Chapter Fourteen: running away and hiding with you
There's always a scene in a horror or action film where an extra or perhaps a main character just freezes and stares their imminent death right in the face. More often than not a train is about to come ground them into the pavement or some creepy guy with a mask and machete is about to slice their head off. Well, it's sad to say that that's not all an exaggeration. People actually do that. They just stand there like their feet are super glued to the floor. And they stand there right up to the last second; between that one millisecond that it takes for those strong undead jaws to snap shut like a starving shark, Nik has disappeared down the hallway like a ghost.
He weaves through the halls; unsure of what direction he's supposed to go in. In part he's trying to find Caroline, trying to hear the constant sound of her pounding footsteps, but they've disappeared now, covered by the sound of his rapid breathing and his heart beating. He looks behind him and notices that Frederick isn't following him; he doesn't even know how fast that damned thing can go. Can it run? It wasn't running before, just lunged, which must be every zombie's go-to move.
Caroline has no idea where she is. She turned around once she realized that she basically just left Nik for dead, but apparently she didn't take such a straight route on the way to her unclear destination. She tried to retrace herself, but she only journeyed deeper into the funeral parlor's maze and all the little rooms that were so secluded. Who knew a funeral home could be so complex? There are bedrooms and studies and television rooms and rooms with just books. There are rooms with chemicals and more caskets—empty caskets (they were open), and wilted flowers. Well, if this isn't the epitome of death then she doesn't really know what is.
She leans against a wall in the dark hallway just to catch her breath and set her mind right. Basically, if something happened to Nik, then she would've heard him screaming somewhere off in the distance. At this point, she isn't too concerned. He's fine.
After she's caught her breath, she breaks back out into a sprint. She makes a left and then a right and then another right, but she's pretty sure she's going in circles once she darts past the same potted plant for the fourth time. She pants and attempts to catch her breath when suddenly something grabs her from behind and covers her mouth. She lets out a muffled scream, begging for help, until it starts to shush her.
"It's okay, it's okay. It's me. It's okay. You're safe," Nik whispers quickly. He removes his hand from her mouth and spins her around to face him, her face flushed with exhaustion and worry. She could literally just faint right now.
"Sorry I ran," Caroline apologizes. "Not my best decision."
"Well, if I had died then it would've been for a noble cause, I suppose."
She bites her lip. "Yes, saving the damsel in distress. My knight in tattered clothing."
She moves to plant a kiss on him, but then the realization that a zombie is wandering around looking for them hits her. Well, that sucks.
"Here." She grabs one of Nik's hands and pulls him into one of the emptied bedrooms, but it's not like that.
She locks the door and helps Nik push the bedpost against the door and then the dresser. Basically, they move everything they can in front of it. This even includes the pictures of dead people with makeup that hung on the walls. Once they've finished, Caroline settles her head in between the crook of Nik's neck and breathes deeply as she looks over his shoulder at the window. Well, there's a way to escape, but no tree. Jeez, what she wouldn't do to climb a tree right now.
"We're going to die," she states matter-of-factly.
"If I had a pound for every time you doubted that we would live…"
"This is serious, Nik. We're trapped!"
"We were trapped at my sibling's home, we were trapped at the motel, and we were trapped at the park. Sweetheart, you should really start to look on the brighter side of things. It's much more appealing on this side, I'll have to say."
She rolls her eyes. "Seriously? You can continue to be a sarcastic little shit some other time. This isn't funny."
He glances away from her and attempts to wipe the snarky grin off his face. Never works in the face of all things Caroline. "I wasn't laughing." He's totally laughing.
"You are!"
The door moves. They both freeze and fall silent. This feels like the first night in her room, all by herself, curled up on top of her bed as the nightstands fell. The tears flowing down her cheeks as she begged it to stop. She remembers the way it screeched and shrieked.
A wail.
A plea for help.
A hunger.
Oh how she remembers it so clearly. Like the back of her hand.
The door slams against the bedframe and Caroline's knees feel like they will collapse from underneath her. She doesn't understand why she's so nervous though. She's been in this same shit for weeks. She's run away from dozens of zombies in the past. Hell, she took down three single-handedly with a motherfucking baseball bat? What's one going to do?
"I have a plan," she says, breaking away from Nik. She rushes over to the door and pulls on the end of the bedpost, trying to break the wood away. Nik comes to her side and pulls at the same piece, but it doesn't even crack.
"The drawers," he says. "Pull the drawers out the dresser."
She gives him a curious look. And? What the fuck are they going to do with that? Stuff Frederick in one and then push him back into the dresser? Good one, Nik.
But he doesn't wait for her to do it. He just pulls them out himself and drops them to the floor, stomping on them until the nails give way and there is nothing but thick boards of wood.
"Isn't really good for long-distance," Caroline points out, as she weighs a piece in her hands. "But it's durable."
