Chapter Seventeen
A/N: Yup I'm kicking this story in high gear. You'll be seeing some of Jules in Matt in this new plotline but if there's anyone else you want me to include just leave it in a review. Thanks! Enjoy my little birds 3.
Monster
Caroline was sick of being locked in her house. She had literally laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling for days. She was sure she'd memorized every niche and flaw of the white paint up there. But when she started to count and reorganize her nail polishes, she knew it was time to get out of the house.
She decided she'd go to the Grill and get a drink and maybe strike up a conversation with a new friend since all of her old ones hadn't even bothered to call her since the whole Klaus thing.
She got there and ordered a White Russian at the bar. She compelled the bartended so he wouldn't card her, but he seemed like he would have given it to her regardless.
She sat and surveyed the wall behind the counter. There were some help wanted ads with the little slips to rip off with a phone number on it, there were some missing cat posters too. But what caught Caroline's eye was a missing person's poster. 'Great, another one.' she thought to herself.
She looked a little closer and realized it was Amber Bradley. She'd seen her alive with Matt only days before. There was no way she was missing.
A sick feeling entered her stomach. It was probably a coincidence that Matt was with her the other night even if it was completely out of character. It was probably nothing. People were being picked off in this town one after another after all. Maybe some rogue vampire or werewolf or witch got to her. Or maybe some new thing had entered the picture.
She wanted to tell somebody about what she knew but she was supposed to be mad at the only person she wanted to speak to.
She felt really stupid for being mad at him. She spent the past few days too depressed to leave her bed because she missed him. But when she looked at it, what did he do more than punch someone in the face that deserved it? She was over reacting and ruining something really special she had found.
She took out her phone and dialed Tyler's cell.
"Come on, Tyler. Pick up." Caroline whispered to her phone.
"Tyler?" A voice said from behind her.
It startled her and she pressed the end button on her phone before Tyler even got a chance to answer.
"Oh, Jules?" Caroline said after she realized who the voice was.
"You're a friend of Tyler's?" Jules asked.
"Um, yeah. Sort of. Uh, is there something you want?" Caroline asked, confused.
"Oh, no. Sorry." Jules smiled. "I realize you don't know me and I was completely rude for eavesdropping. He just wasn't too happy with me the other day when I left his house."
"Oh, you were at his house?" Caroline furrowed her brow.
"Oh yeah. He just seems to need a friend lately. But you know I think he may have a secret girlfriend or something," Jules said. "But she must be a real hand full. He's been so moody for the passed few weeks."
"Well he's been a werewolf for the passed few weeks …" Caroline looked at her almost offended.
"I suppose so," Jules said. "But he has looked happier these passed few days."
"Wait. You've been in contact with him for the passed few weeks?" Caroline asked, now getting very annoyed.
"Well it was nice seeing you. Catch up again?" Jules ignored her question and smiled again, putting an eerie feeling in Caroline's bones.
Jules turned around to leave and knocked Caroline's purse on to the floor by accident.
"Oh, I am so sorry." she said as she picked it up in a rush and handed it back to Caroline. "See you around, Caroline."
Caroline watched her go and thought that that was one of the weirdest interactions she'd ever had with a complete stranger. Now her head was even more messed up than it was before and she didn't know what to think of Tyler. He was hiding secrets from her obviously if what Jules was saying was true. Why wouldn't he want her to know? And if she was lying, what would be her reason? It didn't make any sense at all.
She downed the rest of her drink and decided to go back home and spend a few more hours memorizing the topography of her ceiling.
She dug through her purse but her keys didn't seem to be anywhere. Caroline figured they were at the bottom somewhere and she was too lazy to care. She decided to take a stroll instead and see where she ended up.
…..
Tyler sat in the middle of the woods on the Lockwood property just staring into space. Every once in a while a squirrel or a bird would distract him but he'd always just return to the same spot he'd been staring at. It was a footprint. He wasn't quite sure but he had a feeling it was Caroline's. He just continued to stare at it for hours and hours.
He was glad his mother didn't bother asking him where he was going anymore and that no one questioned him at all anymore. His dad and his uncle were dead and he was in charge of his own life now. He knew that he should stay home more and take care of his mother but he had his own problems to deal with and his mother was always off doing something for the Founder's Council or doing some kind of benefit or banquet. She was the mayor after all.
Tyler sighed.
It seemed to echo through the empty forest and bounce off the trees and come right back to his ears.
The wind blew and Tyler welcomed the cool feeling through his hair. It was refreshing after sitting so long in stagnant air.
But the wind held a funny odor that he hadn't smelled before. He stood up to get a better whiff. It smelled almost coppery, but worse. It was an awful, cold stench. He knew it to be death.
He was a little skeptical to follow it but he had to see what it was. He picked himself up and followed it to the outskirts of the Lockwood property that no one had been to in years. It was near the underground cellar in which he had used to transform during the full moon.
He kept walking towards it until he found the source of the smell. It was a body. But it didn't look like any dead person he'd ever seen. He knew that she'd been there for at least a few days because she was partially covered in dirt and leaves that the wind had blown but she didn't look like she was decaying at all. Her lips were parted slightly and she was pouting a little. Her cheeks were flushed, not drained of blood like they should have been and her eyes still seemed alive. She looked as though she was engaged in a kiss and then just died in the middle of it.
Her blonde hair was spilled all over the ground and it covered her partially unclothed form.
Tyler had no idea what to do. This was clearly a death by a supernatural so he couldn't call the cops. But whatever killed her was sloppy, probably a novice. They just dumped the body without dismembering it or even trying to bury it. They were probably scared so just left it somewhere without thinking.
The body was virtually unharmed though. So it wasn't a vampire or werewolf. Maybe it was a witch?
Tyler flicked open his phone and called up the only person he trusted for advice or for help.
"Hello?"
"Caroline. I really need you right now," Tyler said briskly.
…
Jules walked into the hardware store and skipped to the front of the line by charming the few men with a flick of her hair and a smile.
The man at the counter smiled at her shyly and took his hat off out of respect.
She smiled back at him and placed a set of keys on the counter and said, "Hi. I'd like to get a copy of these made."