AN: So, I will say this immediately: do not expect updates every other day with any sort of regularity. I promised several reviewers I would update as soon as chapter 3 was written however, and then I went on a writing spree until one in the morning last night and pounded out 3 and 4. So you guys get an update. Thank-you for the spectacular response to this story, and I hope you enjoy:
Two. Little Lion Man
"Weep for yourself my man you'll never be what is in your heart. Weep little lion man you're not as brave as you were at the start." ~Little Lion Man, Mumford and Sons
Bonnie Bennett had become used to saving her friends in the last two years. She was the witch, the one with all the mystical answers. She was the one who saved, but never needed saving.
Until Shane and Expression had entered her life.
She had almost died the night of the final sacrifice. Stefan had told her all about it. She had been so overcome by her grief for Jeremy and Silas' promise of his safe return that she had let herself be consumed by Expression. She had attacked her own father. She had planned on killing a dozen witches. Those dozen witches would have killed her.
Except for Caroline.
Bonnie knew that Caroline was a great friend. In fact, the blonde's loyalty had only increased with her turning, and Bonnie had realized that on an intellectual level, but she had never really acknowledged it. Despite her best efforts to give Caroline credit, a large part of Bonnie had still viewed her as the rather shallow, neurotic control freak she had known since childhood.
Then Caroline had killed twelve people. For her, Bonnie Bennett. No one made sacrifices for Bonnie. They made them for Elena, and expected Bonnie to make them for Elena, but Bonnie? Never. It had never been required.
But Caroline had. She had killed for Bonnie, even though it had been Bonnie's inability to give up magic that had brought Silas into their lives. Caroline had never looked at it like that. She had just seen a friend in trouble, and so she had saved her. Because that's apparently what Caroline did, even though Bonnie had never given her enough credit to think she would do so.
And now Silas had Caroline, and he was determined to break her of everything good and bright and crazy that made her Caroline, all because evil just couldn't stay away from the blonde's brightness.
Exhibit A: Silas.
Exhibit B: standing right next to Bonnie looking harder for answers than anyone else in the room except for perhaps Bonnie herself.
"You won't find anything staring at me, Witch," Klaus remarked idly, flipping through another book with a frown furrowing his brow. Bonnie quickly diverted her eyes at his words, but she couldn't help but glance at him every now and then.
He was evil and horrible and Bonnie would never ever like him… but if he had one redeeming quality, it was that he actually seemed to care about Caroline. No, more than care. He loved Caroline, because no one searched this hard for someone they didn't love. Look at Rebekah, who was half-heartedly looking at a book, but really casting longing glances at Stefan. Or Damon, who had disappeared over an hour ago to parts unknown saying this search was useless and his abilities were better put to finding Katherine and the cure that was the last key to stopping Silas. Neither of them cared for Caroline, not really. But Klaus? Bonnie knew that even when he wasn't looking through grimoires, he was bullying either Stefan or Elena into helping him scour the woods around Mystic Falls for even a hint of a hint of Caroline. More often than not, it was Elena who accompanied him, and that was something that surprised Bonnie. Elena had turned off her humanity, she supposedly didn't care. Yet there she was, biting her lip and scouring a grimoire and ignoring everyone else around her. The fact that she was willing to accompany Klaus without complaint was sign enough for Bonnie that her friend was in there, somewhere, and if they could just get Caroline back, they could get Elena back too.
"There's nothing," Elena said, slamming her grimoire shut. "Silas is like a ghost, or the bogeyman. There's mentions, but no one actually knows anything about him."
Bonnie sighed and set her book aside as well.
"There has to be something. Someone, somewhere has to know something about Silas," she said, tapping her fingers on the pages of the book. She glanced at Klaus. "You're an evil psycho. Where would you take someone to break them?"
"Do you think I haven't tried all those locations, Bonnie?" Klaus growled out irritated. "As for someone know about Silas. There was, until Elena and her late brother decided to kill him. I imagine you may regret Kol's death about now?"
"I don't feel regret these days," Elena snapped back with a shrug. "It's a waste of time, and I don't like wastes of time anymore."
"Arguing isn't going to find Caroline," Stefan interrupted before Klaus could flash forward and sever Elena's neck, as Bonnie was pretty sure he wanted to.
"Neither is this," Rebekah pointed out, motioning at the tables full of books. "We need more to go on, and we don't have it. Nik, you still have contacts on Bourbon Street, don't you? Maybe it's time we contacted them."
"I really hate to involve myself in the goings on of New Orleans these days," Klaus replied with a sigh. "Marcel is so territorial. But you're right, little sister. I do know a witch or two that makes their home there… and I know a little wolf who is just the person to find out what they know."
