the burn in her throat, signaling her unquenched thirst. When was the last time she had fed? Her canines were elongating to sharp points, she knew, and the veins around her eyes began to bulge, her eyes reddening into a deadly scarlet.

She glanced to Lexi, who gazed back, shocked.

"You're not human." She whispered.

"I am not... And neither are you, not anymore." The wind the howled lowly around them, as Caroline crouched down to the forest floor one more time, her waist-length hair floating around her, spilling out of the hood of her cloak. "You were dying when I found you, and there was nothing I could do to save you except turn you into what I am. So I fed you my blood, and I gave you a quick death, to save you pain."

"I'm dead." Lexi said flatly.

"Yes, and, should you chose, you will stay dead. I can offer you new life, it will not be the same, and it might become lonely, but it will be as much a life as you can have now. The choice is yours... Do you understand?" Caroline asked seriously, this was no time to make rash decisions. At the other girl's hesitant nod, she rose gracefully to her feet, and held a hand down in offering. "Then chose."

Lexi glanced at her hand as Caroline waited patiently. She would not push the young woman either way, no one deserved to be forced into this life. Pearl had always told her that just because she held power, did not mean she should use it unjustly.

What seemed like an eternity later, Lexi looked up at Caroline in resolve.

She grabbed the vampire's hand.

Mystic Falls, Virginia 1864

Caroline knew she was one of the lucky ones, one of the few to have escaped the wrath of the town council. A wrath incurred by none other then the damned Katherine Pierce. Caroline knew from the very beginning that the woman was nothing but trouble. There was something about her, some sort of underlying menace. Not to mention, she constantly seemed to have it out for Caroline.

She could not blame Pearl for falling in with Katherine. The woman was frighteningly good at persuading even the strongest of people to do her bidding. Yet she had never managed to get Caroline to do so. And nor would she.

Oddly enough, it was for that sole reason that Caroline had managed to escape the founder's council. The animosity between her and Ms. Pierce was no secret in Mystic Falls; the council simply hadn't believed she could be a part of the vampire conspiracy because of it. By the time they had figured out just who Jonathan Gilbert's watch was pointing at, the blonde had been long gone.

She only wished she had been fast enough to warn Pearl. Now the only woman she had ever truly respected and thought of as a mother was trapped in a tomb. And Anna, the girl whom had been like a sister, she was on an impossible search for a way to free her only kin in the world.

The Salvatores, Stefan and Damon, those lovely boys... no, those strong, good men she had befriended, they had not survived either; or so she had thought. When she had fled from the place that had only caused her grief, she had forgotten of the letter she had sent her most faithful friend, Lexi, asking her to come for a visit.

When Caroline had later received a letter in return, detailing Lexi's discovery of a wayward vampire and his brother that needed her, their, help, she hadn't even thought of the possibility. It just couldn't be, could it?

Yet, it was.

So when she found herself facing the vampire she herself had created, and a pair of men she had thought dead, Caroline had smiled the most sincere, real smile she had ever smiled. The black hole inside her seemed to fill for a moment and she forgot her pain. She had embraced them all tightly, her tired mind finally at ease for the first time in what felt like centuries, who knows, maybe it really had been.

Still, she had smiled.

And then Damon, in his grief and hate, had left, abandoning his younger brother, Stefan. Caroline could not find it in her heart to force him to stay, however, so she had simply given him a few wise words to take on his journey with him.

She could not help the pain she felt at his departure, though.

Chicago 1920s

Gloria's voice floated in the background, the dim light only slightly illuminating the hazy room. There was the chatter of the patrons around her as Caroline made her way to the dance floor, her hand firm around the boy's. What his name? William? Thomas? Caroline could not remember, nor did she feel the need to, after all, she had no plans for him further than his presence allowing her to fit in.

Years before, when she, Lexi, and Stefan had been on the road together for a while, she had made herself a promise. A promise to always be there for her friends and not fail again, as she had with Pearl. Naturally, when word came to her that Stefan had once again fallen off the wagon, she had immediately gone after him.

Which is how she ended up in a random bar, dancing with a man whose name she could simply not put her finger on.

