Special note: My thoughts are with the people of Puerto Rico and Los Vegas.
WARNING: This chapter is rated with a strong M.
Hello, my lovely readers. I am going to try to update this fic faster to finish it up. BTW, there are historical flashback and I am not sure how well I wrote them…we shall see. On with the show…
Chapter 37: Remember Who You Are
After only two hours in Portland, Caroline wanted to go home and to find Klaus. She wanted to take him back to her room, curl up in her bed, to go to sleep and to forget all of the new things she was finding out about herself. Pulling out her phone, Caroline slid her finger across the screen, she found Klaus' number and she allowed her fingertip to hover over what would bring him closer to her.
"Hey, wondered where you went off to," Kai called, coming into the room that he'd offered her for the night. He leaned in the doorway. "Feeling overwhelmed?" he asked. Caroline looked up at the strange man who came to sit beside her. "I get it. Its weird waking up one morning and finding out you don't know anything about yourself. But the good news is that I'm here to help with that."
Caroline eyebrows rose. "In less than a day you think you can help me get past having entire past lives and not knowing who I really am?" she let out a bitter laugh. "Sure."
"You'd be surprised at what I can do," Kai winked at her. "In the meantime, we should get downstairs because dinner is served and I am starving." Getting up, Kai held out a hand and Caroline let him pull her to her feet. She'd call Klaus tonight— after she had gotten a better perspective on what the hell the new crisis was.
Kai led the way down the stairs and Caroline stepped into the room. She had checked in on Hayley over an hour ago. Hayley had locked herself in a room downstairs and refused to talk to anyone. Rebekah had tried to coax her out of the room. Caroline had tried, too, but with no luck. Bonnie hadn't seemed to know what to do; so she'd allowed Kai to take her on the rest of the tour. When Caroline gave up, she found that Damon refused to go with her. He had slumped to the floor outside of the room that Hayley was in.
Now, Hayley sat in a chair—five seats away from Damon and the others. She looked pale and unhappy, twisting a cloth napkin between her fingers. Caroline could tell that her friend had been crying. Streaks from her tears left a pattern down her cheeks. Her lower lip trembled every so often.
Rebekah sat on the other side from Damon and kept glaring at him every time he dared to look at Hayley. She twirled a knife in her hand, pointing it at him every few seconds. Caroline would have to handle that.
Damon sat—his elbows on the table—unusually quiet for Damon. His silence made Caroline tense up. She needed him to crack an inappropriate joke or to insult someone. If he sat through dinner like someone had killed his best friend; she might scream.
Bonnie sat two seats away from Damon, looking at Damon and Hayley and Caroline could tell that Bonnie wanted to stop them from killing each other but was unsure how. "Kai!" Bonnie cried when Kai came into the room. Looks like they'd bonded after all. "Thank you for coming back," Bonnie's smile lit up the room and Caroline smiled, too.
Kai grinned at Bonnie. "Hey there, pretty lady. Mind if I take this seat?" he asked, winking at her and pulling out the chair between her and Damon.
"Can we eat now?" Hayley choked out, looking miserably at Kai.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. One moment." Kai got up and hurried out of the dining room. "I hope you like chicken."
"Got any blood?" Damon called, leaning back in his chair and looking at Kai. His eyes strayed to Hayley who gulped.
"You want blood, Salva-whore, I'll be happy to shed a pint of yours," Rebekah snarled, pointing the knife at him.
Kai moved swiftly, over to Rebekah and took her knife. "I think I'll get you a butter knife. Or you can use your fangs," he hurried out of the room.
Damon rolled his eyes, leaning toward Rebekah. "You really think you have a chance in a fight against me, sweetheart?" he asked, a gleam in his eye.
"You're one hell of a 'Protector' that you go around screwing your bloody charges!" Rebekah accused.
Bonnie shot out of her seat. "I'm going to go see if Kai needs help with the food," she told them in a perky voice. She gave Caroline a look before leaving them alone.
Caroline placed her hands on the table. "Can we have a nice meal and then kill each other?" she demanded, glaring at her friends.
"He started it!" Rebekah shouted, throwing her napkin at Damon.
Damon scoffed. "What the hell, Rebekah? What does my relationship with Hayley have to do with you?" he yelled.
Hayley began to cry and moved to leave the table. "I can't do this."
"Hayley!" Damon shot to his feet.
"Leave her alone!" Rebekah got up and rounded the table, trying to put herself between Damon and Hayley when Damon used his vamp speed to get to the pregnant werewolf.
"Hayley, I am sorry. I should have said something to you before. I would have but when is a good time to say: Hey, we used to be in love, but we died, a lot. But now you're back, and, hey, honey, I'm a vampire now." Damon reached out and placed his fingers beneath Hayley's chin; forcing her to look at him. "Please, talk to me."
