DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Vampire Diaries/ The Originals or any of its characters/places/names,
Note for future reference: ITALICS= Dreams, Flash-Backs, Memories or mind control (except the quotes at the start)
Never Let Me Go
2. Darkness
Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness's of other people
Carl Jung
She was running. She could feel every step send tremors of pain up the length of her leg as she raced along the forest floor. But she didn't stop. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't know why. She just ran. She tried to go faster but for some reason she was restricted to human pace. Although she kept going. Then she reached a graveyard.
The entrance was guarded by a huge metal gate, the walls covered in ivy growing from all directions. She pulled the iron barrier open and stepped over the threshold into the graveyard.
"Hello Caroline" a voice called from behind her and Caroline quickly spun around. Fear was evident on her face and she took a step back away from the person.
"Who are you?" Caroline replied her voice shaking betraying the sense of fake confidence she tried to give off.
"My name is Agnus," the woman replied in a soft soothing voice.
"Please do not be afraid child, I am here to help you" Caroline's heart rate increased.
"Help me?" She questioned. "Help me with what? And where is here?" She felt a queasy feeling in her stomach.
" The where is not important and neither is the why" Agnus replied. "All you need to know is that I am on your side."
"On my side of what?" Caroline was desperate for answers.
"We will meet again Caroline" Agnus answered and with that she was gone.
Stefan leapt up as he saw Caroline stir on the couch from the corner of his eye.
"Caroline. Caroline wake up" Stefan pleaded his eyes anxious. Caroline forced her eyelids open and saw Stefan's eyes light up. She slowly sat up, her head pounding.
"What happened?" She asked her voice raspy and weak.
"Well," Stefan began "if you weren't a vampire I would saw you fainted but..."
"But I am a vampire" Caroline finished.
"Yeah" Stefan replied. "So it's pretty mysterious".
He tried to keep his tone light but she could hear how worried and scared he sounded. He didn't want to lose his best friend. Caroline suddenly felt a dry itch in her throat.
"How long was I out?" She asked as sat up rubbing her aching shoulder that she fell on. Her inquiry seemed to make Stefan uncomfortable.
"About two hours" Stefan said quietly as if he didn't believe it himself.
Caroline froze. How could she have been unconscious for so long. She's a vampire for gods sake. She quickly stood up, making Stefan shoot up too, and made her way to the cellars in search of blood bags and needing time to process the information just given to her. She picked up a B+ from the refrigerator and began gulping down the blood her brain going into overdrive. Vampires didn't faint. They didn't just become unconscious for two hours unless they were vervained or their neck was snapped and she didn't recall either happening. What was worse was the dream. She tried to recall the entire thing but only bits and pieces were coming back. She remembered running. And trees. She remembered fear. She also remembered getting somewhere but she couldn't remember where. She recalled speaking to someone but she couldn't identify who. She groaned as the pain shattered her thinking process. She needed sleep. And bourbon.
Stefan knew something was wrong. No vampire just suddenly dropped to the floor only to stay unconscious for over two hours. He needed answers.
Before he could change his mind he was dialling the intended number into his phone.
"Hello" a smooth voice answered.
"Elijah we need your help" Stefan said rushing to the point, ignoring the social convention of a greeting.
"Stefan? What is it that you need my help with?" Elijah questioned curiosity colouring his tone.
"It's Caroline" Stefan replied. Elijah was suddenly surprisingly worried for the blondes well being.
"Is she alright? What can I do?"
"I need information" Stefan answered stalling slightly as he was afraid of Elijah's answer to his question. He took a deep breathe and got to the reason for his phone call.
"Do you know of any scenarios in which a vampire suddenly blacks out and remains unconscious for two hours?" Elijah was shocked and confused at the question.
"Not in my experience no, only if their neck was snapped or they were knocked out by vervain, and I assume neither happened".
"Do you know what could have happened?" Stefan asked desperate for some reassurance.
"No but I might be able to find out. Talk to Miss Forbes and convince her to tell you everything that happened before and during the duration of her unconscious state. I will call you to let you know what I find out"
Stefan sighed in relief. "Thank you Elijah"
"My pleasure."
And with that the line disconnected.
Elijah quickly gathered his things to leave when Klaus walked in.
"Going somewhere?" Klaus asked as he sunk into the couch propping his feet on the coffee table in front of him, his voice bored.
