Well, this chapter was hard to write. I knew where I was going but I didn't know how to get there. I guess that happens to everyone once in a while. My life is finally starting to settle down, and I hope to be updating more often now. I'd like to thank those that reviewed, so thank you PsychVamp, Emphatic-Boom, mockingbird, HoPe290, Inge5321, Matt-On-Matt, HH1098, CindyLuvsYu, tezzatessa, DisappearingHybrid, and last but not least, Kat7CA! It means a lot to hear your thoughts. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

I do not own Vampire Diaries. I do own the plot of this story, Benjamin and Prudence.

Chapter 14: Saying Goodbye

Rebekah looked down at her feet. She seemed to be hoping if she didn't say it, it wouldn't be true. She was nervous and avoiding eye contact. "They agreed that you would go back with her, she will be coming to take you a way at twelve."

"What? How did this get agreed to?" Why would anyone agree to this? None of this was supposed to happen, it wasn't supposed to be this way. The confusion was sweeping throughout my mind, raking in everything trying to find some answers to my questions.

Rebekah and I continued walking into town, but I was silent. I was wrapped so deeply in my thoughts that I didn't even notice people were speaking to me. I just went straight into the house, up the stairs and into my room. I grabbed my bag from the future that I hid under the bed. I put it on top of the covers, then headed over to the dresser and pulled out the few dresses that Rebekah had given me when I first arrived. I pulled them out and went over to stuff them in my backpack as well, when suddenly I heard a loud clank on the ground. I placed the clothes in the bag, and then turned to see what I had dropped.

It was the necklace, Elena's, the one Klaus had given me. I picked it up by the long silver chain. I hadn't taken a look at it in at least a month. I sighed, but I couldn't stop the smile tugging at my lips. Against my better judgment, I clasped the chain around my neck, but hid it under the thin fabric of my dress. If you looked close enough you could see the circular bump under the blue cloth. I smiled again, and then continued packing. I had decided that I would go with Prudence. If I spent time with her, I was sure she would realize I wasn't her daughter. Then I would return to the Mikaelsons and finish my mission. I was sure that I would be back here soon, that I was absolutely positive.

I grabbed my bag and headed into the hallway. I was startled when I turned the corner and ran directly into someone. I took a step back and looked up into his face.

"Nik-"I started to say as he cut me off, and pushed me up against the wall. Both of his hands were securing my wrists against the wall, to make sure I wasn't going anywhere. He chastely kissed me, and even though it was small I still felt fireworks. Then he slowly moved his lips down to my ear.

"Don't go, Caroline." He whispered in a low, husky voice. His body was pushed slightly into mine, and just the touch of his skin caused me to lose all sense of reason. He seemed to be struggling with himself. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wanted to kiss me again, but he wanted to make sure I would stay first.

"Niklaus. I can't." I sighed, looking into his eyes. Today they looked deep blue, like a troubled sea after a storm. I wanted him. I couldn't believe that I had not only warmed up to Klaus but I actually liked him. In that instant every nerve in my body was telling me to stay, to kiss him, but then I heard a voice in my head. Elena's voice, seemingly my voice of reason.

"This isn't right. You need to complete the mission. Then you can worry about finding someone special." Her voice was soft, but honest. I sighed again.

"Why not?" Klaus asked, still holding my body in place with his own.

"If she really is my mother, I need to find out." I said, trying my best to sound like I believed what I was saying.

"We both know that that woman is not your mother." He could tell, but I had to convince him, for at least a while. I needed time away from here, away from him, to clear my mind.

"I have to give it a try. What if she is?" I said. Klaus sighed as he took a step back and released my hands.

"If she isn't, you come straight back." He told me, finally accepting defeat. He turned to leave, but then he suddenly turned back and kissed me.

Everything that I was thinking about that instant suddenly vanished and all I saw was the fireworks as our lips molded together. The kiss deepened in a second, and there was so much passion and fire in that one moment. When he pulled away, I was left breathless. He grinned with his hand resting on my neck, when he pulled on the chain of my necklace so it was resting on the top of my clothing.

He held the metal circle in the palm of his hand. His face showed a mix of amazement and curiosity. He looked into my eyes, then he smirked as he headed down the stairs. I was left standing there, dazed, all my thoughts were jumbled and in disarray.