Those Salvatores, always in the middle of all the trouble.

And then suddenly, she felt it, that feeling of being watched. But no just that, the feeling of being seen, recognized, as odd as that sounded. Caroline went rigid, the hairs on her neck rising. She glanced around, looking for her unknown and yet somehow familiar watcher. When she found nothing, she decided to shake it off. She would not chicken out now, she was here for a reason.

Soon enough her watcher was forgotten and Caroline lost herself in the music. Thomas, or whatever his name had been, was actually a quite competent dancer so Caroline decided she would dance until Stefan made his appearance. In his current state, she knew he wouldn't settle for a small entrance; this was ripper-Stefan after all.

"Care to spare a dance, love?" A deep voice came from behind her. Caroline was immediately reminded of her watcher.

There was a tap on her shoulder and for some reason it sent a shiver up her spine. Annoyed, she turned around, only to face the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on, with the most beautiful, blue eyes. Her refusal died on her tongue. All she could do was simply stare at him. There was something... Something familiar.

"Love?" The man prompted, seemingly amused by her tongue-tied state. Caroline could not help but to notice the sadness in his eyes, however. Dumbly, she nodded her approval and she soon found herself transferred into his arms. When his hands settled around her, a warm feeling filled her stomach. They danced for a while, and Caroline could not tear her gaze away from his eyes, she felt herself being sucked into them and yet she could care less. He was so familiar!

A few dances later, the question finally burst from her lips.

"I'm sorry, but is it possible that I know you from somewhere?" She asked, searching his face as he suddenly froze for a mere moment, before beginning the dance with a renewed vigor, pulling her close to him, until she was flush against his chest. The action caused her dead heart to skip a beat and Caroline felt years younger. Then, just as suddenly as he pulled her into him, he pulled away and shook his head, almost like he was grieving.

"No, Caroline." He whispered down at her and she was abruptly aware of how close his face was. Hold on… Caroline?

"Wait a moment, how do you know my name?" She asked only to have him smile at her enigmatically.

"You do not know me… I never said that I did not know you." They twirled around once, until they were in a shadowy corner of the room.

"Hold on-" And then Caroline found she could no longer speak because his eyes were truly all she could see, and all she could think about. So blue…

Distantly, she thought she could hear him say something.

"I'm sorry for doing this again, love."

Klaus led a dazed Caroline out of Gloria's, guiding her to a nearby hotel. He had nearly had a heart attack when he had realized she was there, right in front of him. It had been near five decades since he'd known of her whereabouts and she suddenly appeared right under his nose. At first, he had wanted to flee, get the hell away. He'd thought she would recognize him and demand answers.

But then it hit him that she wouldn't recognize him; he'd made sure of that all those years ago.

This was the first time in more than three and a half centuries he had seen her, truly seen her. She looked absolutely beautiful, her hair pinned up in precise curls, red dress swishing around her as her heels clicked against the floor. She was showing more skin than he had ever seen her do so, at least in public. This was the fashion nowadays, though, and another, more risqué part of him liked, no, loved, seeing her like this. Out there, dancing with nothing barred from him.

Without realizing, he had found himself heading towards her and the next thing he knew they had been dancing together, just like they did oh so long ago.

But soon enough, the dream had shattered.

"I'm sorry, but is it possible that I know you from somewhere?"

Now here he was, Klaus, the scariest Original of them all, more heartbroken than ever because the only girl he had ever loved didn't know him and it was all his own doing.

Standing in front of the hotel, he allowed himself to kiss her on the forehead, just this one time, before turning and looking back.

It was time for him and Rebekah to move on. Their father would close in soon enough, and Stefan was becoming too much of an attachment.

Plus, he needed to distance himself from Caroline before he did something stupid… Again.

That night after the attack by his father, after he had once again used his powers of compulsion – only this time on Stefan, after he had daggered his sister, and after he finally left Chicago, a policemen showed Caroline a drawing of him, of Klaus.

She said she had never seen him before in her life.

Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010

"You alright there, bella?" Stefan's voice filtered through Caroline's mind as she continued to stare at the familiar menu in her hands with the work Mystic Grill inscribed in the corner.