"And that's all we need, love."
She helps him move the bedframe away from the door, her heart thumping in her ears. Really? They're going to do this? Just open the door and let god knows what happen?
Yup.
Nik places a hand on the doorknob and Caroline nods her head. Do it, she mouths.
Caroline screams before anything happens. She screams before she even sees anything. Which is weird because she doesn't see anything. There isn't anything there. It's like the horrible creature just gave up and went on his merry little undead way.
"What do we do now?" Caroline ponders aloud.
Nik pokes his head out the door and looks up and down the hall, but there isn't any sign of the monster. Still, he can't be too sure.
"Just stay close behind me and you'll be fine," Nik mutters. "Keep your eyes and ears open."
He takes one step out into the hallway and Caroline grips onto the waistband of his jeans with one hand and holds her board with the other. She has to keep her eyes open, keep look out just like him, but all she wants to do is close them and smother her face in the back of his shirt and turn back the clock. Why did she ever think that coming in here would be a good idea? She should just keep her mouth shut for now on. It just gets her into trouble.
Slowly, they stalk down the hall. Her pulse feels as if it's going to come bursting through her skin and her eyes are going to fall out of her skull from how wide she's got them opened. Wide and only sucking in nothing but darkness. She tries not to panic, but this has never happened before. She's never been lost like this before. At least she knew her way around Mystic Falls and had the comfort of her roof to look forward to every night, but this? This is horrible. This unknowing, daunting feeling in the pit of her stomach; it's making her sick. And she's pretty sure that Nik feels it too. He doesn't know where he's going, but he won't tell her that. Just keep going and hope for the best. It's better than just standing around. Besides, it's two against one. They can take out one angry zombie. They can and they will.
"We already passed this," Caroline whispers into his shirt and her voice trembles. That's the same broken mirror she saw two minutes ago. She knows.
"No, we didn't," Nik responds, even toned.
"I remember."
No. She's wrong, isn't she? They're going the right way. This is correct. Just a little more and it'll be the front door and they'll be riding away like Bonnie and Clyde. Caroline doesn't know what she's talking about.
Then again, maybe she does because their surroundings are starting to look awfully familiar. Maybe he should turn into a doorway or something. Maybe he came from one of those. Or maybe he should just turn around and retrace their steps. Yeah. That might work.
But now, something happens. Slowly, he feels Caroline slipping away. Her hand, so small and delicate, falls away from his waist and a ghastly howl escapes from her throat. Her body bounces back, her board drops, and Nik clasps onto her arm for dear life. But the monster pulling her back is so strong even he's having a hard time keeping her close. She has her eyes shut and the utter fear in her voice and on her face is enough to make him want to completely shutdown.
Frederick has his disgusting dead arms all over her arm, pulling at the fabric of her shirt, stretching it out of shape, and pulling at her arm, tugging it so hard she's afraid it'll just rip off. Caroline tries to pull away from him, move her body towards Nik, but the zombie keeps tugging and Nik keeps pulling at her and it's a tug-of-war and it feels as if she will tear in half and no one will win.
Make it stop, she pleads, only she can't even speak. She's screaming in her mind, stop it stop it stop it! But it doesn't. It hurts and suddenly there's a horrendous pop in her ears that's louder than her screaming. A numbing sensation engulfs her entire body that quickly morphs into an agony so unimaginable she starts to disappear into herself.
As if noticing a change, Frederick loosens his grip and lunges for her full force, but Nik pulls her away, picking her up and running as fast as he can away from it. Caroline's limp arm dangles lowly, her dislocated shoulder poking disgustingly through her top. She must be in shock because she isn't moving, isn't speaking, barely even breathing. She blinks, but doesn't acknowledge anything. She doesn't respond as Nik talks to her, tells her to snap out of it, she'll be fine, that he'll fix her. She just looks straight ahead blankly, her eyes listless and dull. Why can't he ever protect her?
"I know what you said, Nik, and I want to believe you. But I can't."
She was right not to. But he'll make it right this time. He'll get them out of here and help her just like she helped him the night before and all those other times. But he has his doubts, especially since she's so unresponsive and the pain is marred all across her face like a scar.
He comes across a set of stairs after he's entered a room that opens to a narrow hallway. Nik goes as carefully and quickly as he possibly can, trying to keep her arm steady. He needs to set it back in place quick before any more damage is done. He descends them and makes a sharp left turn only to see a tiny flicker of light at the far end of the hall. It's a door and a tiny sliver of the outside world is peaking through. Freedom at last. Caroline's head lulls to the side as he gets closer and closer to the exit, Frederick only feet behind him, his grunts and howls getting louder and more ominous by the second.
