Chapter 10:
A Thousand Years

Chicago, 2009, Early Fall

"Here doggy, here boy! Come here! Be a good boy now!"

A newly turned Taylor Gilbert stood partially bent forward, clapping her hands against her knees with a giant grin plastered on her face. Her eyes twinkled mischievously and lit her face in the cold fall night. With her back to her house the decently sized back yard lay open. The wind blew a cold breeze through the night and would have given the girl a chill had things been normal.

"I'm not coming."

"Oh come on, Mason," she begged. The young girl returned to a standing position, her body leaning slightly to the right and her arms crossed stubbornly across her chest. "Katherine told you to watch me."

"And I'm watching," the charming young man replied, sitting on the grass, leaning back with his hands supporting himself.

"May-son," she dragged out, her lip jutting out in a pout. "Humor me. I'm a very bored, newly turned vampire trying to direct my energy on something other than the thought of blood."

With a heavy and exaggerated sigh, Mason stood. "Fine. What do you want to do?"

The young girl stopped to think for a second before an excited squeal left her lips. "Catch me!"

Mason was confused.

"Aren't you a little old for that?"

"No," she huffed. "I'm only seventeen. You're the old one. Afraid you can't catch me?"

He didn't want to give in, but he accepted the challenge, always willing to give into her games in the end. They were always like that. Like a sister and a brother – always playing and always enjoying each others company. Quickly, the vampire disappeared, appearing seconds later behind his ear.

"Got you."

"That's cheating," the man argued just as she disappeared again. "Using your vampire speed."

"Fine then," the brunette smiled, stopping on the other side of the yard. She placed her hands on her hips and smirked confidently. "I don't need them. You're too slow anyway!"

She laughed, her eyes widening and a surprised yelp escaping her lips as Mason rushed across the yard and wrapped his arms around her waist just as she turned to run. He lifted the young girl easily, as if she weighed nothing at all. Taylor laughed, kicking her legs in a feigned attempt to get free.

Mystic Falls, 2010

Taylor Gilbert sighed. She was aggravated. She was confused. She was a little bit worried.

The young vampire sat, legs crossed, on the grass of the Lockwood's yard where she had been sitting for the past half hour. She'd tried calling Mason more than she could remember and it always went straight to voicemail. She'd considered going into the house but she knew he wasn't there. The vampire had already listened – her ears had picked up Tyler and his mom, but that was it. Mason was somewhere else.

Dialing his number, Taylor waited until his voice mail came up once more before she began to speak. "Mason, it's me Taylor. I really need to talk to you. I don't know what's going on but I need to know. Did you really attack the Salvatore brothers? And have you talked to Katherine? I'm really… lost here, Mason," she whispered into the phone, near the point of breaking down. "Please call me."

Taylor hung up the phone feeling worse than she had an hour ago and slightly pathetic. Everything was spiraling out of control – she couldn't do anything more than sit back and watch. Elena was in danger, Katherine and Mason were nowhere to be found, she was on the outs with Damon, and Klaus could come and take her away at any moment. The reason she'd left Mystic Falls in the first place had been to set everything straight – to make her life normal, free from the terrifying nightmares that had plagued her nights. And though the nightmares had long since stopped it seemed that her life would never again be normal.

Defeated and out of what little hope she had, the young girl began walking home. Her dark brown hair blew in the wind and the cold breeze filled the space around her, but she was far from as happy as she'd been in the cold night she'd remembered spending with Mason.

The walk home felt short, though she had walked the entire way in a very slow pace. The Gilbert house was silent – the two heartbeats were calm and slow, they were sleeping. Elena was probably sleeping over at the boarding house with Stefan, which meant Taylor would have the night to herself.

Using her speed, she rushed up the stairs and changed into a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt she'd borrowed from Elena a long time ago. As soon as her head hit the pillow her eyes began to flutter shut and she welcomed the peacefulness and the numbness that sleep brought.

"Niklaus," a soft and almost blissful voice cooed.

It was that of a young girl. She was young, around the age of seventeen, and her porcelain like features gazed up into the blue eyes of Klaus. She lay in his arms, covered in a soft white sheet. Her blond hair was spread across her back and her bright green eyes sparkled.

"Yes, my dear?"

"I'm happy you came back."