"Hmm?" She glanced at her friend.

"I asked if you're ok… are you?" He repeated, looking somewhat concerned.

"Oh, yeah, m'fine." She mumbled, looking unseeingly at the menu once more. Taking a moment to gather herself, she sent him her thousand-watt smile. "So, whatcha getting, my bunny-eating friend?"

"Funny, Care." Stefan replied dryly before the waitress came and took their order.

"So, what have been up to this past decade, Stef?" Caroline asked, leaning down on the table and trying to focus on him. Today was just one of those days where she could not get her head out of the past.

"Oh, this and that."

"Sounds interesting." Caroline replied, bemused. "At least tell me Lexi has been visiting you on your birthday so you're not sitting around being all broody all the time." She said with an eye-roll.

"I don't brood all the time." Stefan grumbled.

"Really?" The disbelief in her voice could clearly be heard, before she shook her head with a smile.

"What about you, Care?" Stefan tried to steer the conversation away from him. "Have you found out anymore about your past?"

"Not really." The blonde vampire glanced down at her hands for a moment. "But, I've decided to put all that behind me. I haven't found anything for the last five hundred years, I'll probably never find anything now, right?" She barked out a bitter laugh. Stefan reached out and gripped her hand for a moment.

"Whatever you decide, you know I'll be behind you on it."

"Thanks, Stef." She sighed, squeezing his hand once before pulling back. "So, is Damon here with you?" She asked, casually.

"Oh, come on, Care, did you really have to bring him up? I know you like him, alright, but he is not a good guy." If Caroline didn't know better, she would have thought he was whining. But Stefan Salvatore did not whine, he just said with an annoyed tone.

"Look, I know you don't always get along but your brothers! You two have to get over this feud you have; you're stuck with each other for an eternity, whether you like it or not." They continued… discussing this for a while until Caroline noticed a familiar someone arrive. She smiled mischievously. Perfect. She excused herself and made her way over to Elena.

"Hey, 'Lena!" She smiled.

"Hey, Caroline." She replied, going in for a hug.

"So I noticed you making googly eyes at my friend there." Caroline said bluntly as they pulled away from each other.

"W-What? That's not-" She spluttered, tucking some of her chocolate brown hair behind her ear.

"Oh, it's true, Elena, and you know it is! And I say go for it!" The vampire slowly began leading her human friend to Stefan's table.

"Really?" The undisguised hope in said friend's voice made Caroline giggle.

"Yes! Who knows maybe a little Stefan is exactly what you're looking for." Immediately Elena began blushing and Caroline threw her wink before pushing her towards him. "Go on! Tell him I had to leave to do… homework, yeah, homework."

"Homework?" Elena replied, disbelievingly. "It was the first day of school."

"So? A cheer captain's work is never done." Caroline headed to do the door. "Have fun, and don't say I've never done anything for you!"

The next day, Caroline sighed as he drove onto the driveway of the boarding house. She immediately noticed the broken window, and sighed again. Salvatores, always with the trouble. She knocked the door and as she was waiting, she thought about the couple that had died. Animal attack, yeah right. She knew Stefan probably had nothing to do with it, he'd been clean for a while now, but that didn't mean they shouldn't discuss it.

There was no way Caroline was going to let some random vampire enter her town and kill its citizen. Uh-uh, not happening.

Finally the door swung open, only, when it did, she was not expecting who was standing inside.

"Ah, well how about that, it looks like Vampire Barbie just couldn't stay away." Damon smirked.

Salvatores, Caroline thought again, nothing but trouble.

I am not all that knowledgeable in some history, so some of the dates and such may be incorrect; if so, please let me know!

Who else is excited for the new season of TVD? It was actually the new episode that made me feel the need to finish this chapter. Again, I am so sorry for the long wait, I really had planned to get this out weeks ago. I hope this chapter made up for it :)

By the way, in regards to the Delena/Stelena thing, I am just going to stick with canon and not specify either one because this story is focused on Klaroline and I don't want to cause any sort of disappointment. I hope that's ok!

Anyways, let me know what you think!

RW