Chapter 16
As soon as Mrs. Lockwood announced the intermission, Caroline practically pulled her arm off, trying to get away from her boyfriend. She ignored the curious looks both Bonnie and Elena sent her way as she walked at a fast pace. Caroline would have run, but she was competing in Miss Mystic Falls, and she refused to look anything but like royalty in front of the crowd and judges.
By his furious whispering of her name, Caroline knows Niklaus Mikaelson had followed her off the dance floor. Coming across a stone path, the blonde had two choices. She could enter the Lockwood Mansion, where Niklaus had already been invited in but held people and furniture that could be used as a buffer or to walk into the grass towards the lake.
She only had seconds to decide; making a sharp turn, Caroline made herself smaller as she maneuvered between the caterer as they descended into the yard towards the hungry crowd. Caroline allowed herself to smile as Niklaus was forced to keep a human pace with so many witnesses. The extra time allowed her to enter the house and rush up the stairs towards her dressing room, yet he was still hot on her heels.
"Caroline!" He called just as she closed the door to her room. His hands pounded on the door as she leaned against it. Niklaus kept his strength to that of a human, so Caroline did not fear him simply breaking the door down.
At least not yet.
"Caroline, please allow me to tell you everything," Niklaus pleaded.
"Why? So, you can keep more secrets from me? I think not!"
"Caroline, I was going to tell you," Niklaus sighed, resting his head on the door. "I don't want to tell you through the door. Will you let me in?"
"You had all the time in the world to tell me, N…Klaus," Caroline stuttered over the name change. But she was just so angry…right now, she couldn't think of him as Niklaus. Niklaus, the name of her boyfriend, Caroline's charming, intelligent, funny, and filthy rich boyfriend with a whole bunch of siblings just as lovely and insanely intellectual as he was.
Niklaus was the man who told her about vampires, who had listened to her as she talked to him about his siblings. Niklaus was the man who divulged his past to her and hinted at the harm his family had committed to others and each other. He was the one Caroline had made love to that summer.
Klaus was something else entirely. He was the boogeyman of the supernatural world, the being things whisper about in fear. Everyone feared him, without many knowing that he truly existed. Klaus was the man who repeatedly daggered his siblings in anger and in fear for a being that the Mikaelsons feared even more than Klaus himself. Klaus was a vampire who used his siblings to his own end, a vampire with no moral compulsion towards empathy. Right now, she saw the difference between the two names the man beyond that door went by. Only now, Caroline was unsure if she would ever see him as Nik again.
"Sweetheart," Klaus pleaded with his beloved, "at least hear me out."
There was a pain in his voice, and Caroline flinched as his pitch went higher, almost as if he was whining like a canine would if his owner was cross with him. Caroline shuddered as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"Okay," She found herself saying. Caroline stood, taking several deep breaths until she could be sure she was steady. The interlude would not last much longer. If they were to discuss this today, it would have to be now or after the pageant. Turning around, the blonde opened the door to see Niklaus Mikaelson standing at the threshold; his eyes shone as if he would be crying now if he let himself.
Perhaps he was afraid?
Caroline knocked that thought out of her head. People feared him; Niklaus wouldn't even let himself fear his father…Caroline internally coughed. She meant Klaus. Klaus. He would have to earn a return to Niklaus, let alone Nik. She opened the door further to allow him entry.
Once the door was closed, the two stood across from each other. Both were silently studying the other. Caroline had noticed his stare, and she crossed her chest. "Well?" Caroline questioned; her tone was that of what she would use on the idiotic females at school that thought they could take her on. Girls who weren't from founding families but whose parents ran in the same circles as the Lockwoods. Teenage girls who thought the way to lock a rich founding member boy was to take down a founding female.
And Caroline was viewed as the easiest target. Elena's family might not be filthy rich, but her dad had been a doctor, and her mother had the luxury of staying home. Both of Caroline's parents had worked as civil servants to the law at that. Niklaus's eyes narrowed, "Watch your tone, Sweetheart. I still expect to be treated with respect."