"Hayley hates Caroline," Elena said, letting herself fall back into an arm chair. "Anything she tells you will probably be a lie."
"I like to believe that she is a little smarter than that," Klaus replied. "If she lies, she knows I'll kill her."
Elena opened her mouth to reply, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the shrill ring of Stefan's cellphone.
"It's Damon," Stefan said, looking at the call display. "Damon, did you find anything?"
"No, but we have a problem."
"What more could have possibly gone wrong?" Stefan demanded. "Between the sacrifice, Katherine having the cure, and Caroline going missing, I'm pretty sure we've hit our limit for bad things that can happen."
"I wish. I went to see Liz, to see if she could get me some information I thought might help me find Katherine. She's gone missing, Stef, and the bodies of at least three of her deputies are scattered across the cop shop. I think Silas has decided to up his game when it comes to torturing Blondie."
Stefan's throat bobs as he swallows hard, and he hangs up on Damon without another word. His gaze, when he looks at Bonnie, seems almost dazed.
"That's it then," he said and he isn't really looking at Bonnie now, but rather through her. "With Liz, he'll be able to break her."
Bonnie is terrified, because she knows Stefan is right. Caroline and Liz are just barely starting to get to know each other and bond after a life time of purposely pushing each other away. Bonnie knew Caroline mourned the missed opportunities with her father almost as much as she mourned him. Losing Liz will destroy her.
"There has to be something," Elena said, and there is an almost frantic quality to her as she grabs another grimoire and opens it. "We can't just let this happen to Caroline. She can't lose her Mom. Losing your Mom sucks."
"Keep it off, Elena," Klaus said, his voice like ice. "I told you before, you're of no use to us if you're emotional."
"Parents are a rare quality in our group in case you haven't noticed, Klaus," Elena growled, her eyes burning with fire as she glared at the hybrid. "When we lose one, we all mourn."
"I'll compel you if I have to, but either way you'll keep it off and you'll keep a cool head. It's the one thing you're useful for these days. Put it to good use, and go with Stefan to the police station. If Silas took the sheriff, he had to have had some way of transporting her to wherever Caroline is. Find out what he used."
"He could have just run really, really fast," Elena pointed out, but her expression had calmed and was once more devoid of emotion. "He is an immortal after all."
"That would have drawn attention he wouldn't want," Rebekah replied. "If Silas is smart, and he must be smart to have eluded all of us like this, then he'll have used a vehicle. Something that's not flashy and that won't draw attention."
"Rebekah is right. Silas won't want to draw too much attention. He'll be using more human modes of transport when he can. Find out what that transport is," Klaus ordered.
"What will you be doing while we're searching for Liz?" Elena asked.
"I'll be making a few calls. We are going to find Caroline, Elena. I refuse to settle for the alternative."
Elena frowned at Klaus, but gave a small nod.
"Fine. Stefan and I will go," she agreed as she grabbed her coat. She paused at the door and smirked back. "Glad to see that the S.S. Klaroline sails on."
Bonnie raised her brows in confusion, but Klaus just muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes and Stefan directed Elena out.
"Elena has apparently decided that she needs to ship people in order to make her emotionless life complete," Rebekah explained, seeing Bonnie's confused expression. "She flutters between wanting Stefan with Caroline and Klaus with Caroline as much as she did between the Salvatore brothers before. I guess she's simply incapable of making a choice and sticking with it."
Bonnie was pretty sure that was her cue to step in and defend her friend. She loved Elena, and she shouldn't let some blonde vampire bitch mock her… but she couldn't help but snort out a laugh. Rebekah shot her a look of surprise, and then gave her a small smile. Bonnie returned it, then turned back to her books.
"Has anyone talked to Matt?" she asked after five minutes of silence had passed. "He'd want to know that Caroline was missing."
"I doubt the quarterback will be of assistance," Klaus replied as he hung up his phone, done with whoever he had been murmuring to.
"I'm not saying he'd have answers," Bonnie replied. "I'm just saying he should know. Care is his friend, too. And now that Tyler is gone… well, they need each other."
Klaus rolled his eyes and dialled another number, obviously deciding the conversation wasn't worth his time.
"I'll call him," Rebekah offered, pulling out her phone. "You're right, he should know."
Bonnie smiled her thanks, and the room lapsed back into silence, except for Klaus' murmuring and the faint ringing Bonnie could hear coming from Rebekah's phone. Bonnie frowned when she heard it go to Matt's voicemail.
"Is Matt working today?" Rebekah asked, hanging up.
"No," Bonnie replied, and an ominous feeling began to rise in her.