Hayley stared at Damon for a moment, then she reared back and slugged him. "I. Hate. You!" she yelled. "You ruined my life! I wish I never met you!" She ran off, again, into the confines of the absurdly large house.
"Great. Now we lost her, again!" Rebekah yelled at Damon.
Getting to his feet, Damon stormed out of the room. Rebekah would have followed him but Caroline grabbed her by the wrist. "Stay. Eat. Let them get whatever is going on there out of their systems."
Rebekah jerked away from Caroline. "Like you, with your list of boyfriends? Oh, good, then Hayley can break Elijah's heart. Maybe this time we'll kill each other—do that creature's work for him."
"Salad is served!" Kai called, re-entering the dining room. "And we're missing people. Did I miss more drama? Damn it! I don't get cable here!" he complained, setting the salad bowl down while Bonnie brought in bottles of dressing. "I'll go find them. Bonnie—if I'm not back in five—the soup needs to be set to low and stirred."
"Okay," Bonnie called.
"Looks like everyone is cheating," Rebekah muttered under her breath, picking up the salad bowl and serving herself.
"Excuse me?" Bonnie's eyebrows rose and she glared at Rebekah.
Rebekah grabbed a bottle of Light Ranch and poured a teaspoon onto her salad. Like she had to worry about calories as a werewolf. "I'm musing on why it is that my brother's girlfriends can't seem to stop entangling themselves with other men."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Bonnie demanded.
"Oh, nothing. I think it's time to turn the soup down," Rebekah retorted, shoving salad into her mouth.
Bonnie gritted her teeth. Caroline watched the witch wave her hand and Rebekah's glass of wine tilted and spilled on her dress. "Bloody hell!" Rebekah cried, reaching across the table, she grabbed Damon's abandoned napkin and dabbed at her dress. She glared at Bonnie before waving her hand and the door to the dining room hit Bonnie in the face; knocking her to the floor. Caroline smelled blood and her fangs came out.
"Serves you right," Rebekah taunted Bonnie.
"Dinner," Damon said, appearing in the room and speeding over to bite Bonnie.
"Damon, don't!" Hayley yelled at him.
Damon's head snapped upward at the exact moment before his fangs could puncture Bonnie's neck. "Why not?"
"Come, have dinner with me?" Hayley held out her hand and Damon got to his feet.
"You're a lucky girl, Bon Bon." Damon walked away from Bonnie and over to Hayley, taking her hand and Rebekah let out a hiss.
"Hey, no biting at the dinner table," Kai warned Rebekah. "You might be a witch/wolf hybrid, but I am the head of a coven, don't mess with me under my roof."
Sighing, Rebekah went back to her salad and began to glare at Damon and Hayley. Caroline sat back down and Kai took Bonnie into the kitchen. "We need to take a look at that nose of yours." Kai was saying as they disappeared.
ACBD
Somehow they survived dinner long enough to get to the Parker family's library. Kai pulled down some books and showed them more drawings and even writing from their past lives. Caroline kept trying to wrap her head around seeing her own writing; pictures of herself with different names and the men she had loved.
"Why is it that Hayley's the only one who had a lover that she kept for centuries?" Rebekah quipped, folding her legs and sending an evil look Damon's way.
Damon sat on a couch with Hayley beside him, his arm around the back of the couch, and Caroline had to admit that they looked cozy for two people who weren't a couple.
Bonnie sat on another couch with Kai, examining a spell book while Kai talked about the other girls' and Damon's past lives together.
Caroline sat by herself—in a chair opposite Rebekah—trying to understand Kai's explanation of things. "That I don't know. What I do is that Damon was created to protect you three. That was why he was born and reborn."
"But why us and why him?" Rebekah continued.
"I ask myself why I got to where I am. Destiny? Fate? A higher being with a sense of humor and an enjoyment of irony." Kai shrugged. "Some things just are. "Now, are you ready for a little leap into the past?" he asked them, rubbing his hands together.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Caroline asked.
"Well, you're a vampire, I thought you'd know that already," Kai replied with a smirk. "Gee, Damon, what are you teaching this poor girl?" Shaking his head, Kai rolled his eyes. "Fine. That's cool. We'll do it my way. Everybody, get in a circle."
"What is this: Pre-school?" Damon snapped but he got off the couch and sat in the circle that Kai was making with Rebekah and Bonnie.
"We're going to sit in this circle and I'm going to channel your energy to help you channel your past memories," Kai told them, looking at Caroline, Rebekah and Hayley. "Good thing I have two powerful witches to help me amp up my power," he said, grinning at Bonnie.
Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Get on with it!" she snapped.
"This might hurt a little," Kai warned them and then he began to chant. When he said a little, he should have said "a lot."
Caroline fell backward, her body heaving and she let out a scream of pain as he channeled her energy. She felt Kai's spell drawing from her and her mind began to drift. Her hand still gripped Rebekah's and Hayley's; never letting go.