"This is why it's good I get away from that weirdo." I said to myself and sighed, then I picked up my bag and descended the stairs as well. When I reached the ground floor, I saw the entire Mikaelson family standing there, waiting to see me off. Klaus being the last one down the stairs was the first to say goodbye. As I walked up to him, I noticed his eyes were on the necklace. I quickly slipped it back under the fabric of my dress and I looked up at him. He had a grim smile on his face. It was clear he still didn't want me to leave. I returned it with a slight smile of my own and a quiet goodbye. Standing next to him was Finn and I couldn't read his expression at all. He had that closed but still cared kind of look.

"Good luck." Finn said quietly.

"Thanks." I nodded back. I moved down the line to Elijah, who was standing upright and looked completely healed.

"Thank you, for everything Caroline." He said as he kissed my hand.

"I didn't do that much." I told Elijah, slightly blushing.

"Yes, you have." He responded, and I knew nothing I said would have swayed his opinion. I continued on to Henrik, whose face was full of hurt and disappointment.

"I don't want you to go, Caroline." Henrik told me as he gave me a hug. I hugged him back and smiled. He really was a sweet kid.

"I know." Was all I could say. When I pulled away I gave him a comforting smile.

"Oh, dear." Ester said as she stepped forward to take my hands in hers. "You are always welcome here." She said as she embraced me.

"Come back if you ever need anything." She told me, looking me in the eyes like she knew I would need her help with something sometime soon.

"I will." I nodded. Rebekah was in tears, next to her mother. She just couldn't hold herself together. We'd become friends almost instantly, and we had spent so much time together over the past two months. I hugged her as well, and she cried into my shoulder.

"It's ok." I said as I patted her head. "It's going to be ok."

"You have to come back and visit me." She demanded. "Often." I nodded profusely, and chuckled under my breath. Then I hugged her again as I said goodbye. Kol was the last one in the lineup and he had this grim smile on his face as well.

"Be careful." Was all he said and I nodded solemnly. I turned to face the group, I had to say something, even if they didn't know that I would be back relatively soon.

"Thank you, for everything." I looked from face to face, and I truly felt grateful. None of them were bad people. They were human, with human flaws, and human strengths. Now looking at them, I couldn't imagine one of them intentionally trying to hurt me, or anyone for that matter. I really did enjoy my time with them, as a part of their family.

"We should be the ones thanking you. You have done so much for this family." Ester said with a smile. I blushed as I picked up my bag and opened the front door.

"Goodbye." I said, and then exited the house to see Prudence waiting there with two horses.

"Abigail, dear. Are you ready to go home?" She asked as she came forward to give me a hug.

"Yes." I answered when she suddenly pulled back to sneeze. "Bless you." I said as she sneezed a few more times.

"Thank you, dear." I nodded and slowly headed towards the horse meant for me. I watched Prudence jump up onto hers and I was cautiously about to do the same, when I heard someone call my name.

"Caroline!" I turned to see Benjamin running towards me, out of breath.

"Hi." I said when he arrived in front of me, panting.

"I, I wanted to give you something before you left." He told me as he stood up straight. I noticed Prudence was smiling at him appreciatively, which kind of creeped me out.

Benjamin grabbed my hand and placed in it a small, cloth, draw string bag. I looked down and slowly opened it. When I pulled it out, I marveled. How did he get it, especially here? It was a small silver ring, the metal looked like it had actually been woven to form it, and it was beautiful. He smiled at my expression and then suddenly he pulled me close and kissed my forehead.

"Goodbye, Caroline." I heard him say with one last smile, and then he headed back the way he came.

"What a sweet boy." I heard Prudence say, from her horse. I once again slowly approached the horse. I took riding lessons when I was younger but there was one thing I never told anyone. I was a little bit scared, after my instructor got kicked and ended up in the hospital for two months. Ok, maybe a little bit more than a little bit, but still. The only other mode of transportation available to me was walking, and that would take at least a day and a half. So I nervously mounted the horse, and followed Prudence through a rough pass through the woods.

I didn't understand why, but for the most part of the trip Prudence was quiet. I was grateful for the silence. It gave me time to analyze my thoughts, and there were far too many of them.

There was a part of me saying that I needed to go right back there, kill the Mikaelsons and be done with it. Then there was a part saying a few day's space from there might be good for me, to give me a clear view of what's going on. And then there was the final part of me, the voice I was trying with all my might to shut out. The voice telling me to run straight back into Klaus's arms and never let go. Telling me to forget everything else that I knew, and just stay with him, forever. Something was telling me I would never regret that choice, but what about all of the other people I care about? Was I willing to risk their well-being for my own happiness? No, I wasn't that selfish.

