Chapter Six

Caroline spent the rest of the summer hanging out with friends and watching as the building was being finished in the village. She had asked once she got back that only the house that had been the Michaelson's and the one that had been her parents were built. Elijah had agreed, but he had placed a barrier and a spell around the property leaving it in Caroline and Elizabeth's names, that way a vampire would have to be invited in by both of them to even get on the property. It was finished being built a week before school started, and she ended up spending most of her time that week on the porch of the house her father had lived in. It was weird for Caroline as she got used to noticing the way the spell worked, when she was tired and upset it had a bigger hold, it felt as if a part of her was missing or being torn away into another world. She longed for the time that her father had told her about. When she wasn't upset or tired though it was almost as if it was running in the background, there were times in conversations where she could feel the longing grow and there were times that it felt almost like a distant memory of a place she once knew. Her father had explained it as much as he could, so Caroline had spent some time trying to figure out the rest on her own. She had realized over the past few weeks that she had almost gotten it to where she could at least know what was happening, she couldn't control it, but she was able to notice it and that was one step closer.

The first day of school came quicker than she had expected, and she woke up to pancakes made by her mother.

"Morning mom!"

"Good Morning, Caroline. Are you ready for your first day of school?"

"Definitely, I am so ready to get back."

"There is something for you on the table by the door." Elizabeth explained, so Caroline walked off to see what she was talking about. There was a small gift bag on the table by the door. She grabbed it before walking back to the kitchen and setting it on the table before sitting down. After she sat down she began to open it, there was a small card on the inside, so she opened it first. On the front of it was a picture of a map with the words "To The World You Are Just A Daughter, But To Me, You Are The World!" opening it up she knew that it was from her father, his handwriting was scratched on the inside,

Caroline Ahana,

I wanted to give you a small gift on your first day of school. I know that you have had a hard summer and have truly tried very hard to learn how to control what the spell does to you. So for this day I decided to get you a gift that would hopefully remind you of the truth. That you are worth more than anything that money could ever buy. I hope that you have an amazing first day, call me and tell me how it goes! I love you more than you will ever know,

Always and Forever, Beyond Forever's End.

Love, Dad

Caroline smiled at the card before she continued to open the gift. There was a small box inside and as she opened it her mouth dropped open, it was a charm bracelet, there were charms from all the places that they had gone, there was even one from the mall the next town over. There was also a charm with an "M" on it, her father had told her when she was younger that the "M" that was on her bracelet stood for Mikaelson. She carefully placed the bracelet on her wrist before she turned to the breakfast her mother had prepared.

"He told me to tell you that he was sorry that he couldn't be here, but that two days ago he had spotted one of his brothers' men trailing him, and he wasn't sure that they were still around." Elizabeth explained as she sat down at the table with Caroline.

"I hope he is able to lose them, I don't want him to get daggered."

"I'm sure he will be fine, Caroline. He knows his brother better than anyone, and I doubt that he will let anything slip that would get him daggered."

"I know, I still worry about him though. There are so many enemies out there, and Mikael is still missing and Klaus won't show his face. I just wonder, sometimes, how he lives with the constant knowledge that at any minute one of them could show up and kill him or dagger him."