ACBD
Pre-Canada 1093:
Caroline's eyes snapped open. She awoke in a plain hut. At least, she thought it was a hut. She'd never been inside one before. Blankets covered her but she didn't need them. She felt warm from the fire lit close to her. She climbed out from under the blankets and then pulled on a long coat, made of animal furs. Pulling the hood over her head, she stepped outside.
Wind slapped her in the face and Caroline wanted to go back in; where it was warm. But the man was coming. She'd seen him and his bird. Her body shivered in the cold as she waited. When she could take it no longer, she turned to go back inside when someone called to her. "Caroline!" the voice of the man called.
Turning back around, Caroline saw Damon making his way toward her. His bird's feathers stood out from its body, looking like a black ball of cloth on his shoulder. "Damon," she greeted him.
"We need to go. Find the others," Damon told her. Caroline nodded and they left her home.
They traveled for months, Caroline fearing that she would die from the cold. When they found the other girl, she came outside of a building, a bruise marring her pretty face. "Hello?" she looked confused.
"Rebekah?" Damon called.
Caroline came toward her. "You're safe now," she said and took the other girl's hand.
Another trip. This time in a boat. Across the ocean and into a land that Caroline and Rebekah had never heard of. They found a girl their age, planting seeds, in her bare feet. "Hayley?" Caroline called. Then more firmly. "Hayley!" she called again.
The third girl looked up, her face tan from working outside. "Who are you?" she asked. Only she wasn't asking Caroline or Rebekah. She was looking at Damon, dropping her pouch and making her way toward him.
"I'm Damon," he said, offering her his hand.
"What are you doing on my father's land?" Hayley asked.
Damon stepped closer to her. "I'm here to protect you."
Hayley let out a laugh. "Protect me?" she shook her head and walked back to her pouch. "I'm fine. You might want to help those two." She nodded at Rebekah and Caroline. "I don't think they know how to fend for themselves."
"I can do plenty!" Rebekah snapped back.
Caroline just watched them. She knew what would happen. She'd seen it in the fire and in her dreams. She worried no longer.
"Hayley, keep the stick up!" Damon cried.
"Stop hitting me and I will!" Hayley yelled back, rolling her eyes and then hitting Damon, knocking him off his feet. "Ha!" she yelled in triumph when he grabbed her by the ankle, sending her sprawling to the dirt floor. "If we're to marry, you have to be more gentle." She told Damon as Caroline giggled at their antics. Rebekah sighed, weaving a blanket.
"Has he been back?" Caroline asked Rebekah whose eyebrows rose.
"Rikard?" Rebekah demanded, continuing to sew. They'd come back to the North to live on an island called Wales. "He was to join with the soldiers but has yet to return."
"Does he know of the babe?" Caroline inquired, looking at Rebekah's growing middle.
"No," Rebekah said, shaking her head.
Caroline felt bad for her friend. She and Jon had been wed in the spring and she would have a new babe in her arms by the fall.
That night, Caroline laid down beside Jon under the blankets that kept them warm. She loved him. He would make a good father and was royalty. They lived in a small castle—with her "sisters," Rebekah, Hayley and her "brother-in-law," Damon—although Damon and Hayley had yet to wed. Caroline knew that Hayley would bare Damon a child not long after she had her own. Her friends would marry, and live long, happy lives.
Falling asleep, Caroline saw a man in the fire and knew that it was time. When she got up the next morning; she found that he had come. The battle was over before it had begun.
ACBD
Peru, 1556:
Jerking in her sleep, Caroline awoke in an old castle. The men outside spoke Spanish. Caroline got up and nearly tripped over Hayley who slept beside her. Rebekah lie on the other side of her. Damon began to argue with the men. "Let go of me! I won't let you hurt them! Hayley! Hayley!" Damon shouted. "Caroline! Rebekah!"
Hayley shot to her feet. "Damon, no, don't! Let him go! Damon!" Hayley shouted, banging on the bars of their cell.
Caroline felt fury course through her and she began to viciously kick at the door. "No!" she screamed, her voice coming out a howl as she kicked it off its hinges.
Rebekah sat up. "What's going on?" she demanded. This time they'd been together for three years in Peru. Caroline knew that they could do better.
"Come on!" Hayley cried. She and Caroline pulled a very pregnant Rebekah to her feet and they ran as quickly as they could.
A pair of guards tried to stop them but Caroline ripped open their throats with her fangs and her claws while Damon and Hayley helped Rebekah out of the compound. "Where are we going?" Rebekah wailed. "Oh, God, the baby. The baby is coming!" she screamed.
"Yes, it is!" the man from their nightmares said.
Damon pulled out a sword and Hayley helped Rebekah lie down in the grass. Caroline joined the fight. The man laughed as he sent Caroline flying and sent Damon's sword into the woods behind them. "Fools. That child is mine," he told them.