I started to think. My original plan when I arrived was to get to know them so I could learn their weak points. Learn more about them so I could take them down. But the more time I spent here, the more time I spent with them the more I saw how human they are. They live, they laugh, and they love. They aren't yet the horrid people they become. Sure killing them would be a simple solution, but I'm not sure if I capable of doing it anymore. Over the past two months, I've found that I care about them, all of them. They don't need to be punished for crimes they have yet to commit. They need to be saved. I wasn't sure how I would do it, but that's what I intended to do. I planned on saving them, sparing them from the pain and guilt that would come.

It was a decent plan, all I had to do now was get back there. I had to convince Prudence that I wasn't her daughter, but something told me it would be harder than it looked. Easier said than done. I sighed and what seemed like days later, we arrived in a new village. It seemed quite a bit larger than the Mikaelsons village. Once we entered closer to the town center, a gruff looking man came up to Prudence and quietly spoke to her before she dismounted her horse and handed the reins over to him. I did the same as the man nodded to her and walked away with both of the horses.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed slowly as Prudence led the way through the town. There was a countless amount of rustic styled houses littering the streets, and a rather large marketplace. The people that wandered the streets seemed to stare at me, sort of like the people in the other village did when I first arrived. My eyes traveled from building to building, door to door and face to face. One face that I saw stood out, one that looked so familiar, but I just couldn't place it. Then suddenly they turned and left my line of sight. I shrugged it off as we got closer to the edge of town, when Prudence finally slowed.

We came to the last house at the end of the street, it was a bit larger than some of the others with a big yard in the back. I followed as Prudence entered the house. The house would most likely come across as warm, welcoming and family centered, if it weren't for the stuffy atmosphere and the coat of dust that seemed to cover every surface. If you looked, you could see where a path was tread through the room, but the rest of the room was covered in this thick layer of dust.

Looking around you would start to wonder if this woman actually lived here. She led down a long hallway and I saw that it wasn't just the entry room, but the entire house that was lined in dust. As we walked I looked through each room, a library, a den, a family room, even what appeared to be Prudence's bedroom was covered.

Finally we reached the last door in the hallway, which was the only one that was closed. Prudence turned to me with a strange smile on her face, and then she opened the door.

It was a gorgeous room for the time period. It had expensive hangings and what appeared to be an imported bed. But what amazed me most, was that everything looked brand new. There was no dust, no cobwebs, no nothing. The entire room was perfectly maintained. The bed was made up with a dressing gown resting on the chest at its foot. There was a large mahogany wardrobe in the corner, which also looked to be imported.

"Do you recognize anything, dear?" Prudence's voice came out from behind me, sickly sweet. This brought my attention back to the current situation. I turned to look at this frail old woman, then I shook my head,

"No, I don't." I said, but she continued to smile. Prudence stepped forward, took my hand and led me to sit down on the bed.

"It's been a long day. You go ahead and lie down. I will go fetch you some food." With that she left the room, closing the door behind her. I got up hoping to catch the ending of the sun set, before settling down. I sighed to see that I had missed the best part.

I went and flopped on the bed. I was surprised when all I could think about was the owner of this room. The girl who looked similar to me, who had disappeared, vanished. I wondered what happened to her, and how Prudence had come to find me. I sighed once more as I began to daze when Prudence entered the room with a tray of food.

"Here you go, Abby." She said as I sat up and she put the tray on my lap. Once I finished eating, she took my tray, and then pulled my blankets up a bit. I laid down and she leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Abigail. Tomorrow you can go riding on your mare. I know how much you love riding." She said as she left, and closed the door.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. How was I to convince Prudence that I wasn't her daughter? Then it hit me, find Abigail. That was the simplest way to prove it. Tomorrow I would go around town and find out where she went.

I was quickly falling asleep, barely able to keep my eyes open. It had been such a long day.

"Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow." I sighed to myself before I closed my eyes and drifted into slumber.

A/N: Well, this one seemed to turn into a kind of filler, sorry. The next two chapters should make up for it. I was really surprised by how people perceived Prudence. I wonder what people think of her now, please feel free to tell me and anything else.

I think it's funny, I wrote that paragraph about saving the Mikaelsons before I even started writing the story. Now it was a scene in TVD. I think it's interesting how things work out that way.

The more reviews I get the sooner I'll update.

Thanks for reading my story

DramaticInvisibleGirl