Bonnie's POV

"It's nothing, Grams!"

"Bonnie Shelia Bennett, you almost burn down my house, then a fire sparks in the middle of the Mystic Grill where you were today, and you want to tell me it's nothing?" Before I could think of an excuse to spout out, Grams angrily walked away to check on the food she was cooking.

I sighed as I sat down on the sofa and leaned over onto the arm of it. I was exhausted, and I had no idea why. My lids became heavy with sleep, and I couldn't control allowing them to close.

"Bonnie."

My eyes snapped open.

I was sitting on the couch in my Grams' living room, but I couldn't hear her moving pots around in the kitchen anymore.

I allowed my eyes to focus on the person in front of me. She was the person from my dream the other night. Her hair was done up in a long, wavy ponytail that swept the bottom of her back, and her skin glowed an ominous golden. Her features still seemed too familiar to just be a coincidence.

"You're the woman from before, from my dream the other night...what do you want from me?"

The woman smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I've gotten everything I need so far. You retrieved the talisman without so much as a hiccup today. You are finally tapping into your powers the way you were born to do."

"Talisman? Wait, powers?" It all started to make sense. "You know what I am." It was more of a statement than a question.

The woman let out a cackle as she moved closer to me.

"You aren't serious, are you?" Her tone was condescending, yet she sounded amused at the same time. She let the smile on her face drop, and a small frown replaced it. "You really don't see it."

"What are you talking about?" The tone in my voice indicated that my patience was running thin, as I was beginning to think I was going to be left in the dark for every aspect of my life; especially when it came to my newly discovered witchcraft.

"Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie. You can't be that naive, can you? The answer is right here in front of your face. Our similarly striking good looks, meetings in your sub-conscious, your undeniable pull to me," she paused for a few moments as she let an evil-looking smirk grace her features yet again, "I'm one of your first ancestors."

I raised my eyebrows at the prospect. Grams had always said our family was brought over from some long forgotten ancient European country, and said we were lucky to have made it out of Salem alive, but that was as much as she had covered. Sometimes, it almost seemed as if she was scared to say much more about the Bennett family history.

"Who are you?" I found myself asking the number one question I knew I needed the answer to.

Before I could register what was happening, the woman began to walk toward me. Her hazel colored eyes glowed almost unnaturally as she stepped closer and kept eye contact with me. She smiled as she lifted her hand to place it over my heart. I couldn't move, and it almost felt as though I didn't want to.

"I'm Qetsiyah." She turned her head slightly as her irises seemed to almost be burning pillars of fire, "And this is going to be quite an interesting ride for us both."

Her hand was hot, searing iron against my chest.

My eyes popped open, and I heard Grams shuffling around in the kitchen again.

Qetsiyah was gone.

..

Caroline's POV

"I promise it will get better, love."

"You can't promise that, Klaus. I've already been told multiple times there isn't a cure. I'm afraid that if you threaten anymore witches, they are going to start defying your leadership. Now isn't the time for that; especially with Qetsiyah on the run from her coven."

I sighed as I walked behind Klaus and wrapped my arms around him. I burrowed my head into his right shoulder and closed my eyes as I felt his body slightly vibrate with the sound of his voice. "I still don't understand why those witches are so concerned with her. It isn't like she hasn't been on the run for the past thousand years."

His voiced dripped in annoyance; much like any other time Qetsiyah's name was brought up.

"No, it isn't like she hasn't been, but you and I both know the difference. She has that damned talisman now. She's untouchable."

Klaus leaned over and placed a kiss on my forehead. As tired as I was, I still tried to smile in response to the kind, soft side my fiancé showed me. He would never let the light of day see this side of him.

Niklaus Mikaelson was a savage and barbarian when it came to his leadership style. He killed first, then discussed things later. He was the man that nightmares warned you about; the man that made your blood run cold.

But he was also the love of my life.

Klaus was funny, ambitious, chivalrous...he was in love with me, and in my book, anyone capable of love was capable of being saved.

"She's untouchable until I can find a way to bloody end her –"

"What have we discussed about ending things? Especially people?" I playfully rolled my eyes as I felt Klaus smirk. He was still in the process of being saved.

"I know, love. You just don't realize how long I have been dealing with this burden of Qetsiyah. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be what I am today. She wouldn't have brainwashed my parents, and my siblings and I would have lived normal, human lives."

I heard Klaus sigh. He was thinking the same thing I was.

"Of course, without Qetsiyah, we would never have met." He stated.

"Exactly my thoughts –"

"Caroline!"

Light flooded my vision as I sat up quickly. Not again.

"Caroline? Honey, are you okay?"

I finally noticed my mother standing in the doorway of my room; her eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah, Mom. I'm okay." My eyes drifted to the alarm clock on my nightstand. I was over an hour late waking up. Had it even gone off?

"You didn't hear your alarm going off this morning?"

"I guess I didn't. I'm sorry, Mom. Let me start getting ready." I began to pull the blanket off of my body as my mother came closer to me. She placed her fingers lightly on my wrist.

"You know what, Care? Maybe you should just get some sleep today. It seems like ever since the art exhibit, you've just been going and going. I'm afraid you're going to end up falling over sooner or later. Prom is still months away. Allow yourself time to relax."