"No, it's not!" Damon yelled and then he began to choke as the man—who would never leave them alone—closed his fist. Damon dragged at invisible fingers, cutting into his neck and then he slumped to the ground.
"No!" Hayley shrieked. "No! No! No!" she screamed, running to Damon and wrapping her arms around him.
Caroline dove into the fight. Punching, kicking, clawing and biting. Nothing worked. He sent her flying. Over and over again.
"If you kill her, you won't get this baby," Hayley warned their foe, holding a dagger over her middle.
He laughed. "You wouldn't dare," he scoffed.
Hayley looked at Caroline. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Caroline called back.
Closing her eyes, Hayley stabbed herself in the middle and then withdrew the dagger to slide it across her throat. "No!" he shouted, running toward Hayley.
Caroline ran toward the forest. She found Damon's sword and kept going. Her feet couldn't stop. She knew Hayley was dead. Damon was dead. Rebekah died; giving birth. She was all that was left. It was time. Taking the sword, she began to cry. "I'm sorry, Jon," she cried. Taking the hilt of the sword, she drove it through her chest, finding her heart and digging it out as she screamed in pain. Then it was over.
ACBD
Italy, 1836:
Sunlight shone in her eyes and Caroline lifted an arm, trying to ward it off. It was the day that she dreaded. The day that her family sold her off like chattel. They'd moved across the continent to make this union in Italy. To a man she'd never met before.
"Caroline, it's time to get up," Rebekah's voice sounded outside her door and Caroline smiled. Rebekah, Hayley, and a man named Damon, showed up at her door mere months ago. Since then they had become the closest of friends, allies and confidants.
"Bekah," Caroline bounced over to the door and opened it. Damon and Hayley stood on the other side behind Rebekah.
"Good morning, blushing bride. It's not that bad, once you get used to them," Hayley said, nudging Damon who grinned, grabbing her and making her giggle.
"Thank you," Caroline whispered to them.
ACBD
The day flew by and Caroline lay with her husband—wishing her friends were there—with her. Her husband had been handsome and kind but once they were alone, he ripped her clothing off and took her like some animals did their mates. "We're going to get this right this time. You're going to have the damned baby, do you hear me, Caroline?" he demanded while she sobbed into her pillow.
ACBD
A year later, Caroline, Rebekah, Hayley and Damon ran into the snowy front lawn. It was pitch black outside and Caroline struggled to walk as fast as she could but her bulge prevented her from doing anything useful. "We have to go faster!" Hayley whispered, picking Caroline up with strength that a human should not have.
They climbed into a carriage. Damon took the reins and they were off. Into the cold, black night. Caroline felt tired and frightened. By now, she remembered who her husband was. And she knew she could not let him have this child. Nor could she allow him to have her friends' children. Hayley was barely showing and Rebekah was mere months from the baby's arrival.
Caroline knew her babe wanted out. Her body had been trying to help the child along all day. "Ow!" Caroline screamed in pain, causing Damon to look back at her.
"What is that?" Hayley shouted and Damon looked back at the road. A tree had fallen but the horses were still going, their hooves beating a steady rhythm.
Her body flew through that air and Caroline screamed, flying and then falling into the snow. She felt her leg positioned at an unusual angle. "Rebekah?" she called. Rebekah lie beside one of the horses, blood pouring from the side of her head.
Hayley gasped as she moved toward Caroline. "Caroline, I'm sorry," she whispered. She couldn't seem to walk either.
"Where's Damon?" Caroline asked. "Oh!" she cried, seeing Damon. He had hit a tree, his body, a broken doll on the ground, unmoving.
"Caroline, the baby's coming," Hayley whispered.
"Don't let him have my baby," Caroline replied, shaking her head.
"I won't," Hayley shook her head and Caroline screamed as the child ripped itself into the world. "Caroline?"
"I'll see you again, sister," Caroline promised and closed her eyes.
ACBD
"What happened to my baby?" Caroline asked Hayley the moment they were back in their time.
Hayley looked away, tears streaming down her cheeks. Damon took her hand, squeezing it and Rebekah no longer glared at them. "I ran into the forest. I just kept running and hid. He tried to find us but I was good at hiding. We died in the cold."
"Thank you," Caroline whispered, choking on a sob.
Getting up on shaking legs, Caroline went upstairs and called Klaus. "Are you alright, love? Do you want me to come to you?"
"No, I'm coming home tomorrow," Caroline told him. "Klaus, I want you to know that I love you." Hanging up, Caroline brushed away a tear. She walked into the bathroom. Lifting her top, she examined the barely invisible bulge that would soon become noticeable to everyone and the reason she was taken a day ago.
Thank you for faving, following and reviewing.
Answers to guest reviews:
Guest: And an update you shall have.
Peace,
Jessica