Caroline tilted her chin and looked him in the eye, "you said you wanted to talk, Klaus, so talk."
He stared at her for a moment, his heart hammering in his chest. He couldn't lose her. "As you know, my mother kept the truth of my parentage from me and hid my wolf side in a spell. Locked my wolf away. She intended for me never to be able to break the spell, but nature demands a loophole."
"Meaning the spell can be broken within certain rules," The human responded, earning a proud smile from the vampire.
"That's right, love. In my case, it would require a ritual with certain ingredients. My siblings and I could easily identify the type of ritual needed; the ingredients made what my mother did almost impossible to break. She thought it would be impossible."
"Doppelgangers….Tatia right?"
Niklaus looked proud but sad. "Tatia was a village girl who was seen as scandalous because she did not throw herself into a funeral pyre despite not all widows doing so at the time. However, our village was small, and that tradition had still been in play in our part of the world. Elijah and I fought over her…I just wanted to win against my brother once. I was barely interested in truth, but she was pretty, and I had always liked pretty things."
"And Elijah wanted her," Caroline scowled. "Let me guess; your mother hated the sibling rivalry?"
"She used Tatia's blood to not only make us into vampires but to lock my wolf away from me. The ritual to undo my curse would require her blood and a moonstone. It held powerful magic and was linked to the moon's phases, and it required me to sacrifice a vampire and wolf."
Caroline's mouth opened wide, "Elena…."
"Is the doppelganger, and until meeting Katherine, we had thought the doppelganger, the descendent of Tatia, must die in the ritual. Our mother, in making the spell ensured to use our vampire side as a way to lock the wolf in and, in doing so, would make it necessary to kill one to do so. She never imagined that we would change others, and to her knowledge, my siblings could only be killed by white oak, and she counted on my love of them to stop me from using my siblings to break the curse."
"Does Elena need to die?" Caroline questioned.
Niklaus shrugged, "Elijah had sought a way to save her, but Katherine had run before we could test it out. Elijah had also kept this little project from me, but I shouldn't have been so surprised. Elijah had cared for Tatia deeply but seemed to connect to Katherine just as easily, if not more so."
Caroline frowned, "this doesn't mean I forgive you yet. You can't expect honesty from me and not give it in return. This means omissions as well."
Niklaus gave her a proud grin, "Since when were you the mature one?"
"Since I started dating a thousand-year-old toddler," Caroline sassed back. "Now get out. I have to prepare for the next session."
XXX
Caroline looked down at her change of clothes; while it was not strictly necessary, the blonde had learned long ago that dressing the part of each section was half the battle. Her grandmother used to tell her that the judges focused on the essence of each section, but a contender had not just to outshine the others in each area. They must stand out. The Forbes were not the wealthiest family in their small town. Her parents, at one point, were working in the Sherriff's office, for god's sake. Many girls in the past fell on their family's money to buy things to impress the judges, to stand out against the line of similarly raised female members of the Founding set.
"You don't need a sparkling dress that costs more than a car to impress them. You just need to show you are not only the best candidate but the one who wants it the most. You must show them a personality beyond a real-life Barbie doll."
For the pageant's talent portion, Caroline changed into a pair of blue jeans that hugged her legs. She topped it off with a stunning red halter top; the team helped to age her up just a tad while still being appropriate for the teen to wear. After all, her mother was still in the audience, a surprise as Caroline thought for sure the department would call her in for some emergency by now. Tugging her favorite pair of black boots, Caroline flipped her curls away from her face. There she was, ready.
"And now the musical stylings of Miss. Caroline Forbes," Came to the voice of Carol Lockwood just beyond the stage.
Caroline received several good luck from the other contestants, including Elena, who smiled softly at her. Caroline felt a pang of jealousy, remembering how at the beginning of the year, she tried to be sympathetic towards the brunette, but her friend hadn't taken her very seriously. Knowing that if she didn't make it on stage soon, Carol would see it as a forfeit for the section.
