Sorry for the wait. College applications have been eating my soul…

Previously on The Vampire Diaries:

Her blond curls lay soft against the pillow as her chest rose steadily up and down. She was alive, not dead which meant that the girl was already in transition. Katherine turned her and left her. Like me, the girl would have no instruction, no idea what has happening to her… I couldn't help but sympathize with her; she was alone like me. There would be no one to teach her…

I sat down quietly in the hideous green mesh chair at her bedside, careful not to wake her. I glanced down at her admission bracelet; it read 'Caroline Forbes.' I softly stroked her hair, "Don't worry, Caroline. I'm going to help you…"

Now...

Change. I noticed the tiny shift in the air even as I was half asleep with my head tilted back. It would have gone unnoticeable, at first, to any human being, but of course, I'm not human. The soft rasp of air as Caroline took her first breath. The air scratched against the dry caverns of her throat and slowly made its way down to her lungs, barely filling them before her body automatically gasped, searching for more.

I cleared my throat, sitting up to watch (both the door to make sure that no one came in and Caroline as she awoke). Her body moved of its own accord, her eyes were not yet open; her chest dragged the rest of her body with it as it lurched off of the bed. All at once, her body became motionless and Caroline flopped like a rag-doll back onto the bed.

After a moment, her fingers began to twitch. Caroline gasped for breath again, her lungs inflating fully before her eyes began to flutter open. The girl tried to gauge her surroundings…and then her eyes locked on me. They widened in fear and confusion.

I stayed seated; standing would only make me seem like more of a threat. I smiled softly, keeping my teeth behind my lips, "Hello, Caroline."

"What— Who're you?" She scooted as far away from me as the bed rail would allow.

"My name is Beth." I paused; this was going to be difficult, "Do you remember what happened to you?"

Caroline was beginning to relax, "Yeah." She answered automatically, "I was in a car accident… Oh my god! Is Matt okay? And Tyler?"

"I wasn't talking about the car accident, Caroline." I glanced down at her admission bracelet, "You were admitted three days ago." I gave that a chance to sink in. Confusion marred the girl's face as I continued to speak, "Something happened after the car accident. A woman was here last night—" Before I could finish, she interrupted me.

"Can I get something to eat?" She smiled sweetly, "I'm starving." She reminded me of a Barbie doll; all pretty and sweet.

How the hell was I supposed to answer that? "Um—"

"Are you one of those trauma councilors? Because, I think I'm fine."

"Stop talking." I hissed; Caroline was going from zero to sixty in what was basically a millisecond. Explaining here would only do more damage than it was worth; it would be better for me to just take her with me. I got to my feet in a blur, carefully taking the needles from Caroline's veins and the tape off of her wrist.

If I were human, I would have missed the tiny flash of her eyes toward the bag of blood that was being transfused into her system. "I'm just really…hungry…Hey! What're you—" Caroline was left speechless by the sight of me ripping the rail off of the side of her bed.

"Come on." I grabbed her hand.

"No."

Great. She was going to be a handful. I flashed my fangs at her, "Walk, or I will cheerfully drag you kicking and screaming to my car and stuff you in my trunk." I smiled, letting my fangs recede.

Her mouth was open in a little 'o' of fear and surprise.

I tugged on her hand, "Don't think I won't..." She gulped and practically scrambled off of the bed to follow me. Thankfully we only encountered one nurse, who I compelled, before we made it out of the hospital. I'd never been so thankful to be awake at such an ungodly hour.

I was tempted to compel Caroline, what with all of the fidgeting she was doing in the passenger seat. "The trunk is still an option." She immediately became as still as a statue.

Caroline was silent until the lock clicked shut in my room at the bed and breakfast. "What do you want?"

"I already told you; I want to help you." I tossed her a robe to put on, "No one should have to go through this alone."

"This? What is 'this?'" Wow. Her voice was really loud.

"Transition." I answered, flipping on one of the lamps on the desk before going to the cooler to retrieve one of the blood bags I'd brought along.

Caroline snorted as she slipped on the robe, "Transition? Into what? A ninja turtle?"

"No." I tossed the blood bag to her. Caroline's eyes widened as she realized what I'd thrown at her, "A vampire."

Caroline's hands shook. I could see the desire brimming in her eyes before the denial overcame everything else and she threw the blood bag back to me, "You're crazy." She began to head for the door.

I blurred to block her way, "Probably. Sooner or later, you're going to have to make a choice; live as a vampire or die as a human."

Caroline drew a ragged breath, not unlike her first breath at the hospital, and tried to go for the door again. I rolled my eyes and hauled her (maybe a little to enthusiastically) into the armchair. "As much as I wish it were, this isn't a joke. And this isn't a game…"

Caroline's eyes lit up as if she were remembering something she hadn't known in the first place. "That's what Elena said in the hospital." Caroline shook her head as if to clear it, "Er, no, that's what Katherine said; game on."

I nodded, "I know." I put the bag of blood onto the end table as I knelt down in front of her, "I'm sorry that this happened to you." Her eyes flitted to the blood bag and then back to me, "You had no part in this; that bitch should never have involved you…" Her gaze was locked on the blood bag. "You need to eat." I patted her knee, getting to my feet. As I walked out of the room, I called, "Don't even think about sneaking out; you know I'll catch you…"

I probably shouldn't have left the girl alone, but I needed to think. Now that I'd adopted a (potential) baby vampire, I needed a way to keep her out of Katherine's reach. She'd brought the girl into it without provocation; a stupid move on Katherine's part. I would gladly skin her alive for this… I began drawing the curtains of each of the rooms as I sipped on a bag of blood. If Caroline decided to become a vampire, sun would definitely not be her friend… I should have grabbed a few more bags while I was at the hospital, but my focus had been on Caroline.

I wondered how Damon and Stefan would view Caroline. Apparently she knew Elena, so that should put her in some kind of good standing with the brothers… I would protect the girl, keep her safe.

I'd never actually turned anyone before; I'd never seen a point in the whole thing. I was happier being miserable by myself. The need to have a companion just wasn't there, not after I'd left Mystic Falls…after I'd left Damon.

I still had no idea what I was going to do about him. Yes, I loved him. Was there even the sliver of a chance that 'we' could work? That was another question that I didn't have the answer to. Maybe I shouldn't have ever run away from Mystic Falls in the first place…Katherine still would have had Emily wipe their memories, but maybe I could have made them remember…

"Beth?" Caroline called from the front room as I closed the last of the curtains and blocked my regrets from my mind. "Do you have any ibuprofen?"

I'd expected her to put up more of a fight…Maybe my threat at the hospital had been a bit much. Oh well. It worked. "It won't help." I said sadly as I came back into the front room. I leaned against the doorway, watching Caroline watch the blood as it sloshed around in the thin plastic casing.

"It's just so gross." She said after a moment.

I snorted, "Blood is blood, Caroline."

She put her mouth to the corner, making ready to tear it with her teeth. She hesitated, looking up at me, "Will I sparkle?" She started to smile a bit.

Damn that best-selling book series. I glared, warning her, "Don't even go there, Barbie."

R&R please. Feedback is love.