Surely it was nothing. Matt was forever forgetting his phone, anyways. And maybe he just didn't feel like talking to Rebekah.
"Let me try," Bonnie said, and she dialled Matt's number.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Hey, this is Matt. I can't come to the phone, leave a message!
"He never remembers to charge it," Bonnie said, looking at Rebekah. "It's probably dead. Or he forgot it."
"Of course. Or Silas has him as well. I'm going to go and check his house."
Rebekah flashed out, leaving Bonnie and Klaus alone. Klaus frowned down at his phone, then looked at Bonnie. After a moment of staring at each other, he dialled another number.
"Brother, we need you in Mystic Falls…"
STILL-DOLL
It was a new day.
Caroline was terrified to discover what it held. Silas' words had been haunting her the whole night.
"You're up now? That's good. I thought I might have to waken my Sleeping Beauty in the old fashioned way."
Caroline glared at Silas and remained resolutely silent. Perhaps, she thought, if she ignored him, he would disappear. Like the Bogeyman. If you don't acknowledge his existence, then it isn't real.
"That's a sweet thought, but untrue, Caroline," Silas gripped Caroline's chin and tipped it so that she looked up into his face. "I'm no bogeyman, as Rebekah Mikaelson thought. I am real. I feel. I want. And I want you. This is your last chance, Caroline. Give into me."
"You'll never break me," Caroline hissed. "None of this broke me before. It won't break me now."
"I know," Silas agreed. "Oh, I'm sure I could break you this way eventually. But I find that I am impatient after two thousand years of captivity. I don't want to wait the time it would take to break you with your memories. So we'll make new memories. Together. And these ones will break you, Caroline. And then we'll be ready to start."
Silas released his grip and walked back to the entrance to Caroline's cell. He murmured to someone outside, and then came walking back in, followed by someone very familiar to Caroline.
It was Elizabeth Forbes. Her eyes were empty, though. They had the familiar, vacant look that a human's eyes took when they were compelled. She stopped just inside and to the left of the cell entrance and stared at Silas, waiting for his next order.
Caroline began to fight against the chains that held her down.
"She was on vervain, so it made controlling her a little more difficult, but luckily for us, I'm not a normal vampire. She is your humanity. She keeps you tied to the girl you once were. We will break those ties. Now, who should be the one to do the honours? Maybe Elena?" Silas stood, becoming Elena as he moved. "She already wanted to kill Elizabeth once. Perhaps we should let her?"
Silas-Elena walked behind Caroline's chair, and when he appeared again he looked like Tyler.
"Or maybe Tyler, the boy you love so much? Would that destroy you, Care? If I killed your mom the way Klaus killed mine. It would be a sweet sort of justice, considering that you fought so hard to save his life."
"It won't work," Caroline growled. "You can take the face of whoever you want, but it won't change that it's you killing her, and I'll know that. I'll know it to my bones. And even if it breaks me, it will completely alienate me from you."
"Perhaps," Silas agreed, taking his own form once more. "So, maybe I should take the steps to make sure that it is one of your loved ones that kill her. I know witches, Caroline, who want to channel Expression. And they'll do anything for me for that chance." Silas once again walked behind Caroline's chair and placed his hands on her shoulders, rubbing at knots that had formed their over the days of torture and tension. "Including kidnapping poor, hapless human boys."
A tall blonde man and a slender brunette female entered, with a bound and gagged Matt Donovan between them. They tossed him to the floor, and left without a word or any other sort of acknowledgement of Caroline.
"Leave the room, Liz. Come in, and play out our little scene just as I ordered when you hear the keywords." Silas's hands briefly tightened on Caroline's shoulders. "I wonder, Caroline, if Matthew is as strong as you." Silas moved away from Caroline, and when he knelt next to Matt he had taken on the form of Vicky. As he shook Matt, Liz left the cell. "Matty, Matty you gotta wake up for me."
"Huh… what? Vicky? What's going on? How are you here? Bonnie closed off the path to the other world. You can't be here," Matt said, sitting up.
"That's not Vicky, Matt!" Caroline screeched. "It's Silas! Get away from him."
But Matt didn't respond, he didn't even acknowledge Caroline's presence, and Vicky-Silas smirked at her over Matt's shoulder.
"It's Silas, Matty. He's brought down the barriers again. He's bad news, Matty. You've got to stop him."
"Crap. We'll get out of here, Vick. We'll go to Bonnie. She can help us."
"It's too late for that, Matty. You have to kill him now," Vicky-Silas replied frantically. "He's limited right now, weak. You can kill him with this."
Vicky held out a stake, and Matt took it in his hands. At the same time, Liz came barging back into the room.
"What's going on?"