Caroline lowered her shoulders and walked on stage, smiling into the crowd, thinking of how Rebekah had walked into the school after so many decades locked in a box. She saw her fellow blonde in the audience give her a proud look as the crowd clapped politely. With the pose of a queen, Caroline carefully leaned just close enough to the mic to speak but far enough to avoid the loud screech of untrained performers.
"Good Afternoon Mystic Falls. For my talent, I've decided to share a song with you" Caroline nodded towards the back of the stage. Once she signaled, it took only a moment for the blonde to begin to hear the familiar melody.
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can
It didn't take much to think about the sole girl in town that managed to gain everyone's attention without even trying. Caroline met Elena's eyes, offering her a smile, as she allowed her previous feelings of insecurity, which Caroline hoped she could see one day buried.
Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you
Jolene
Caroline watched the crowd, her blue eyeing meeting the amused ones of Sage, Rebekah, and Katherine. The older female's smirks were answered enough as Kol looked close to bursting with laughter as he nudged a late coming Niklaus. Caroline quickly moved on, not meeting his gaze on purpose. She did not doubt his feelings towards her; in truth, Caroline's choice of a song had nothing to do with him.
He talks about you in his sleep
And there's nothing I can do to keep
From crying when he calls your name
Jolene
It had everything to do with her friendship with Elena. The girl who seemed to capture the attention of every man Caroline had ever thought to like. The blonde met the gaze of her second oldest friend, Bonnie. Her eyes were soft with understanding, having been the one Caroline confided in when her jealousies got to be too much. She saw Stefan sitting next to a blonde woman, who seemed to look at her knowingly.
Caroline looked away.
And I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don't know what he means to me
Jolene
Taking a breath, Caroline remembered when she confessed to Matt that she liked him. It had been before Matt and Elena had started dating before she knew her friend had decided to try dating Caroline's fellow blonde. She remembered the way Matt looked pained as he tried to gently break it to her that Matt had already accepted Elena's invite to the year's Sadie's Hawkins dance.
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can
You could have your choice of men
But I could never love again
He's the only one for me
Jolene
Then there was the time Caroline had been asked out by Tommy, a boy who was now one of Tyler's stupid foot soldiers. Caroline had been so excited to go out; it would have been her first date. That was until after school, a few hours before their date, Tommy walked up to her and canceled.
Because Elena had agreed to tutor him.
I had to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
And whatever you decide to do
Jolene
Was it any wonder that Caroline had a love-hate relationship with Elena? The girl and the teachers would gush over when parents returned to school at night. The girl whom every boy wanted but would accept a date from Caroline if Elena was not available. The girl loved Elena to death because Elena had always been there for her.
But she didn't see.
Elena didn't see that she outshone everyone else. Caroline just wanted to shine by her side and be loved for who she was. Not to be used as second best. Caroline trusted that Niklaus wanted her, but a part of her feared that even if it wasn't Elena, he wanted that he would get bored eventually.
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man.
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him even though you can
Jolene, Jolene
XXX
Katherine took a sip of champagne from a passing waiter as she looked around the grass area. She needed a break from the siblings, especially being near Klaus. It had been startling enough that she and Elijah were openly allowed to be in a relationship. But their brother Finn was also un-daggered and attached to his returned love. Katherine could not believe that it was all due to the interference of a mere human that the mighty Klaus Mikaelson had fallen in love with.
She had been in town for some time, inching into Gilbert's circle at Klaus's behest. The fact that she did it angered Katherine to no end. It was only to stay by Elijah's side and a continued guarantee that she would not need to leave to safeguard her own life. The bonus of being around to annoy the bastard was just icing on her cake.
