For the Good of the Family Chapter 2
Caroline pressed her foot down against the gas pedal of her car. The trees outside the car window blurred into a solid mass of green as she pushed the car fast and faster.
"Come on '' Caroline muttered to herself, taking a corner as quickly as she dared. She hadn't left herself enough time to make it back to Mystic Falls driving within the legal limit. Her father would be furious if she was even a minute late.
She had never planned to make this drive again, but there she was only days later, once again approaching the outer limits of her hometown. The unfortunate truth being, that until Caroline had access to her trust, she was at her fathers beck and call. Bill had the ability to pull her tuition at any second. She wasn't willing to risk that when she only had months left.
So when her phone rang after her first class back at school, Caroline felt her heart drop.
"Hello?" Caroline tried to keep her voice steady as she answered.
"What time can you be here on Friday?" Bill asked in place of a greeting.
"Friday?" Her throat felt suddenly dry. She had only been back from Mystic Falls for a few days, and suddenly her father was expecting her back? A pit formed in her stomach. She hadn't been aware of how much she had been counting on never stepping foot in her home town again.
" Yes, there's a meeting with the Mikaelsons that I need you to attend"
"Why do you-" Caroline cut herself. After years of dealing with her ill tempered father, she'd learned it was best to avoid asking questions.
"I have class until 4:30," Caroline answered.
"Skip it. Drinks are at 6" The phone clicked off before Caroline had time to say another word.
Despite what her father had told her, Caroline had decided to attend her last class on Friday, not wanting to miss out on one of her favourite lectures of the week. She'd been the first one out of her seat when her professor had dismissed the class. She had dashed towards the spot where she had parked her car, thrown the overnight bag she had brought to class with her into the back seat and sped off campus.
She pulled into the driveway at her fathers house at 20 minutes to six. Bill's eyes were on fire when Caroline came through the front door of the Forbes house.
"You're late" he spat, his arms crossed in front of him. Caroline wanted to quip that she wasn't technically late yet, but she thought provoking her father any further that day probably wasn't wise. Her shoulders still ached from the bruises that hand formed there from the last time her father had thrown her into the wall when she'd been lippy.
" You're a mess" he stated, disdain dripping from his voice.
"Get dressed, now" he commanded, jerking his hair in the direction of the staircase. Caroline narrowed her eyes at her father, but hurried past him in the direction of her bedroom.
Caroline had to resist the urge to stomp up the stairs like a moody teenager. She already regretted coming home.
She threw her overnight bag down on her bed and tore it open, pulling out the green dress she had shoved in the duffel to wear that evening. The garment was a little crumpled but the wrinkles fell out as she pulled it down over her body. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders. It wasn't a very polished look, but she didn't have the time or energy to care.
When she came back down the stairs she found the front door wide open and her father already waiting in the car.
She slid in beside him, and before she could pull the car door closed, they were speeding off out of the driveway and down the road.
They were silent as the car careened down the road. Caroline had not dreamed that they would be returning to the Mikaelson Manner once again. She had thought that her father had too much pride to allow the other patriarh to host twice in a row, especially when this was meant to be her fathers territory. While the Mikaelson party had stakes in the area, this was Forbes land. It was only the Mikealsons' overarching power that gave them any jurisdiction there.
She had once again assumed that they would be meeting at a neutral location, so she had been surprised again when the car came to a stop in front of the same callosal home they had attended a dinner at only days before.
Caroline had expected another veiled threat to come out of her fathers mouth. Another command of perfection. She was shocked when her father placed his hand lightly over her own, giving it a comforting squeeze.
"You've got this" He said encouragingly before he slid out of the car and came around to her side to hold the door open for her.
Caroline was taken aback. She couldn't remember the last time that her father had said anything that could have been seen as comforting or encouraging. In the back of her mind there was a nagging feeling. What exactly was he expecting of her there? What was it that he was so sure that she had?
