Caroline never believed that a person with darkness within them was incapable of goodness. For her being good or evil was just a matter of choice. She never was afraid of the darkness that resided in her mind, she welcomed it with open arms. Because for her the decisions made by one provided a better judgement of their character.

Her theory regarding one's goodness was often misunderstood by many. But in her mind it was more clear than any words could ever describe.

This wasn't the only thing that was understood by only her. Growing up she often found it hard to describe her emotions, as if she knew what she was feeling but just couldn't explain it to people.

Oftentimes this caused her mind to jumble things up and made it hard for her to find peace. That's when books came to her rescue. Because according to Caroline, she didn't just read books, she lived them. The company of her imagination gave her mind enough time to get back to normal.

Her friends never shared her enthusiasm. Bonnie and Katherine were worried that Caroline would end up being completely alone if she didn't start engaging with the world. As much as Caroline loved her best friends, she found the entire notion far too absurd for her liking.

Besides things were more than good in the small town of Mystic Falls for her. She loved helping her twin brother Stephen in his business of making herbal medicines. And the serene lifestyle was more than enough for her.

She sat in the shop, sorting out the various flowers on the table as Stephen had instructed her to do, reading the book that inscribed on the quantity of each ingredient required to make the perfect recipe. She had to be careful and through because any mistake could change the entire medicine into poison.

"Hey Care," Bonnie greeted as she walked in with a hand full of red roses. She placed them on the counter and took a seat next to Caroline.

"Delivery for you."

Caroline looked up from her book and sighed, "Tyler?"

"Yup." Bonnie gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I swear that moron does not understand the term not interested." Caroline groaned and ran a hand through her blonde curls in frustration. She hated whenever he did something like that.

"Who's the moron?" Both the girls looked up to see Katherine as she barged in the shop. She removed her helmet and placed it on the shelf. Her dark black hair a tangled mess, yet she managed to look nothing less than perfection.

"Tyler." Both of them replied in unison.

Katherine raised her eyebrows, her face showed clear recognition of the man that had made Caroline's life miserable.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Katherine suggested.

A small smile found its way to Caroline's face. "Breaking someone's face and talking are not the same things, Kat."

Katherine shrugged with a sly smile, "Yeah, but how long are you going to tolerate his nonsense? I mean it has to stop one way or another."

"I have to agree, Care. Just because he is the son of the mayor doesn't mean he can do anything." Bonnie stated as she plucked a petal from one of the roses, twirling it around her fingers.

Caroline knew her friends were right. Ever since Tyler had returned to Mystic Falls, he had been behind her back. All it took was for her to just smile at him, and he decided that she was going to be his future wife. At first, Caroline thought that this would end, that Tyler would realise that she was just not interested in him.

But he was determined to convince her, they were meant to be together. It was not that she was against romance or love, but she had no desire to be someone's perfect trophy wife. He never saw her for her, but for her Beauty because according to him they 'looked good' together.

Her feelings for Tyler turned into absolute dislike when he had regarded her love for books as a temporary stupid phase.

Oh how much she wished to rip his face off.

That wasn't the only thing she hated about him, his temper was what made her question whether or not she should inform his father. The memory of that one time he twisted her wrist when he saw her hugging Stephen, still made her skin crawl. Though later after finding out he was her brother, Tyler had apologised for his behaviour. But Caroline knew well enough not to trigger him. Who knew what else he was capable of?

"He'll get over it. He has to." She dismissed the discussion and turned her attention back to the flowers. Neither her friends nor Stephen knew about the incident, and she intended to keep it that way.

Bonnie sensed Caroline's discomfort, she knew if they tried to pressure her into talking about Tyler any further she would only be saddened, so she enquired, "When is Stephen coming back?"

"Well, he was supposed to be back yesterday but maybe he decided to stay a little longer in the woods." She replied, feeling a sense of relief by the change of the discussion.

"Are you sure?" Katherine asked.

