Fixing Mistakes

Chapter 11 - Again?!

Caroline closed her eyes and took long deep breaths. She did what Stefan taught her to do all those years ago in that bathroom after she was first turned and killed the carnival worker. Breathing rhythmically she repeated to herself.

I am not a monster.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Repeat.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Calm down.

The veins receded.

Caroline released a breath of relief. Even though she was ravenously hungry she was still in control. She was Caroline Forbes, Ex-Miss Mystic Falls, and born again vampire. Her eyes widened, Mikaelson! I am Caroline Mikaelson now. How could she forget the happiest day of her life? A picture of herself and Klaus on their wedding day passed before her eyes. Her lids clenched shut as a sob escaped her chest, "Niklaus..." She had left him. They had only been married for a week and she had been forced to leave. A time portal had opened up; or whatever that was, forcing herself and Henrik to appear here, wherever here was. Recalling the blood she smelled she became concerned and turned to Henrik, "Henrik?"

"Yes, Caroline?" Henrik answered as he sat opposite Caroline on the grass.

"I can smell your blood." And she could, the metallic smell drifting under her nose and making her mouth water. She really needed to feed soon, "Are you hurt?" Caroline assessed Henrik's body with her eyes to find any injuries.

"I hit my head when we fell." Henrik raised his hand to the cut on his forehead, pulling his hand back his fingers were coated with his crimson blood.

Caroline inhaled sharply at the tempting blood on Henrik's fingers. Her stomach cramped with need, her fangs lengthened and the veins around her eyes rippled. Her eyes were red and deadly. A predator reborn.

Henrik jumped up startled at the growl Caroline let out. His eyes widened as he saw the face of a monster on his sister, "C-Caroline?" He couldn't help the tremble to his voice, his heart speeding up with fear, "What is wrong with your face?"

Caroline stalked forward like the predator she was, taking big deep breaths as she scented the air, she licked her lips practically tasting Henrik's blood in the air. She grinned, her fangs gleaming in her mouth as she prepared to saturate herself in the blood her body had been denied for months.

Henrik blindly stumbled back, unbelieving that this, monster, could possibly be the Caroline he had known for months. She was sweet, kind and full of heart. Not what stood before him, the look on her face was reminiscent of the wolves they had just escaped from. This was not her, he knew that deep in his heart. He would reach her, deep down underneath that hunter's gaze he would reach Caroline and bring her back.

In the next second Caroline was in front of Henrik. Her gaze transfixed on the slowly leaking beads of blood from the cut on his head. Almost without thought her hand reached out and smeared the blood on her fingers. Bringing the digits to her lip, she groaned with ecstasy as she finally tasted the blood. Her stomach cramped even more with hunger, a few drops were not enough. Her eyes slid to Henrik's rapidly racing pulse, darkening even more with hunger she descending toward his neck.

"Caroline! Caroline this is not you." Henrik called out desperately, trying to reach Caroline, "I am your brother!" As he felt her breath on his neck he let out a whimper, sobbing as he whispered, "You are not a monster!"

Monster.

Caroline stopped. The words reverberating in her head. Her fangs were mere millimeters from sinking into Henrik's sweet flesh. An internal struggle began as her heart battled against her instincts.

Bite.

No!

Drink.

No!

FEED!

NO! I am not a monster!

Caroline flung her head back, away from Henrik's throat. Gasping for breath, tears leaked out of her eyes. She was about to feed off Henrik! The boy she would have sacrificed her own life for to save him from his awful fate. The sweetest boy she had ever met. And she was about to end his life herself. Despair crushed her soul. She WAS a monster.

"Caroline?" Henrik asked tentatively. He had seen the struggle across Caroline's face as she tried to fight whatever madness that had come over her. Bravely he placed his hand on her arm, "Sister?"

At the touch of Henrik's hand on her arm Caroline whooshed away until her back hit a tree. Sobs escaped her as she stared at Henrik with terrified eyes, "Don't touch me!"

Henrik ignored the pang of hurt that caused him. Swallowing back his remaining fear he slowly made his way to where Caroline had sped too. Her fastness had not escaped his notice but he wanted to calm her down first before he questioned her.

Caroline held her hands out in front of her, "Stay away from me!"

Henrik ignored her, and continued walking toward Caroline.

"I mean it! Stay away!" Caroline slid down the tree and pulled her knees to her chest, her fingernails cutting into her skin as she forced herself to stay there. Henrik had no idea how good he smelled as he came toward her. She was starving! She laid her head on her knees and cried out her voice breaking, "Please!"