Nik reaches for the door, but the handle doesn't move. He kicks it in and it flings open all the while Frederick claws at the back his shirt, tearing at the fabric of his shirt. But Nik presses on, pulling away from the hideous beast gnashing its teeth and getting to the outside. This must be the backyard because there's an open field with overgrown grass and model gravestones. Vines covered in thorns tangle around the stones and across the walkway, but Nik pays no mind and continues ahead looking for any sing of an exit. A gate, a fence; something. But everything is covered in ivy and thorns and thickets of twigs and sticks and bushes. Frederick has gotten himself tangled up one of them so at least it's occupied for the time being trying to break free and failing with flying colors. Nik finds a soft spot that doesn't have too many vines on it and sets Caroline down gently and examines her arm. He's never set a dislocated shoulder back in place before, and he's pretty sure Caroline hasn't either. He isn't completely sure how to do it. He's seen it done, looks like just a twisting motion and then sort of just jerks back into the socket on its own. God that must hurt.
"Don't touch it!" Caroline suddenly screams and Frederick screeches at the same time. Nik almost reels in surprise at her sudden outburst and now the tears are pouring down her cheeks and she can't even breathe. "Don't touch it, please! Just leave me!"
He laughs. "Leave you? You must be mad." He touches her arm and she lets out an ear-piercing shriek. It's a pain so severe that it engulfs her entire being. It encompasses her mind and she can't think of anything else besides the fact that her arm is technically not even attached to her body right now. What in the actual fuck did she do to deserve this?
"I have to reset it," he tells her. "I'll be honest with you, Caroline, it's going to hurt badly, but you have to deal for the time being. It'll be over soon."
She knows he's right, but she can't find it in herself to allow him to do that. It hurts so much, she can barely breathe, and she can barely move an inch without the pain shooting up and down her spine. But she has to. He has to do this.
"Quickly," she gasps. "Just do it."
Nik nods and bends her elbow. Caroline chomps down hard on her bottom lip, determined not to scream, but little muffled noises still erupt in her throat. She closes her eyes and tries to focus on last night where the only thing taking over her mind was how her hips matched with Nik's and she literally teetered on the edge of the earth. She can focus on that, not the feeling of her joints or ligaments or whatever it is that's grinding together. Something sliding and she can hear it in her ears and it's like a nail going down a chalkboard. She bites her lip so hard she draws blood and if she bites down any harder than her teeth are going to go straight through to the other side.
Then suddenly, a loud pop fills the air and she her mouth opens wide as a scream bursts from the deepest part of her soul. She gasps for air and turns over to the other side and clutches her shoulder, but Nik pulls her to her feet.
"We have to find a way out of here," he says looking back at the zombie almost out of his obstacle. "Come on!"
But then abruptly, Frederick is loose and running towards them, his jaws widening as his feet pick up momentum. Nik takes Caroline's hand and runs as fast as he can, but she's so slow and exhausted from the discomfort that he practically drags her along. Her feet get caught up in the vines, her shoelaces matted on the thorns, and then she's falling to the ground on her hands into a thicket covered in thorns and other unpleasant things. Blood covers her palms and Frederick closes in, ready for the kill. She looks up at him, but there is no fear in her eyes. No surprise or shock. Time seems to freeze as she watches it, looks into its translucent eyes, and somewhere in her heart she feels a tug. This tiny ounce of compassion for it. It doesn't know any better. It just wants to eat. It's just instinct. A killer instinct, but what else is there? He didn't choose this. None of them did, yet they all have to suffer. And for what?
In a split second, Nik throws himself at Frederick and they tumble to the ground, rolling back and forth as it hisses and bites the air repeatedly. Caroline tries to untangle her feet from the mess of thorn, but every time she moves she gets stabbed again and she can feel the blood soaking through her jeans. She feels helpless just watching from the distance, but what can she honestly do besides get in the way?
It's a battle reminiscent of the black-haired zombie in the cafeteria. Only the terrain was filthy linoleum instead of thorns and sticks. The undead creature digs his fingers into the skin of Nik's neck trying to rip his flesh, but it has no fingernails so it just leaves ugly purple bruises and broken blood vessels. Nik uses his weight and pushes it on to its back and wraps his hands around its throat, banging its head against the ground over and over again, but it seems to do nothing. It still grabs at his torso and foams a sickly yellow puss from its mouth and sputters inky blood onto Nik's hands and arms. It feels like acid, or it's all in his head. It's all in his head. It's not burning his skin. It's not turning him. No no no. He's just imagining it. All of this time has made him crazy. It's just—
Caroline's scream fills the air after a crack in the wind silences the monster. Nik instantly lets go and scrambles backwards, his breathing shaky and erratic. His heart is the most deafening it's ever been and he can't get his thoughts together. What just happened? How did it happen? God? God is that you? You're actually here?
"I see it's still my job to get you out of trouble, Niklaus."
Oh.
"Elijah."
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A/N: I just really love cliffhangers sorry not sorry.