Prologue
"Darling, you've missed me. I know you've missed me."
Kol Mikaelson drawled it to his enemy, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. He had been both dreading and awaiting this moment; beneath his anxiety and shame he felt a strange calmness settle over him. After decades of evasion, she had finally caught up with him. It was over. In this cold, wet land, in this dank dungeon, it was as it should be: the two of them, alone. Their day of reckoning had arrived.
"Oh, I've missed you, Kol. You've been on my mind nearly every waking moment for the past sixty years," his captor taunted.
He took in the other vampire in all her glory. Her blond locks rippled over her shoulders, and her white lace sleeping gown trailed delicately over the grimy floor of his prison. She was all gossamer and vengeance. Strikingly pale; luminous yet ghostly; beautiful and frightening. Her blue-green gaze burned into him, reminding him that it was his actions which had caused her wrathful and unhinged expression. The vervain-soaked ropes wrapped all around him were nothing compared to the unease he felt at the unknown terrors she had planned for him. Time, of course, had no influence on her physically, but it had clearly ravaged her soul.
"I'm flattered, darling. I confess you, too, have haunted me for a very long time. But I think you know that," he said, seeing how far he could push her.
Caroline grinned. It was a horrifying smile, a promise of dreadful things to come: full of malice, and hurt, and loathing, and most, of all, satisfaction. He realized she would not deign to respond to his provocation.
"You set the perfect trap," he tried instead. "I could never resist so many beautiful virgins."
"I know. I know you."
Kol shrugged and the movement sent spasms of pain down his back. "You've always been attuned to my many shortcomings."
"Was that an apology?" she sneered at him. "If it was, it wasn't a very good one."
"Would you accept my apology?" he asked her earnestly.
A shadow passed over her face. "No."
"Well, then, I don't think it really matters whether I apologize or not," he said, once more trying to provoke her.
It worked. Her fangs dropped down, then silvery-black veins webbed over her skin as her eyes went entirely black - even the whites. Somehow in the past few decades her true vampire face had changed. He'd never seen a true face anything like it. What the hell does that mean? What has she done?
"It matters to them!" she hissed furiously.
He stared at her, still stunned by her features. After a tense moment, she seemed to remember herself and turned away. He waited - there wasn't anything else he could do, seeing as he was bloody bound up. When she faced him again, her expression was too calm. With a smile that promised trouble, she slid her hand up her dress. His eyes widened.
"What are you doing, Caroline?" he asked warily.
In his peripheral vision, he saw her elegant fingers come to rest on something strapped to her thigh.
"Your siblings surprised me with a special gift a couple decades ago."
She removed a terribly familiar blade from its sheath and held it at her side.
"No, no, no," he moaned, tugging uselessly against his bonds.
"They know this fight is between you and I alone. They understand why I must do this," she explained.
"You cannot use that on me - you'll die!" he argued.
"You saw my eyes and veins just now. I am...changed. Among my new abilities, I can stab this dagger into your heart with no repercussions. And I will."
Kol gaped at her in bewilderment. "How-?"
"Do you think your mother was the only witch who knew how to create a vampire? The only one who ever dared? There is a new strain of vampirism now, and I am its progenitor," she taunted.
"You can't be – it – it's not possible," he stuttered, flabbergasted.
"Yet here I stand."
"But you've already been turned!" The only explanation for any of this was he was in shock. The vervain ropes had to be magicked to confuse him, because nothing she was saying was making any sense.
"The right witch figured it out. You're looking at the first and only Carolinian vampire," she announced.
"That's impossible!" he protested. "Besides, you could still die. You can't be positive you're immune to the dagger."
"I think I'm willing to take my chances, brother. I've waited so long for this moment. I'm going to enjoy watching the light fade from your eyes. You're going to miss so much: so many inventions, and wars, and pretty virgins. What a shame. What is this strange emotion I'm feeling? Regret? No, certainly not. Pity? Not really. Ah, I know what it is! Euphoria."
She placed the tip of the blade directly over his heart, and Kol felt dread seep through his core. She was right, of course - she knew him best. He was loathe to miss all of those things. All he had left was begging.
"Caroline, please! Forgive me!" he cried.
She paused. "I thought you had accepted your fate."
"Yes, but-"
"But?"
"You've murdered or compelled everyone in this castle. My siblings despise me. My father seeks to destroy me. You took her from me. I am all alone in this world. I know I deserve it, but that thing will leave me entirely vulnerable!" he despaired.
"That's the point. Am I not the holder of your destiny?" she whispered.
A single tear slid down his pale cheek as he rested his forehead against hers. "You are. You always have been, Caroline."
She probably always will be.
"But this isn't you, darling. I know you just as well as you know me. Remember who you are!" he pled hoarsely, desperately trying to appeal to her long-buried humanity. He remembered the first time he saw her, the noble witch in full battle regalia, radiating with innocence and purity. Her transition had been remarkable - she had retained so much of her humanity even while developing into a fierce vampire. It was like she had been born to be immortal. Now she was an Original Vampire in her own right, or Carolinian, whatever she was calling herself. She was beauteous and horrifying, and he knew it was all his fault. He knew he deserved this. But he really wished she could find it in her heart to forgive him, a heart that had overlooked so many foul cruelties his siblings had committed. And the dagger...the uncertainty of not knowing when he'd awake, being defenseless against Mikael and witches...it was alarming.
She glared at him, as if reading his thoughts. "You're wrong; I'm exactly who I was always meant to be. Everything in my life has led me here. What you did helped create me. What you did – I can never forgive. I hope you remember that while you sleep," she said, her tone saturated with hatred.
The dagger came up.
"CAROLINE! PLEASE! CAROLINE!" he roared. "I'm sorry!"
It was too late. He felt the metal stab into his undead heart, petrifying his system. As his vision darkened, he took one last moment to appreciate her ethereal features as they lit up with savage triumph. She leant forward to whisper something in his ear.
"The worst is yet to come."
Then he knew nothing.
A/N: Hi, there! This story has two narratives that run parallel to each other. Every even-numbered chapter focuses on a crucial moment in Caroline's and/or the Originals' past. The odd-numbered chapters were inspired by the second half of Season Two and parts of Three, Four, and Five. There is occasional smut - definitely not in every chapter. There are some OCs because I think that's unavoidable when exploring the Originals' past. I had a lot of fun developing them, and I hope you give them a chance. Side note: I stopped watching TVD after Nina Dobrev left, and I did not watch The Originals; I've researched what I've not seen on Wiki, borrowed what I could, and generally tried to keep the elements that fit into my narrative. But know that Caroline's presence in the Mikaelsons' lives has dramatically changed canon. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting! Enjoy! ~ L