Henrik stopped when he was a foot away from Caroline. Gathering his courage he reached out his hand and stroked her hair, "Ssh. It is all right, Caroline."

Caroline's head shot up at the feel of Henrik's comforting hand. Her fangs and veins had not receded, the hunger boiling away under her skin like a living thing, her instincts screamed at her to sink her fangs into Henrik and drain him dry. She whimpered at the thought, she didn't want to hurt him, he was too precious to her, he was her little brother. She tried to get him to leave once more, "Henrik, please! Leave me alone!" She choked on a sob, "I'm dangerous."

"No!" Henrik answered resolutely. He kneeled before Caroline and smiled gently at her, "You are my sister." He took her hands in his, squeezing them in reassurance, "And I love you, no matter what."

A sob escaped Caroline's lips, "I'm a monster!"

"No, you are not." Henrik's heart ached for the pain etched clearly on Caroline's face.

Caroline raised her head to look at Henrik, tears still clinging to her lashes, her vampiric features still prominent on her face, "Does this face look like I'm a normal human?" She shook her head, fresh sobs welling in her chest, "Because I'm not!"

Henrik's suspicions were confirmed that Caroline was not entirely human. He took a breath before asking calmly, "Then what are you? You surely did not appear like this the whole time you were with my family."

"That's because I was human then." Caroline revealed, trying to prepare herself for when Henrik would flee once he learned the truth.

"And you are not now?" Henrik asked, he knew Caroline was not a wolf like those in the village, as their whole body turned into a wolf and not just their face like Caroline had.

Caroline leant her head back against the tree and sighed, "No, Henrik, I am not." She clenched her eyes shut as she whispered, "I am a vampire."

Henrik cocked his head to the side, "What is a vampire?" He had never heard of such a thing and had no clue what it was.

"A vampire is the ultimate predator." Caroline explained, "We are a slave to the night, we cannot go out during the day or we will burn to death." She looked at her wedding finger with sorrow, in the jump through time her ring had once again not made the journey with her. For the first time since she was turned she could not walk in the Sun, "I used to have a ring that allowed me to walk in the daylight but I no longer have it."

"What happened to it?" Henrik asked.

Caroline parted her lips to answer but hesitated, what could she say happened to it? That it was lost through time travel? That her wedding ring was also, impossibly, her lost daylight ring too? She hadn't even told Henrik what had happened to them yet, how could she possibly explain all that. Deciding to tell a half-truth she answered, "I lost it before I came to be in your village."

"How come you were human when we met and now you are not?" Henrik wanted to know, it did not make sense to him how Caroline could change in the space of a day.

Caroline felt her hunger come back, she really needed to feed before explaining everything to Henrik. Standing up she said, "If you give me five minutes I will be back." She prepared to flash away when Henrik's voice stopped her.

"Where are you going?" Henrik was confused, where was Caroline going? They didn't even know where they were, how she could possibly have anywhere to go.

Caroline looked over her shoulder at Henrik, her veins rippling and her fangs lengthening, "To feed." She whooshed off.

Henrik's eyes widened. What did Caroline feed on?

"Mmm." Caroline moaned, closing her eyes in ecstasy as she sucked the blood out of the rabbit she had just caught. Her fingers dug into its fur as she drained it dry, the taste was disgusting but as she was starving it would do. Stefan had survived on animals and so could she. When she was finished she looked down at the bunny, "I'm sorry, little guy." She laid the rabbit on the ground and stood up. Now that she had blood in her system she finally felt more like herself. Less emotional.

Caroline couldn't believe how close she had come to feeding on Henrik. She had never felt that kind of hunger before, it felt like she hadn't eaten in months, her inner predator close to the surface, her instincts running wild. It almost felt like she was transitioning again, which she was in a way minus needing blood to complete the process, her emotions were all over the place which is probably why she was slightly on the hysterical side with her reaction to Henrik.

Caroline kicked a rock as she made her way back to Henrik. She wasn't looking forward to explaining everything to him but it had to be done. The sooner she told him the sooner she could find out when and where they were.

Henrik waited patiently for Caroline to return, his curiosity to find out more about who she really was filled him with questions. Why was she human when they met? Why was she now a vampire again? And what exactly did she feed on? Before he could wonder some more Caroline returned.