She took the hand he offered her to climb out of the car, and allowed him to place a hand around her waist and guide her towards the front door.
Caroline was more prepared to come face to face with Mikeal Mikealson when he opened the door this time around, but the man's intense stare was still enough to make her skin crawl.
"Caroline" He greeted warmly, taking her one hand in both of his and holding it there. She was taken aback. She hadn't expected Mikeal to still remember her name, let alone greet her as if she was an honoured guest.
"Please come in" He swept the two of them through the foyer and into the reception area of the house.
She had expected the room to be full of people the way it had been earlier that week, but when Caroline looked up she found the room empty except for one other individual. The boy she had been seated across at dinner previously was seated on one of the overstuffed leather couches, a crystal glass of brown liquor clutched in his hand.
He seemed perfectly content to lounge on the couch and ignore their entrance all together, but a distinct throat clear from Mikeal had the boy getting to his feet and offering his hand to Bill and Caroline in turn.
"You remember my son Niklaus?" Mikeal asked Bill, knowingly as he poured ouring tumblrs of bourbon for himself and Bill. Caroline longed for a glass herself, she hadn't been expecting such an intimate gathering, or else she would have partaken in some liquid courage before getting in her fathers car that night.
"Of course," Bill answered, taking the glass that Mikeal offered to him and bringing it to his lips. Mikeal handed Caroline a glass of what looked to her to be champagne. It was typical of men in their world to assume that women couldn't handle anything stronger.
"Let's sit, shall we?" Mikeal gestured towards the sofas. Caroline allowed Bill to steer her towards a seat.
"Caroline, tell me a bit about yourself" Mikeal invited, fixing his cold stare on her. Caroline recoiled slightly out of instinct. She'd never dreamed that any part of this evening would center around her. She was used to "keeping her mouth shut and looking pretty" as her father so lovingly called it.
"She's a senior at Whitmore College. An english major" Bill answered before Caroline could speak.
"Thank you Caroline" Niklaus muttered, chastising Bill for speaking in his daughter's stead.
"How lovely" Mikeal responded as though his son hadn't spoken.
"Niklaus graduated from Cambridge last year" Mikeal continued, lazily swirling his drink in his hand.
" and is now in exile" Niklaus muttered under his breath once again.
"So wonderful to see two such young people at the precipice of a new life" Mikeal continued. Caroline sat up a little straighter, not knowing what Mikeal was getting at. Sweat pricked on her forehead, did they somehow know about her plans on skipping town once she received her diplomas? Her father wasn't going to take kindly to that betrayal.
"So blessed to be in such a position to strengthen their families" he went on. Caroline saw the boy across from her, Niklaus, stiffen as if he had just heard something that startled him to attention.
"Let us raise a glass" Mikeal encouraged, standing up.
"To the union of our families, and the power that may bring" Mikeal finished, nodding his head in Bill's direction.
Caroline's heart sank as Mikeal fixed his eyes on her once again.
'We're looking forward to have you"
…
Caroline managed to maintain her composure until the driver had dropped her and her father off outside their family home. This wasn't something she wanted to discuss in front of one of her fathers lackeys.
It wasn't until the front door closed firmly behind them that Caroline rounded on her father.
"What was that?" She demanded, not bothering trying to disguise the anger in her voice. Bill was loosening his tie, looking pleased with himself.
"That was a success," Bill replied.
"I think we've sealed it."
"Sealing what? Would you stop talking in code?" Caroline cried. It was a testament to her fathers good mood that he hadn't lashed out at her yet. Usually even a hint of a raised voice would have had Caroline flying to the floor.
"Come. Have a drink with me" Bill offered. Caroline narrowed her eyes at her father but followed him into his den. She took a seat in one of the arm chairs and allowed her father to pour her a drink. She watched him warily the whole time as he handed her a glass.
Bill sat down across from her, a drink of his own still clutched in his hand.