"The same way you deal with not being able to see him all the time, or know your family. Caroline, sometimes life gives you things that you can't change, you just have to live with it. He has lived a thousand years with a father and brother who are like that. Eventually, it becomes normal, because you have no other option but to live with it." Liz explained, Caroline was just thankful that she had Elijah as her father, she wasn't exactly sure what she would have done if it had been a different Mikaelson. Although, her father had spoken highly of her uncle Kol. Caroline quickly finished breakfast before running to her room to grab a few things, she had left her book from her dad at the village, so she had to leave early to go grab it. She didn't want to experience this day without it. So, after quickly grabbing her backpack, she said goodbye to her mother and quickly drove off towards the village. Her father had gotten the drive paved so that it was easy for her to get there, so it didn't take her long before she had grabbed her book and was headed toward the school. After getting to school and placing her bag into her locker, she saw Elena and Bonnie and decided to say hello. She had barely seen them this summer, she had been too focused on her father and how to control what was going on with her. They acted as if she was a stranger and barely had time to do anything but say a hello while passing in the hallway. So after asking if Elena was okay, she excused herself saying that she would see them later in the day. After walking away, she headed over to her locker to grab her books, a moment later she saw a new guy pass by. He was hotter than any guy she had ever seen, and definitely hotter than the other guys in the school. She hoped that she would get to meet him, she wasn't sure who he was, but she wanted to know. As she thought about meeting him though, her father's warning came to the forefront of her mind, Be careful who you meet, you never who is living a double life. She knew that at any moment someone from her father's world could come around, but she doubted it was going to happen in her school. She was able to talk to him between classes, and she found out that he was from a military family who moved around a lot and was living with his uncle at the old boarding house. He is a Salvatore, one of the founding families. She really liked him, so she had planned to get to know him better. The day wore on with classes, and she ended up deciding to try and let this year be normal, even though so much had changed.

That night she went to the grille to hang out with her friends, she was hoping that it wouldn't be awkward like it had been the last few times they had seen each other. When she arrived it was only Bonnie, but after a little bit Stefan and Elena joined them.

"So you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked.

"Mm-hmm, and moved when I was still young."

"Parents?" Bonnie asked,

"My parents passed away." Stefan answered before looking to Elena,

"I'm sorry." She spoke, pausing before asking her own question, "Any siblings?"

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline began, hoping to change the conversation from the hard topics. Bonnie joined in to help,

"It's a back to school thing at the falls."

"Are you going?" Stefan asked Elena.

"Of course she is." Bonnie answered for her. The night continued on with laughter and conversations. Eventually Caroline returned home, her mother was still at the office when she made it home, so she was alone in the house. She decided that now would be a good time to call her dad, she had been putting it off for most of the day. It only rang once before he picked up the call,

"Hello?"

"Hey dad."

"Hey, Hang on a minute." She sat in silence, waiting for him to say something. She could hear music and arguing in the background, it slowly began to fade, though, before it disappeared completely and her father returned to the phone. "Sorry, I was dealing with someone that didn't need to know about you." Elijah explained to his daughter.

"That's fine. Are you okay?"

"I am absolutely perfect, especially now that you have finally called to tell me how your day went."

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was a weird day."

"How was it weird?" Elijah asked, his voice curious as he spoke.

"There was a new kid at school. Elena and Bonnie barely talked to me, and I was distracted."

"Distracted?"

"The spell was really bugging me today, I'm not sure why, but all I wanted to do was get out of school."

"I'm sorry, Caroline. I wish it could be different, I know it isn't easy for you."

"It's okay. The new guy is hot, and it was a good distraction." Caroline replied to her father, she knew that he couldn't do anything about the spell, so she decided to change the conversation.

"What is his name?" Secretly, Elijah was asking so that he could find out if he was the vampire he had been told about or not, but he wouldn't tell his daughter that. He had already warned her to be careful, he wouldn't do so again.

"Stefan Salvatore, he lives at the Salvatore boarding school, he was from a military family, but now he lives with his uncle."

"Besides his uncle, does he have any other family?" Elijah already knew that the Salvatore's were back in town, but he knew that his daughter had no idea. He would keep a close eye on them, but he wasn't going to worry his daughter any more than he had to.

"His parents are dead, but he has at least one sibling. He doesn't talk to them, though." Caroline explained. She trusted her father, and she knew that he would only be overprotective when he needed to be.

"I am assuming you are going to the big party tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, everyone goes to it."

"Very well, I won't tell you not to go, but I do ask that you be careful and make sure you have your phone with you."

"I will, dad. I need to get some sleep, tomorrow is an early start for school. I love you and I hope to see you soon."

"I love you too, my dear Caroline. I will visit soon, have fun and be careful. Always and Forever."