Caroline walked over to Henrik and sat beside him, "I'm sorry, Hen." She smiled softly at him, "I never wanted you to see me like that."

Henrik acknowledged Caroline's apology with a nod. He studied her once again human features for a moment, you could not guess at the monster that hid beneath, her innocent and lovely face was the perfect hiding place. Finally ready to continue he asked, "What do you feed on, Caroline?"

And Henrik started with a hard one, Caroline thought frowning, well, not hard hard but uncomfortable none the less. Caroline took a moment to gather her courage before she answered Henrik, "A vampire feeds on one thing only. It keeps us alive, it keeps us strong and it will sustain me for a very long time."

"And what is that?" Henrik stressed, Caroline had replied to his question without really answering it.

Caroline bowed her head, unwilling to watch Henrik's face as she revealed, "Blood."

Henrik was taken aback, Caroline fed off blood, whose blood? His gaze slipped to the forest she had just returned from, she went there to feed, feed on what exactly he did not know. Needing to know the answer he asked with trepidation, "Whose blood do you feed on?"

"Anything that has blood running through their veins, human or animal." Caroline replied, finally feeling brave enough to look Henrik in the eye. Her heart broke at the horrified look on his eyes.

"Whom did you drink from when you left here?" Henrik needed to know, he had to be sure that she hadn't hurt anyone, not his sister.

Caroline's eyes widened at the question, he thinks I fed on a human! Hurrying to reassure Henrik she replied, "I hunted a rabbit and drank from that." Her eyes pleaded with him to believe her, "I would never hurt anyone, Henrik, you have to believe me." She looked off to the distance as memories of a different time assaulted her, "Especially as I know what that feels like."

Henrik furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"

Caroline shook her head, "That is a story for another time."

Seeing the hidden pain in Caroline's eyes Henrik did not push. He wanted to know what put that hurt in her eyes but he would wait, she would tell him when she was ready. Moving on from her eating habits he asked, "Why were you human when we first met if you are truly a vampire?"

Another hard question. None the less Caroline answered it truthfully, Henrik deserved to know, "Because I was not from your time."

"What?" Henrik was shocked, did Caroline mean what he thought she meant, that she had travelled through time.

"I come from the year 2014." Caroline replied, "I was ripped from my time and appeared in yours."

"A thousand years." Henrik whispered in awe. Caroline had travelled back a thousand years. An impossible length of time to think about.

Caroline winced, "That sounds such a long time." Her husband, her Niklaus, would have to go a thousand years before seeing her again. That is if he still remembers her or even if he was turned into a vampire again. Her heart ripped apart to think of the man she loved not being turned, that she would have spent so little time with him before returning to the future and a life without Klaus. A sob escaped her.

Henrik immediately wrapped his arms around Caroline's shaking shoulders, her tears broke his heart. He hated to see any of his family in pain.

Caroline leant on Henrik's shoulder as sobs overwhelmed her. The comfort he provided was just what she needed. She had lost her husband and now was her time to grieve. Pain so harsh it took her breath away stabbed her chest, her Niklaus could be dead, lost to her forever. No! Her eyes hardened, Klaus is not dead. He would not leave me. She held her head high as a sense of purpose filled her being, he is my soul mate and I will find him. However long it takes. A smile curled her lips as she repeated Klaus's words from her graduation. She would wait forever for him, just as he would wait an eternity for her.

Noticing that Caroline's tears had dried up Henrik inquired, "What upset you?"

"Kl-" Caroline corrected herself, "Niklaus. I was thinking about the fact that he could be dead depending when we are." Then a knowing smile curled her lips, "Then I realized that he would never give up on me just as would never give up on him." Determination lit up her eyes, "I will see him again."

"What do you mean by when we are?" Henrik questioned, his heart beginning to race at the implication.

"Henrik..." Caroline took Henrik's hands in hers and squeezed them. Her eyes were sympathetic as she told him, "We travelled through time."

Henrik's eyes widened in shock. Time travel was not possible and yet Caroline told him that it was, that she herself had travelled through time. His heart ached as he thought of his family; mother, father, Niklaus, Rebekah, Kol, Elijah and Finn, they would not know what happened to him, he would never see them again. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he thought of what they must have gone through.

Caroline wrapped her arms around Henrik and held him tight as he wept. She stroked his hair soothingly, "Let it out, Hen."

Henrik cried into Caroline's chest, his hands were balled into fists at his side, his heart breaking at the thought of his whole family gone, "I shall never see them again."