She had initially been intent on checking in on her descendants, having found out years before of the birth of a new doppelganger from the girl's birth mother, no less. It tickled her when she heard the Salvatores had also come home. She knew it was only a matter of time before Klaus found the girl and would begin to prepare for his ritual. She had planned first to attain her freedom and start to mess with the Salvatores.
She had wanted to see just how far they would go to protect the girl, a girl with her looks and with their history. Katherine could not resist, but earning her freedom was her primary goal. Now that this was not necessary, Katherine felt restless….Elijah satisfied her more primal urges. Yet Katherine was feeling itchy.
She needed this ritual to go well when she realized who this human lover was. Katherine knew the idiot would mess it up, something he had been planning for centuries. Klaus, while a begrudgingly brilliant mind, was still a male. A male who, much to Katherine's shock, had developed care for the blonde cheerleader.
A cheerleader who was friends with his much-needed doppelganger. As enjoyable as the chaos of her introduction had caused, Katherine was aware that Caroline would find out the real reason they were connected sooner or later. The vampire snorted; it was hardly like the Mikaelson's tried all that hard to keep the information mystical, hard to find, but hard to understand.
"Katherine?"
The vampire turned with a smile perfectly in place as she met the gazes of Jenna Sommer and Sheila Bennett. "Jenna! How lovely it is to see you again. Who is this gorgeous elder of wisdom?"
Katherine already, of course, knew all about Emily's descendants. A part of her mourned the witch's fate; it had been a dangerous thing to be a witch and vampire back then. Katherine watched as Sheila gazed at her with a knowing look, deciding to show her pearly whites. Katherine knew she was successful when Sheila's face became guarded. Good, the witch was wary.
"Sheila Bennett," The witch greeted softly. Her face was guarded, but Katherine knew she was trying to sense something. She paid little attention to Emily's powers beyond how helpful they were. Now she wished she knew a little more.
"Pleasure, "Katherine purred softly. "Which young lady are you here for?"
Sheila shook her head, "My granddaughter's friends are both competing. I'm only here to ensure that trio doesn't have one of their fights over this stupid pageant."
Jenna laughed, "I still remember when my sister won. I'm surprised Elena went through with it… even I heard how active Caroline has been in this thing."
Katherine had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, "Elijah is here for Caroline as well. The entire bunch…all to support little Caroline Forbes." The vampire eyed the two women for a hint of a reaction to what she said.
The witch reacted. Katherine admired how muted the response was. Sheila Bennet was a wise witch; one well versed in the myths of the supernatural world and its realities. Gilbert's Aunt looked confused but smiled, "Oh, that's right, Caroline is dating a Mikaelson as well. Have you met her yet?"
Katherine nodded, "So…bubbly."
Sheila snorted, "Caroline Forbes is a shoo-in to win. No offense Jenna."
Jenna smiled ruefully, "She would deserve the win. Elena only does this because Caroline wants a real contender to defeat. Mrs. Lockwood wouldn't stop mentioning how wonderful it would be to follow her mother's footsteps."
This heavily interested Katherine, "Elena doesn't want to compete?"
Jenna shrugged, "I think she is doing it for the benefit of Mrs. Lockwood and Caroline. Last year she would have wanted to compete but after everything? I think it just lost its appeal."
Sheila nodded solemnly, "Tragedy has a way of maturing the young. She's a good girl that Elena as long as she stays away from bad influences."
Katherine had to smile as the witch glanced her way when she got to the end. Sheila would have been right as Katherine had intended to use Elena to her ends; now, she didn't need to. All she was here to do was collect information. Elena would no more come to harm by her hand than if she would encounter a puppy.
Jenna laughed, "Bad influences in this town?"
Sheila raised her brow, making the younger woman blush. "I remember watching you grow up, Jenna Sommers."
Katherine laughed genuinely, "Oh, you were a naughty teenager, weren't you, Jenna?"
Jenna snorted, "I was hardly the worst of our generation. I think that role fell to Isobel."