I nodded my head in the affirmative as I allowed myself to relax back into my bed. My mother quickly gave my hand a squeeze and bid her good byes as she headed off to work. I felt myself sink into my covers; trying to direct my mind into letting go of everything it seemed to keep holding onto.

My mom was wrong. I wasn't tired because of all the running around I was doing in preparation of Prom, I was tired from all the running around I was doing in order to make sure I didn't go insane.

Since the night of the art exhibit, I had started to have very vivid dreams. They were sometimes normal dreams such as me at school, or doing typical things with my friends, but there were dreams I couldn't bring myself to forget. Dreams that were more nightmarish in nature; reminding me of the night my life changed forever. More importantly, there were dreams that were filled with him. In them, I could smell him, feel him. It was almost as if my entire subconscious had become obsessed with Niklaus Mikaelson in the most intimate of ways.

The Mikaelson dreams felt the most real of them all. It was like, in a way, they weren't dreams. Sometimes, they felt more like memories.

..

"Yeah, Haley is doing crazy amazing for a new wolf. Mason thinks it's where she has the wolf-gene on both sides of her family."

I silently sighed as looked down at Tyler's name on my phone screen. Long ago had I removed any hearts or bells and whistles beside of it. Tyler wasn't my Tyler anymore.

"Oh, that's great, Ty! I'm glad you're enjoying Colorado and making friends." I forced myself to sound excited.

"Me too. I don't know, Care. It's like for the first time in my life I feel like I actually belong somewhere, like I actually have a family and people that care about me."

"Tyler, you've always had those things, though. You've always had me—"

"Damn. I have to go, Caroline. We have a pack meeting in a few minutes. Bye!"

"Okay. Bye, Tyler. I love—"

The beep sound confirming the call had been released echoed throughout my car.

"You." I finished my sentence, and it lingered in the silent air.

My eyes stared at the cell phone as the home screen seemed to glare back at me.

I was starting to wonder what the point was anymore. Tyler was living his amazing, new life in Colorado using his curse to help and heal others, while I was here in Mystic Falls; wishing more than anything my curse could be lifted.

But it was too late for me.

That night Stefan Salvatore saved me in the woods as I lay dying, I knew right then and there it was too late for me. I had stepped into a world that you never really get to step out of. You either allow yourself to join that world, or it drags you in kicking and screaming; forever stuck until you're dragged somewhere else.

"Caroline!"

I looked out of the windshield of my car and faintly smiled as I saw a gleeful Elena smiling back at me as she waved me over to where she stood at the entrance of the Mystic Grill.

I quickly got out of my car and made my way over to my childhood best friend.

"Hey, Care!"

"Hey, Elena. No Stefan today?"

"Nope. I told him I needed a girls' night. Besides, I think Damon wanted to continue some twenty-year-old game of billiards that he claims was never finished. He invited Klaus Mikaelson over there, too."

Elena shrugged as I tried not to let my breathing hitch at the sound of the name of the man who haunted my dreams.

"Okay, well let's go grab a table and wait for Bonnie." My voice had a cheerful tone that was believable. One of the many perks of vampirism was the ability to manipulate things subtly enough that even you questioned what the truth was. To Elena, I was perfectly fine. I was the old Caroline who enjoyed evenings down at the Mystic Grill chatting it up with her friends, party planning, and anything that sported pastel colors.

But as I sat down in a booth and looked out at everyone talking, laughing, and just seeming to have the time of their lives, I quickly realized that wasn't me anymore. My life had turned into this calculated nightmare that I was destined to live in forever. I couldn't even enjoy the sun without some gaudy ring taking up space on my finger. I was completely trapped inside of myself; looking for a way out.

"What—"

My attention immediately went back to Elena as she looked in the direction of the Mystic Grill's entrance.

"Bonnie?" I heard her name leave my lips as my eyes grew wide.

I couldn't believe the sight I took in as Bonnie began to walk toward our table. Instead of her modest attire of a Henley tank top, cardigan, and floral print skirt with flats, Bonnie had on light wash skinny jeans, thigh high, black heeled boots, a low-cut burgundy camisole, and a worn leather jacket.

But that isn't what surprised me the most.

"You cut your hair?!" Elena almost screamed as Bonnie took a seat beside of her.

Bonnie's long, slightly waved, light caramel colored hair was now cut into an asymmetrical, chin-length bob with a side part, and a flat iron had gotten it pin straight.

"And have on make up?!" Elena's voice was at screeching level as she openly stared at our best friend, who had her cat eyes outlined in thin eyeliner that stopped at sharp wings in the corner of her eyes, and a dark gloss on her lips.

Bonnie tucked a piece of her sleek hair behind her ear and allowed herself to smirk.

The smirk almost made my skin crawl. For some reason, I felt some iciness behind it; almost as if it was a smirk I was familiar with but didn't particularly like.

"Well, hello to you too, Elena. I just thought it may have been time for a change." Bonnie spoke confidently and coolly. She blinked, and suddenly, her eyes met mine. I felt oddly discomforted as she directly greeted me, and for a moment, I thought my arms would break out in goosebumps.

"Hello, Caroline."