"I have an errand to run, I won't be long." Elijah answered as walked through the door. Klaus knew there was no need to be suspicious of his big brother so he decided to meet Marcel to cure him of his boredom.
Davina abruptly stopped sketching as she heard a knock on the door. She opened it without moving a muscle, already knowing who it was.
"Elijah" she smiled at the original and walked over to him.
"Davina" Elijah greeted the young witch. "I have some pages from my mothers grimoire."
Davina's smile broadened. She found the spells from Ester's grimoire help her in controlling her powers, which was comforting.
"But first I have a question for you" Elijah told her as her lay the pages carefully on the table.
"Ok, shoot" Davina replied sitting cross legged on her bed.
"Do you know of anything that could keep a vampire unconscious for two hours, that isn't vervain or neck snapping. Perhaps on the magical side?" Elijah asked.
"Why?" Davina asked slightly uncomfortable at his question.
"A friend of mine suddenly collapsed and we don't know what happened." Davina relaxed at his answer. She didn't want it to be some new way to exploit her powers. But she knew Elijah wasn't like that.
"Well there's always mind control" Davina answered after a short pause. Elijah's eyebrows rose pushing her to go on.
"Witches can make people see things, like almost in a dream sequence, except the witch is in complete control and it's not a dream but a way of communicating. We usually do it when people are asleep as their minds are easier to get inside and it takes less power, but it is possible to force someone into unconsciousness in order to gain control of their mind. After after their message has been given, they can choose when the person remembers certain parts of the 'dream'." Elijah took in the information and processed.
"Can you detect this kind of magic?" Elijah wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure" Davina answered.
"It's very old magic, slightly dark as well. Also it doesn't require a spell so it would be harder to pick up on". Elijah stood up quickly.
"Thank you Davina for all your help. Would it be quite alright if I help you with the spell from my mothers grimoire later? I'll leave the pages with you so you can become familiar with the wording." Davina nodded.
"Yes that's fine"
"Thank you again." And then Davina was alone.
Caroline felt dizzy from her collapsing episode. Sleep evaded her. Stefan entering her room didn't help.
"Caroline I'm really sorry but we need to talk about what happened". Caroline groaned but sat up anyway. Looks like she won't be getting any sleep any time soon.
"Do you remember anything that happened whilst you were out cold?" Stefan asked his voice thick with worry.
"Not really" Caroline answered. She could see the look of disappointment and desperation plain on Stefan's face. She sighed.
"But I think I remember bits of a dream I had" she added reluctantly. She wanted to get to the bottom of her 'fainting' episode and not to mention they still hadn't figured out anything about the blood in the living room, but she didn't feel like talking about the dream. It felt dark and scary and she didn't like that she couldn't recall all of it. It made her feel uneasy.
"Do you mind telling me about it?" Stefan asked not wanting to push the blonde to far. Caroline knew that Stefan was just trying to help her solve the mystery, as Stefan put it, so she decided that it would be best to talk about it.
"It was weird" Caroline started as she fidgeted with the sleeve of her woolen cardigan.
"I was running somewhere. I don't know where to. And I wasn't able to use my vampire speed. Then I got to the place I was going, but I can't remember where it was, but it was creepy. Then someone came. They knew who I was but I'd never seen them before. I can't remember their name," she gave a frustrated sigh, " they told me tat they were on my side. And then I woke up."
Caroline felt uncomfortable. The dream didn't seem like much but for some reason it made Caroline feel on edge. Stefan stayed silent through Caroline's retelling of her dream and didn't respond afterwards. A few moments later he left the room leaving Caroline both physically and emotionally exhausted. Within seconds she was fast asleep, in control of her own dreams this time.
"So what you mean to tell me is that some freak show witches are invading blondie's mind? Why?" Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose.
"If I knew that, Damon, I would be a lot further advanced in a plan by now." Damon rolled his eyes through the phone.
"Whatever. I'll be back as soon as I drop Elena back at Whitmore. Don't do anything stupid until I get back." Stefan snorted and hung up.
Elijah had called to tell Stefan about what he had learned from Davina and that coupled with Caroline's retelling of her dream confirmed the cause of her blackout. Witches. Stefan knew this could mean a lot of things both good or bad, although knowing their lives leaning towards bad. But they had another crisis to attend to. The surprise blood appearance in the boarding house.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Review and tell what you think. Next chapter will be very exciting!