" Mikealson and his men have been looking to expand their power in this area, and I wasn't exactly willing to give any up" Bill began, taking a measured drink from his tumbler.
"As much as I hate to admit it, we wouldn't survive going to war with them. Their power reaches much further than ours. So we needed to make a deal. It just so happened that I had something he wanted"
Caroline swallowed the lump in her throat
"And what was that?"
"A way to control his son," Bill said simply.
"What do you-"
"The boy. Niklaus, Klaus whatever it is he goes by. He's given his father hell over the years. His father wants to break him. Tie him down to a responsibility he can't wiggle his way out of. So he's going to give him what he thinks he wants"
"Which is?" Caroline asked carefully.
"Power. He's going to give the boy control over his affairs in this region"
"But how would that benefit you? Isn't that exactly what you don't want? A Mikealson taking control?"
"Not exactly. Mikaelsons are vicious. There's only one thing they're loyal to. Family. So that's what they have to become"
A wave of nausea rolled over Caroline as her fathers words and the statements she'd heard earlier all crashed over her at once.
" You don't mean...you don't expect me to" the glass in her hand started to shake.
" The deal is done. We shook on it. You just have to pick a date"
"I didn't shake on shit" Caroline hissed. Bill let out a sigh.
"Be reasonable Caroline"
She hopped to her feet. " Reasonable? You want me to be reasonable when you're talking about selling me into a political marriage like it's fucking 1532?"
"I was hoping we could avoid the melodrama" Bill stated, rubbing his eyes with one hand.
"I'm not an object. You don't just get to trade me away for your own benefit" She spat. Bill got to his feet.
"This is for everyone's benefit Caroline. For once in your life could you not be so god damn selfish" He hissed.
Caroline acted without thinking. She threw the remainder of her drink into her fathers face and turned to leave the room. "I'm done talking about this"
Her father caught her by the arm.
"Good, because there's nothing else to talk about. It's decided" Bill hissed.
"I'm not a child. You don't get to make decisions for me. I have my own life now"
"Well it's time to say goodbye to it. I've already put a call in to the dean at Whitmore, you've been withdrawn. I've sent John Gilbert to pack up your things. He's there now"
"You can't just do that!" Caroline protested.
" It's done. You'll be staying here until arrangements with the Mikealsons are finalized.
"I'm not doing this"
The impact of being slammed against the wall of her fathers study knocked the air out of Carolines lungs. She had no chance to catch her breath as her father had his hands wrapped around her throat, squeezing to the point where stars popped in front of Caroline's eyes.
"You'll do as I say" Caroline's father spat in her face, his hand tightening around her throat
"and I say, you're marrying him."
At that moment, Caroline knew that if she put up any more of a struggle, her father would kill her. She could feel his fingers itching to press down harder on her throat, to silence her all together. She wasn't naive, she knew her father had been killed before, and he wouldn't have a hard time making her disappear. Caroline sometimes wondered how many bodies littered the woods surrounding their town.
For a moment, Caroline considered letting it happen. All she would have to do was dig her nails into his hands, and that would set him off. At least it would be over quickly. It would be so easy to let go. But could she really let go of her life when her mother had fought so hard to survive and still lost the battle?
Caroline went slack against the wall, no longer fighting. Bill removed his hands from her throat and she slid to the floor gasping for breath.
"I have a condition" Caroline stated from her place on the floor, trying desperately to catch her breath.
"If I do this, we're done. We're not family. I'll fake a smile for everyone else, but behind closed doors you consider me dead, and I'll consider you the same"
"You little bitch" Bill hissed, grabbing Caroline by the arms and hauling her to her feet. Caroline felt the slap before she saw it.
"Careful daddy" She whispered " You wouldn't want to mess up my face before the big day"
Bill stepped back, slightly aghast. Caroline rose to her feet and headed towards the front door. Her car was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't surprised. She set off on foot, not knowing where she was going, but needing to get away from that house.