"Don't be so sure about that, Henrik." Caroline hoped with all her heart that Esther performed the immortality spell. She wished to be reunited with all of them. They were her family.

Henrik sniffed, pulling back from Caroline he wiped the remaining tears from his face. He looked at her with a hopeful expression, "Can we go back?"

"I don't think we can. However," a smile lit up Caroline's face, her own hope shining through, "they could be here already." She brushed her thumb across Henrik's wet cheeks, "Just waiting for us to find them."

"How can you be so sure?" Henrik asked, wanting to know how Caroline could look and sound so sure.

"I know more about your family history than I let on." Caroline replied, her heart filled with hope that she would see all the Mikaelson's again, she would make sure of it.

"How?" Henrik was confused, did Caroline not say she was from a thousand years in the future? How could she possible know anything about his family? It didn't make any sense, "I don't understand."

"You don't need to understand. Not yet, at least." Caroline replied vaguely, she didn't want to reveal anything to Henrik yet until she knew for a fact that they were indeed vampires. She would let Henrik get used to Caroline's vampirism first before he met his family. She bit her lip with worry, the only problem was that if they had indeed been transformed into the Original's once again then they did not drink from animals. How would Henrik react to who they had become? And could he possibly accept it? She would have to worry about that later, the first problem was finding them.

Henrik frowned at Caroline's answer. She must be hiding something from him about his family, what he did not know but he would find out, "What should we do now?"

"I think it's time we find out where we are." Caroline stood up and held her hand out for Henrik to take, "Hold my hand at all times please as I don't want to lose you." She eyed his bare feet with concern, "We must find you some shoes."

"Yes, I do need some." Henrik agreed with Caroline, he hadn't even noticed his lack of footwear in the confusion since he had appeared here. He placed his hand in hers tightly as he did not want to be separated from her.

They started their journey to find out when and where they were, and if they could possibly find their family.

A couple of hours into their journey Caroline and Henrik came upon a tavern. She could hear the rowdiness from inside, the laughter of the patrons and their conversations. She could gleam nothing of importance from them.

"Shall we go in?" Henrik asked, unsure why Caroline was just standing there with her head tilted watching the tavern.

"I suppose we should. Are you hungry?" Caroline asked, worried for Henrik as he had only ate a few berries on their travels.

"Yes, I am quite hungry now." Henrik admitted, his stomach growling as if in agreement.

"Then I will get you some food." Caroline held onto Henrik's hand as they walked over and entered the tavern.

The moment Henrik and Caroline walked in to the room it quietened, the patrons staring at them with open curiosity. Holding her head high Caroline made her way to the serving area of the bar. Looking into the barmaids eyes her eyes dilated as she compelled her, "Bring us a beer, a glass of orange juice or water, whatever you have and a bowl of stew. For free." She remembered Henrik's lack of cover on his feet, "Oh! And if you could scrounge up some shoes that would be much appreciated."

"I'll see what I can do." The barmaid repeated the orders before coming back with the beer, water and pair of shoes, "'Ere yeh go. The shoes were me brothers."

Henrik took the shoes gratefully, "Thank you very much, miss." He placed them on his feet and immediately he could feel the warmth come back to his toes.

"Welcome, lad." She smiled at them, her teeth were yellowed with many of them missing, "The stew'll be done soon."

She spoke English. Maybe they had arrived in England? While the barmaid was in front of her Caroline decided to question her, "What's your name? I'm Caroline and this is my brother Henrik."

"Name's Violet." Violet answered, leaning against the bar, her dress was low cut with her bosoms on prominent display inviting leers from the male customers.

"How long have you worked here?" Caroline asked.

"Since I was old enough." Violet smirked shrugging, "Gotta put food on the table." She placed a beer in front of Caroline and water in front of Henrik.

Caroline took a sip of her drink, almost grimacing at the unfiltered taste, what she wouldn't give to have access to Damon's alcohol supply. She chuckled to herself, of all the things she could miss it had to be something of Damon's.

"What brings yeh 'ere?" Violet asked, putting a bowl of stew and a crusty roll in front of Henrik.

"Thank you." Henrik smiled at Violet before tucking into his meal. The warm broth filled his stomach and brought him comfort.

Caroline smiled at Henrik before answering Violet, "We are just travelling around and happened upon your tavern."

"Be wary out there." Violet warned them, her eyes drifted to the side and a shudder ran through her, "Evil lurks in the shadows."