XXX
Sage thought the mysterious god humans were so obsessed with was on her side for once as the pageant broke for a small break. The judges were set to deliberate on the points and announce the winner within an hour. They were giving the Mikaelsons a chance to disperse once again. Sage watched as the hybrid who once gave her one look and dismissed her as a passing fancy stalked towards Stefan Salvatore and the pretty blonde by his side. Sage vaguely recalled the woman, a vampire whose passed she crossed once or twice.
"Should we be concerned?" The redhead asked her lover, taking a sip of champagne from a glass she took without looking.
Finn carefully turned towards where his brother had found the pair. Niklaus didn't look angry, nor were any of his warning signs being shown. Besides the younger Salvatore looking slightly uncomfortable and the blonde woman looking annoyed, nothing was amiss.
"Leave them alone, Sage," Finn advised. "Niklaus will not do something unseemly at an event his lover cares about. Especially with the roads, we've taken to grace ourselves to the town."
Sage snorted, "The blonde looks ready to fight him." Sage's brow twitched. What was her name again? The redhead certainly remembered seeing the blonde amongst some of her older crowd back in the day. She was sure she had met the blonde and Damon within the same year. That was when her name rang true.
Oh, that's right, Lexi. The younger Salvatore must have been the friend she had been muttering about at the time. Sage snorted at the memory; those Salvatores indeed were something else. Sage recalled Lexi muttering about finding a young vampire out of control. Not a vampire that was simply hungry but one whose own emotions were blocked out; therefore, Lexi argued it was not making a conscious choice to be a monster. The little blonde had been determined to help the vampire.
Sage, at the time, still sore about losing Finn, looked at her in pity. Knowing her need to save was the way she coped without her mate. It appears Lexi had been successful if Stefan was the vampire she had been speaking of.
"Perhaps we should allow her to try. Niklaus always does love the ones who try" Finn shrugged. "She hasn't truly done anything, so if anything, he would see it as a friendly spar."
Finn smiled fondly at the way Sage's nose twitched. He pressed his lips to her forehead as the sound of teenage laughter caught his attention. Sage feeling the way her lover's body tightened as if faced with an enemy, turned to where Finn's usually soft eyes had hardened to see a teen, obviously of age, with Caroline keeping one of the escorts in a headlock. It was the blonde male, the brother to her little prodigy. The tanned boy with dark hair cut short was likelier to be Tyler Lockwood.
"Love?" She questioned.
"Niklaus used to be the same way," He muttered quietly. "Niklaus was always the one quickest to get restless and to anger. We all thought Niklaus was a restless soul until we found out…."
Sage knew what he was not saying. Until they found out about Esther Mikaelson's deception, that was probably what had angered her the most. The man hated for things not of his doing, so quick to judge others his siblings decided to care for. Then again, Sage was more intimate with her nature than most. She understood the darker side to their powers, including how a boy who grew up abused by his so-called father and developing close bonds with his siblings might, as a vampire, be unable to handle his siblings having outside influences.
Especially if their parents tried to put space between him and those he claimed as his own, Sage narrowed her eyes at the Lockwood boy. Theoretically, it wouldn't be unheard of if a few members of the wolf packs survived Mikael's original attacks. "Do you think?" She didn't have to finish the thought; Finn would know what she meant.
'I don't recall much of that night," Finn admitted. "I know my father had wanted to wipe out the pack that sullied his wife. His anger as a human was immense. His fury as a member of the undead was tripled. If anyone survived, it was due to pure luck."
"Or magic demanding that balance be maintained," Sage muttered. When Finn looked at her in question, the redhead had to laugh. His acceptance of all the ways the world had changed since he last truly walked among them was astonishing. She forgot that for all his original strength, Finn remained as he was last.
A hundred-year-old vampire, despite technically being alive for a thousand years. The power of the dagger was a tricky thing. Sage had learned that Finn had moments of clarity in which he was aware of his surroundings. Most often when his siblings were arguing near his coffin. It was not the same as being awake but daggered for so long that the magic changed. It kept him under, but he had more moments of awareness than pure sleep.