"Beyond forever's end." Caroline finished for her father before hanging up. She had no idea what tomorrow would hold, but she looked forward to the back to school party.

The next day at school went by faster than the first, and before she knew it she was socializing with people at the party. She welcomed Stefan to the party, trying her best to make him feel welcomed, but it wasn't long before he excused himself to find Elena. Once he left, she decided to just get a drink and try to forget the thought that had crossed her mind that she might be losing her best friends. She wanted so badly to be back at the village, away from all the loud parties that were so different from what her father had shown her of where she should have grown up. The party lagged on and before long she was drunk, which didn't bode well for the promised phone call with her dad the next morning. She knew that he would be able to tell she was hungover, but at this moment she just needed an escape, and the beer was in her hand. It also didn't bode well for the moment she decided to shoot her shot with Stefan,

"Hey! There you are. Have you been down to the falls yet? Because they are really cool at night. And I can show you. If you want."

"I think you've had too much to drink." Stefan tried.

"Well, of course I have. So…"

"Caroline. You and me, It's not gonna happen. Sorry." With that, he walked off. Caroline tried her best to keep it together, but it felt as if she was losing every person she had even known. She turned to watch and saw as he immediately made his way to Elena, who brushed her off as someone who was obsessed with boys and not one of her best friends. It only took another few minutes before everything fell to shit. Vicki Donovan being injured and a bite that looked a lot like the ones her dad had shown her. She froze in fear as the ambulance and police were called. She knew that her father would hear about this whether she told him or not, she wondered what would happen when he did. Eventually, Bonnie dragged her to the grill for coffee to try and sober her up. It wasn't something that she wanted, but she knew she wouldn't make it home alone this drunk. After a few hours, Caroline made it to the point that she didn't care anymore.

"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie asked, starting a conversation at the previously silent table.

"No."

"Keep drinking. I gotta get you home. I gotta get me home."

"Why didn't he go for me? You know, how come the guys that I want never want me?"

"I'm not touching that." Bonnie replied.

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And, Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and, I'm never the one."

"It's not a competition, Caroline."

"Yeah, it is." With that the two of them fell back into silence, eventually Bonnie would leave and Caroline would meet Damon Salvatore, after sharing a coffee she would head home and Caroline would collapse onto her bed in tears, remembering what Stefan, Elena, and Bonnie had said to her. She cried for a time before pulling the book from her bag and opening to a random page. The writing was different from what she had seen before, so she decided to read it, slightly wondering what it would say and who would be the author.

Caroline,

I am sure at the time you are reading this you have experienced some hard things. Life tends to give us experiences like that. I hope that through those experiences, you have learned that you are better than what they make you feel like you are. I was always the outcast of the family, Elijah, your father, and Regina, your mother, made me feel like I belonged. I know that you have that in you as well, I also know that part of having that means you can choose to make yourself belong. Life is hard, I know that as does your father, you have the ability to choose if you let it change you or not. I want you to know that I will always be here to fight for you. I don't know why I feel like I am writing this to someone I will never meet, but I hope I am wrong. Elijah has told me that you are safe and that he will let you grow up when Mikael goes away, I think he should also cut ties with Klaus, but I doubt he will do so. I am sure that the modern world makes you miss home, so I wish you all the water buckets, long dresses, and herbal tea that your heart desires. Know that you have everything you need to achieve whatever you want to achieve. You are enough, my dear niece. If anyone tells you differently, send them to your uncle Kol, I will take care of them. I can't believe I haven't gotten to watch you grow up, but I hope it was amazing and full of adventures and getting in trouble. I can't wait for the day I get to meet you in person.

Love you, Always and Forever,

Your Favorite Uncle, Kol.

Caroline smiled at the letter from the uncle her father had told her about, he was the one she could trust. She hoped that one day she would meet him in person. She fell asleep that night dreaming of the family she should have had, in the time she should have been in. A smile was on her tear stained face.