Evil was sitting right in front of her, Caroline thought with a smirk, if she showed Violet her true face she would run screaming. Picking up her pint she took a sip before replying, "I can take care of myself."

"England hasn't been safe fer years." Violet repeated her warning. A woman and child were no match for what was in the dark, if you went out at night odds were you wouldn't be seen again. Looking Caroline in the eyes with seriousness she stressed, "Only travel by day."

Vampires! Caroline's heart beat faster as she grew excited, there are vampires here. She was in England with vampires nearby. Could she possibly be where Klaus and his family were? Almost vibrating with excitement she asked, "What year is it?" She smiled at Violet, "They all bleed together sometimes."

Violet eyed Caroline strangely but answered none the less, "It is the year of our Father 1542."

The breath left Caroline's body, six hundred years, it had been almost six centuries since she was taken away. Klaus had been alone all that time thinking that she was dead, or worse, thinking that she had left him. She almost broke down sobbing at the thought of the pain he must have gone through.

Henrik choked on his stew as he heard Violet's reply. He thumped his chest as he coughed until he could finally breathe again. Turning to Caroline he whispered, "Six hundred years! How could my family possibly still live?"

How could Caroline reassure Henrik without revealing that they were vampires? This would be after Katherine, and Klaus's first attempt to break the curse. What kind of man would he be? She knew he had murdered Katherine's entire family in retaliation for her escaping him. Should she expose Henrik to that? Or would seeing his brother alive bring out Niklaus? Selfish as it was to admit she didn't care, she wanted to see Klaus and tell him much she loved him and how she had not wanted to leave him.

Henrik took Caroline's silence as proof that he was right, his entire family was long dead. Deep pain clouded his eyes, his heart felt like it shattered in his chest. Not feeling hungry anymore he pushed the bowl to the side. His gaze fell to his lap as he felt his eyes sting, in the blink of an eye he had just become an orphan. He blinked furiously as he tried to keep his tear at bay.

Smelling the salt in the air Caroline placed her hand on Henrik's shoulder and squeezed it in comfort, "Don't give up hope, Henrik."

"What hope?" Henrik shrugged out of Caroline's grasp, "My family is dead." The tears finally escaped his eyes as his sorrow overwhelmed him, "I am alone." He ran off.

"Henrik!" Caroline screamed as Henrik ran away. It was not safe for him out there on his own, there was vampires and God knows what else. She walked out of the tavern at normal speed before using superspeed to reach Henrik before anything else did.

Henrik cried as he ran through the woods. His heart breaking from the thought of his family dead. He couldn't even see where he was going his eyes were so full of water. Then he crashed into a body, arms taking hold of his shoulders to prevent him from falling.

"What do we have here?" A menacing voice chuckled, "Food that comes to me. How thoughtful."

Henrik looked up and felt fear grip him as he saw the same monstrous face as Caroline possessed, except this one was full of evil instead the light that shone through Caroline's. His throat closed up and he was unable to scream.

He licked his lips as he scented the air, "I love the taste of fear." He descended toward Henrik's neck and pierced his throat, groaning as the rich liquid saturated his mouth.

Caroline raced through the woods her heart pounding in fear. Where was Henrik? He couldn't have got that far. Then up ahead she saw two figures, a man and a boy, from their position she knew that the man was feeding from the boy and the boy was Henrik.

Flashing over Caroline pushed him off Henrik, "Get off of him!"

He growled, "Bitch!" He flashed over to her and grabbed her neck, "The boss will not be pleased to hear you stopping me from eating." He twisted his hands.

Henrik! That was Caroline's last thought before everything went black. Henrik's cries echoing in her head as darkness consumed her.

Caroline's eyes began to flutter as she awoke. She could hear a familiar voice as she began to waken.

"What is the meaning of this?" A voice roared, the sound so familiar to her that her heart raced.

"They should be dead!" A shrill voice screamed, a woman's voice whom also sounded familiar.

"Brother..." A calm voice joined the other two, a man, one who she was sure she knew.

Finally fully awake Caroline opened her eyes and gasped as she saw Klaus, Rebekah and Elijah in front of her.

"Finally awake, sweetheart?" Klaus glared at Caroline, his eyes filled with anger, hurt and confusion.

All Caroline could do was stare, "Niklaus..."

TBC

AN - What do you guys think? I hope you all enjoyed it. No Klaroline in this one, it was more about Caroline and Henrik, but I promise you the next chapter will be full of it ;-) Until next time X X X