"Liz!" Matt said breathlessly. "Thank God you're here! Vicky says that Silas is bringing down the barriers between worlds. We need help."
A smirk crossed Liz's lips, and it was so unlike Liz, that there was a very, very small part of Caroline that couldn't blame Matt for what happened next.
"That's not Liz, Matty," Vicky-Silas whispered. "That's Silas. He's taken on her form, so he can control the town. Liz is dead, Matt. She has been for a while."
"No," Matt replied, shaking his head in denial. "Not Liz. Care would never come back from that."
"It's sad, isn't it?" Liz asked, her voice oddly cold and empty. "Poor little orpaned Caroline."
"You bastard!" Matt yelled. "What did Caroline and Liz ever do to you?"
"Nothing," Liz shrugged. "Just collateral damage."
With a wordless yell, Matt stood and ran, jamming the stake hard into Liz's chest, straight into her heart. Liz gave a shocked gasp, and her hands grabbed the stake. Caroline could see the minute that Silas' compellment left her, and the life briefly entered her eyes again, just long enough for her to look at Caroline and realize what had happened. For a split second, there was heartbreak in Liz's eyes, before the life left them all together.
"No!" Caroline screamed, but the sound of it was cracked and inhuman and she was on Matt before she even really realized that the chains that had held her for the past several days had released her.
"Care," Matt said in shock as he fell under Caroline's weight. "What?"
"That was my mom," Caroline moaned, pained and broken, and she vaguely saw horror enter Matt's eyes before her fangs tore brutally into his throat. Matt had taken her mother, so Caroline would take Matt's life.
When Caroline's sanity caught up to her and reminded her that it wasn't Matt's fault, that he had been tricked by Silas, it was too late. Caroline had already drained the quarterback, the blood staining her front proof of her crime. Caroline shoved herself back from Matt frantically, and the motion pushed her into Liz's still body, and Caroline jolted away from that with horror.
"Mommy…" she whispered brokenly, reaching out and touching the tips of Liz's short blonde hair. Liz's eyes were still open and staring emptily at Caroline, and in those eyes, Caroline could see her reflection. She wore Matt's blood smeared across her mouth and down her front. It stained her hair, and her eyes were the red-black of a vampire. Never before had Caroline looked more like a monster.
Never before had Caroline felt more like a monster.
"What have I done?" she whispered, and she looked to Silas for the answer, because there was no one else there, and Caroline needed someone, anyone, to help her make sense of what her life had just become.
"You killed Matt," Silas replied. "Matt who thought he was saving everyone."
"I killed him," Caroline whimpered, and she felt her stomach clench in agony. "I killed him. I killed him. I killed him."
She began to rock back and forth, and Caroline didn't know who to mourn. Her mother, the mother that she had only just begun to get close to. Or Matt? The first boy she had ever really loved. Matt, who had always been so steadfast, loyal and true.
"It's okay, Caroline," Silas whispered, sitting down and pulling her into his arms, stroking her hair as she stared with wide eyes between Matt and Liz, as if trying to make sense of the horror before her. "It's okay. You can turn it off now."
Caroline wanted to scream and shout and rebel, and say that he would never break her. Only it would be a lie. Because Liz was dead, and Caroline had just killed Matt, and there was nothing left in her to fight him with but a pile of fractured pieces that would never be whole again.
"I hate you," Caroline whispered, putting all the emotion she had left into those three words.
"I know. I am sorry it had to happen this way."
The odd thing was, Caroline thought he might be telling the truth. In his own sick, twisted way, Silas had never wanted this. He had wanted her broken, but not like this.
Caroline had, to his way of thinking, left him no other choice.
Caroline stared at the dead bodies in front of her. The mother she loved so much, and the boy who had made her feel wanted for the first time in her life. They were dead, and with them went Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls.
"You win," she whispered.
And then she turned it off.
AN: So… yeah… Silas is a bastard? I had to think of something that would push Caroline over the proverbial cliff edge. Killing Liz didn't seem like quite enough on its own, but having Matt kill Liz and then Caroline kill Matt? It seemed a little better.
If anyone looks at this as out of character, I will point you to 4x16 right after Elena attacked Liz. Caroline was totally going for Elena's throat, but Stefan held her back. In this story, not only did no one hold her back, but Silas actually released her chains so that Caroline would be completely free to act on impulse. And that impulse was to avenge her mother. I don't see it as being out of character, because it was done in the heat of the moment right after Liz's death. Had Caroline been allowed any cool down time, she probably wouldn't have done it, but she was given free rein to attack Matt right after he shoved in the stake. So the above happened.
Once again, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed (or just read). The response has been great, and I hope you enjoy this as well.