"Those daggers could keep you from me for nine hundred years, but it couldn't keep you completely asleep for every second of it. The doppelganger is still in existence, all because your brother missed a baby. Now the family certainly kept Katherine's pregnancy a secret even after she was banished, but think about how rare it is for your siblings not to be able to sniff out even the best-hidden secrets?"
"You think magic had a hand in protecting the wolves" Finn answered softly, careful not to be overheard by the other guests.
"I think nature, magic, whatever entity is in power now, will always find a way to keep balance. The witches supposedly created the wolves, nature gave them weaknesses, and witches had the power to keep them at bay. Some of the lore says it's never been verified by a witch. Then your mother goes and does the same thing. There must always be checks and balances, Finn."
"You think Tyler Lockwood might be a werewolf?"
A snort was heard as Katherine Pierce walked up to him. "Not yet. The little boy has yet to trigger his curse. However, I know the same can't be said for his uncle."
XXX
Elena wore a gorgeous sapphire blue dress, a halt dress that wrapped around the slim form of her shoulders. Her dark brown hair was curled in a half updo, with the rest falling onto her shoulders. While Elena didn't care much about winning, she thought participating would make her family proud. It was seeing how Caroline put her heart into each section, and the brunette secretly believed that the town wouldn't last the night if the blonde didn't win.
Partially due to her new knowledge of just how powerful her friend's latest companions were. As far-fetched as Caroline's pen pal had been to believe, even with her concerns regarding Jeremy, Elena tried to look out for Caroline. She saw one of her oldest friends entirely at ease with the Mikaelsons in a way Elena couldn't remember seeing Caroline act with them. When had that started to change? Elena couldn't help but wonder.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Caroline Forbes." Elena watched as her friend smiled and waved to the crowd not before looking behind her and giving Elena a wink. Elena smiled at the sure way her friend walked to the stage again. Elena found herself wondering when Caroline had started to change.
She's always been bold and daring. But Elena knew her confidence was not genuine most of the time. The friend Elena knew lived by the motto fake it until you make it. It was refreshing to see Caroline in this light. Sometimes Elena thought Caroline took everything way too seriously; they were only in high school, for god's sake. Yet Caroline threw herself into every committee and event as if her life depended on it.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Elena Gilbert," Carol Lockwood called out, forcing the brunette out of her thoughts. Elena straightened her back, lowered her shoulders, and met Stefan on the floor. She glanced at him, and he offered her a soft smile. They still had a lot to talk about. They barely had a chance to speak since Halloween.
It was almost as if the Salvatore brothers were avoiding her. The revelation that the Katherine Pierce walking around was indeed the same Katherine of 1864 was nerve-wracking. Elena still did not understand why she looked precisely like the other. Stefan admitted that it was shocking initially, but Elena's personality drew him to her. She was far different from the Katherine he had known.
Still, things had been strained from her friendship with Caroline, stuff at home, and keeping Jeremy and Jenna from worrying about her relationship with Stefan and Damon. Elena didn't know how to react to what Mikaelson's suggested about the brothers who had entered her life. Damon had admitted to turning Vicky, but he balked at the idea of needing to babysit the girl. Stefan had quietly told her how they believed their sire, Katherine, had been locked in the old church in town for years.
No Katherine had simply abandoned them. Truthfully Elena felt torn on the one hand, and they weren't taught how the Mikaelsons had suggested they should be. Stefan found Lexi, who took on such a role, but the dangers and responsibilities of turning others were never explained to them.
Yet how could they willingly let someone else learn the way they had? So lost in her thoughts, Elena barely caught when Carol Lockwood announced the winner.
"And this year's Miss Mystic Falls is Caroline Forbes!"
XXXX
A.N: Thank you so much for your patience as I work through daily life and try to keep up with my stories. As one draws to a close, I hope to put more effort and time into this one!