The hybrid nodded, softly stroking her cheek. It hadn't been a hard decision to return – she'd been too much of a luring presence to stay away. It had been something entirely new to the hybrid: to be overpowered by emotions for one human was odd, but worth it. For her.

"I would never leave you."

The next words slipped from her mouth before she could stop them, "I love you, Klaus."

A blush rose to her cheeks. She buried her head into his chest, anxiously waiting for his reply. It only made her worry more when she was met with silence. After a few minutes passed, curiosity got the better of her and her head slowly rose to find Klaus holding a single white rose. She gasped, bright green eyes wide.

"Oh my, it's beautiful."

Still, he said nothing. Klaus waited, looking expectantly at the girl before him. The one girl he loved more than anything in the world. Noticing the expectant look in his eyes, the young girl looked back to the rose, her eyes traveling down the stem. Her gaze stopped with a gasp. There, at the bottom of the stem resting on his hand, was a beautiful ring.

"Klaus?"

"My dear Scarlet, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Scarlet's surprised and tear filled eyes stared awestruck into Klaus' blue orbs. He smiled encouragingly, though she could see the hint of nervousness in him that she rarely glimpsed. A grin broke out on her features as an unexplainable joy burst through her being. Her words failed her. She tried to say yes but nothing came out. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around the man she would soon call her husband.

...

The young girl, Scarlet, let out a frightened yelp as a hand roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a door in the hallways of Klaus' home. A struggle ensued and stopped only when the blond caught sight of the perpetrator – an old woman. The very woman she had seen wandering the grounds the day before. The one she had thought nothing of.

"You? I've seen you walking about outside!"

"And you are the only one."

The words confused her. "What do you mean?"

The old woman laughed, the wrinkles on her face contorting into an ugly image, causing Scarlet to cringe. The young girl's eyes searched the empty room for any sign of escape, but it seemed futile. A fragile girl, she knew there was little hope of running away.

"Magic," the woman replied.

Had the situation differed, she would have laughed. "Magic? I don't… It doesn't matter. You need to leave," she insisted, making a move for the door all the while hoping the woman would buy her act of bravery.

As luck would have it, the woman reached her rough hand out and gripped the girl by her arm.

"You must leave him."

Scarlet's eyes widened. "Leave who?"

"Klaus."

If she was scared before, she was terrified now. Scarlet did not know everything about the man she loved, she knew there were secrets, but what she was sure of was the danger that being with him caused.

"No," she hissed. "You are the one that must leave!"

"You are foolish," the woman – the witch – snapped, just as Scarlet pulled her arm free. "And you will pay for you foolishness. I tried to spare you because of what you are but I have no other choice."

"What I am? I'm human!"

The witch was not deterred with her interruption. Her eyes hardened on the young girl and her mouth uttered foreign words that sounded oddly familiar to the blond. A horrified gasp left the young girl, her hand shooting to her hip. A burning sensation tore through her senses. It felt like getting branded, she imagined.

A burning fire engulfed her senses for seconds longer before it stopped, as abruptly as it had come. Scarlet lifted the hem of her sleeping clothes with a shaky hand, nearly feinting at the sight before her. There, burned into her hip, was an insignia. She knew not what it mean but had the strongest feeling that it was from the woman.

"W-what did you do?"

"You refused to listen to me and you have been cursed for you naivety. You did not want to leave your precious Klaus. He wishes to posses something that has been kept from him for many years to protect the people of this earth."

"What are you talking about," Scarlet asked, worried for her safety as well as that of her fiancé. "If you're talking about him being a vampire, then I already know that!"

"I'm speaking about his being a hybrid."

"Then what does he want," she pressed, more confused than she had been in the first place.

"He wants to fully be, but I will not let that happen. The symbol that I burned on you will transform you. It will change your appearance and make you forget who you truly are. In time you will remember, but by then you should have enough sense to do what I told you."

The witch stepped forward causing Scarlet to take one back. Her words seemed to humor the lady. "What do you mean, in time?"

"You will be reborn, until the day comes that you fulfill what I have asked of you. There will be more than one, but your blood shall be the true cure."

"My blood?"

The witch ignored her comment. With a swift movement, unpredicted by the young girl, the old lady thrust her hand forward. The words that were beginning to come out of Scarlet's mouth sputtered out in a mumbled mess. Her eyes fell to her stomach where the woman had stuck a knife she had been hiding.