Stephen had gone on one of his quests to find a rare species of plant that could cure any wounds. Though he kept Caroline updated by sending a text or two, she still was awfully worried about him because this time his destination was the very part of the wood that most people dreaded to even talk about.

Mystic Falls was a small town surrounded by dense forest. While the area at North was what connected the town to the city. However the forest of the South, where Stephen had gone, was considered a place that was better be left alone.

Despite the town being civilized, legends and myths were still passed on to generations by the elders. The legends stated that the forest of the South was the home to an evil creature that lurks in the dark and fed on people's fear.

Caroline never believed in these things, but the thought of her brother wandering in a place that was considered nothing less than sacred, sent shivers down her spine.

"Katherine!" Bonnie hissed at her. Katherine realised the impact of her question when she noticed the worried look on Caroline's face.

"I'm- I'm sorry, Care. That's not what I meant."

Caroline shook her head, giving Katherine a smile, she said, "You're worried about him, I get that. But you know Stephen. This isn't the first time he has decided to stay longer than usual."

Both Bonnie and Katherine nodded their heads in agreement. They all grew up together, and knew each other well. From being babies in cribs to teenagers at prom, the four of them shared a unique relationship.

"Yeah, you're right. I should get going. I have a shop to run." Bonnie announced and got up from her chair. She was a florist and her business was right around the corner, just a five minute walk from Caroline's.

After a while Katherine too had gone to her work as a tattoo artist. Something Caroline found astonishing because even though her friend was very skilled as an artist, and had a thing for tattoos, yet there wasn't a fickle of ink on her skin. Whenever someone were to ask why, Katherine would simply shrug her shoulders and say, 'my wish.'

The rest of the day went somewhat well for Caroline. She mixed those herbs, drank tea and finished reading the book she had borrowed from the local library, cleaned those shelves that she'd told Stephen to do numerous times but he still managed to forget it anyways. She kept checking her phone every now and then hoping that a message would pop up from him telling her that he'd be home soon, but the message never came.

She told herself that maybe it's because of the lack of network in the woods that had kept him from telling her just where exactly he was.

The evening came and Caroline was locking up the store, she could feel the coldness in the air had increased showing the possibilities of a downpour. Her plans changed initially and she decided to return the book the next day as she walked towards her home.

"Caroline!"

She winced upon hearing his voice. Just when she thought her day was going remarkably well, the universe played its trick. Caroline put on her award winning fake smile and turned around to face the moron of her life.

"Tyler…." She couldn't even try to sound enthusiastic. She waited as he made his way towards her. A smirk that Caroline hated all too well graced his face and she knew that she wouldn't be going home without a headache.

She had to resist the urge to run away as he jogged his way towards her.

"Did you get my flowers?" He asked in a low husky voice. Caroline managed to not cringe at his tone.

"Yes, they were beautiful." Except that she had crushed them to pieces and used them for making the perfume she had promised to give April.

She couldn't let the flowers go to waste.

Keeping his tone the same, he said, "Do you want to join me at the Grill?"

Caroline smiled and replied, "I'd love to. But I have to study."

Okay well it wasn't all a lie. She did have to study, with Stephen gone she was incharge of preparing the medicines. And given her poor memory she had to revise those recipes every night.

Tyler barked out a mocking laugh and said, "God, baby, I still don't get it why you like studying so much. I mean after marriage what's the point?"

Caroline gritted her teeth, her hands itched to smash the book across his face. She hated that term of endearment he used, as if she were his belonging. And the remark regarding the marriage just made her blood boil.

But she knew that lashing out on him would only bring her more problems so instead she said, "I think I should get going. I have to get back home soon."

"Come on. Please for me?" He tried to give her those puppy eyes that made him look surprisingly more stupid.

Her smile grew tighter by the second and she said,"I'm sorry. But I have to go. Bye"

She turned around praying to God that he didn't follow her back home. And it was a miracle her prayers were answered.

Now the only thing in her mind was to go home, take a nice long bath, drink a cup of coffee and read a book.