Blood dripped from her wound quickly and she found herself falling to the floor, the lack of blood making it difficult to move.

"Remember, this is because of Klaus," the old woman hissed, before turning her back on the dying girl and disappearing.

Taylor woke with a start, jumping out of bed, her heart beating faster than she could remember it ever beating. An instant panic set in. The dream had felt too real for her liking. Just like the dreams of Katherine she'd had before. Shakily, her hand reached down and pulled up her shirt to reveal a scar she'd had since she'd been born.

An insignia of some sort that no one had been able to figure out.

The very one the witch had burned onto Scarlet in her dream.

But the reality of Taylor being Scarlet was too… too far fetched to be true. How could she be Scarlet? She was born as Elena's twins sister, older by a few minutes. There was no way she could have been born centuries and centuries ago, let alone have been in love with Klaus. Still, the confusion was strong. If she was not Scarlet after all, then why was she having these dreams? Taylor wondered if there was any way she could find out the truth.

The only thing that came to mind was to talk to Klaus – but she didn't trust a word that came out of his mouth.

Shaken, Taylor dragged herself out of her room. Hoping that Stefan or Elena could help her calm her nerves, she headed toward the boarding house, walking at a leisurely pace. The closer she got to the Salvatore's house, the more the worried and unsure feeling in the pit of her stomach grew. By the time she reached their door, that swung slowly open as she pushed it, she felt close to turning back around.

"Elena? Are you and Stefan here?"

There was a shuffling of feet. Before she had even shut the door, Jeremy came into view.

"Jer? What the heck are you doing here?"

"Taylor, you should go home."

"What? Why? What's going on?"

Jeremy's sudden actions – his desire to get her away – only caused the stubbornness in her to push past him, rushing into the living room where the strong smell of blood nearly knocked her down. The sight that met her caused her jaw to drop and her heart to race, her body shaking with anger. Mason – her Mason – was tied to a chair, open wounds bleeding dangerously with the smell of what she recognized as wolf's bane in the air. Damon, who hadn't noticed her presence, too absorbed in his plan, continued on.

Taylor expected Mason to cry out for her – to cast Damon's attention in her direction and cause him to stop with the torture he was doing. Instead, he remained silent, his eyes telling her that he was sorry – for what, she didn't know. She stepped forward. Before she could reach him Damon lunged his hand forward, plunging it deep into Mason's chest, ripping his heart out.

Taylor's voice ripped through the silence in the air, forcing Damon to snap his head in her direction.

"No!"

The vampire rushed across the room, ignoring the pleading of her brother to stay where she was, and ignoring the look that Damon gave – one filled with guilt. The second she reached her friend; she kneeled at his side, tears streaming down her cheeks violently.

"Mason! Mason! N-no – this can't be happening. You're not dead, Mason!" Taylor stuttered and mumbled, her hands gripping his shoulders, shaking him in the hope that something would happen. Of course, nothing did, but it didn't stop the girl from trying.

"Taylor," Damon's unsure voice called out, his hand extending to touch her arm. "We had to do it," he tried to reason.

"You," Taylor hissed, her body going tense.

The young vampire stood, her body snapping to face the man who had gone from being the one she loved to the one she hated in such a short time. Her eyes darkened, the browns of her eyes appearing black, and she uttered words in the same language she had in her dream. Damon let out a surprised gasp, grabbing at his abdomen in different places. Quickly, blood began seeping from his shirt, soaking the floor beneath him.

"Taylor," Jeremy shouted, running up to her and shaking her shoulders, trying to break her from the spell.

"Stop it, Jeremy!"

"You need to stop, Taylor!"

"I'm not going to kill him, if that's what you're worried about," she hissed, stopping her spell, letting his body heal the many wounds she'd inflicted. And truthfully, she wasn't. She still loved him. No matter how much she hated him, she didn't have it in her to kill him.

With a pain filled and angry expression on her face, she turned and made her way to the door. Damon, partially healed, called out to her.

"Wait! Let me explain, Taylor."

"No!" She hissed, not bothering to turn around. Her voice was cold and distant, a tone in which she had never spoken to him with. "I don't want to hear your bullshit. Not anymore. I'm done, Damon. Done. And you can't fix this."

Another chapter! Now Damon really is on the outs with Taylor. And that dream/vision? What do you think? Do you think Taylor is just going to let Mason's death end like that?