Built with a light shaded wood, it stood on the side of a hill, the old house was beautiful and graceful. It was really too much room for the two women who lived there, but it had become home in the last couple of years. The forest surrounding it, life vibrated through every ray of light, every sound.
Elena was glad for the peace this afforded her, the thrum of life when her past spoke of death and destruction. She loved the bay window, though as it reminded her of the happier times in a past that was filled with the supernatural. She regretted very little of her connections, or the fact she left two years before, but her one regret was her lack of good-byes.
And it was a small regret compared to the fact they would never have let her leave if they had known.
She was doing the dishes. There weren't many, just enough for her and Caroline.
Not that Caroline needed to eat.
She stared down the drain.
They were alone.
By choice.
Never again would they get messed up into the drama that was Mystic Falls. Never again would they have to fight for their lives, or the lives of their friends and family. Standing and fighting had lost them so much already.
It had lost them Bonnie.
Caroline and Elena were on the run.
The plan had been hatched by Elena, but of course she had wanted to do it alone. But then when Tyler had left, Caroline had decided she didn't have much more to live for.
Elena had found her with a stake poised at her heart when she had come over to give her the one gift she could give no one else.
A good bye.
There were tears and threats and begging from both sides until they decided.
They would leave together.
So in the middle of the Smokey mountains with Caroline driving, they silently prayed this would work. That no one (ehm Damon) would come after them, that Klaus wouldn't miss his doppelganger, that their families would be safe and for a peaceful life (or existence) .
Neither of them talked for hours.
Caroline was the first to break the silence.
"Do you need to eat?"
"I'm not really hungry."
"You need to eat Elena," Caroline completely understood of course, but her friend needed to stay alive.
"I will if you go ahead and eat to. You're going to need blood soon."
Caroline fell into an easy lie, "I fed while you were sleeping."
"I wasn't sleeping"
"Oh."
A lot had changed since them. Elena had made Caroline see a therapist. Not that she could tell her everything, but so she might find a way through this.
Not that Elena was handling the transition any better than Caroline was, she didn't know if she was willing to keep going on some days. She wasn't going to be able to live. To have children, to have a normal husband, to go to school.
She was working on a book right now. A journal actually, when she wasn't working at an old diner. It was about what happened the moment her parents died. It was an explanation for Jeremy, Damon, Alaric, and Stefan.
The names never came without that searing pain that tore apart her fragile heart. There was nothing left in her life, but Caroline. And nothing left in Caroline's life, but Elena. However that would change in under a century. She would die, and Caroline could go back to Mystic Falls with her body. No one would could know of her whereabouts, the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, so close, but so far away. She tried to hold back the cascade of salt water that threatened to overwhelm her heart.
Caroline was at the old diner. It was a far cry from the Mystic Fall Grill. Just two rooms, a kitchen and a dining room filled with old rickety tables and a weak little bar with not much to offer. And an old grey cat that made her want to kick it with its lack of respect for the restaurant's sanitation.
She had named it MK or Mini-Klaus.
All the coal miners, or the regulars were in by eleven. They brought with them black dust that coated everything they looked at. Caroline's job was to clean up after them, and to get the dining place ready by the time they got to the diner. It was a far step down from what she thought she would be doing with her life. She had given up a lot, but she was still having problems not wanting to give up everything. She had just gotten to the point where she had started to take her usual pride in her appearance. Her OCD tendencies were starting to come back.
But it wasn't enough. This life.
But it was enough if it protected their loved ones. If it kept Elena safe. The old Caroline would have been furious at the loss of her life. Of Miss Mystic Falls being drug down to the level of cleaning up after coal miner of little or no relevance to the community where she was raised. Of her and Elena being forced to endure the stares and whispers and crass looks from men. The new one was just starting to enjoy life again.
She had just finished wiping of the old bar when she caught a familiar voice and scent.
She felt the familiar edge of panic and joy at the sound of that British accent. The fear, however, was the always the dominant instinct.
She ran.
"What is this God Forsaken Place, Nik?" Kol asked with a frown. He liked his brother, not trust, but liked and was very disturbed by the fact they were in the hills of Kentucky, when they could be in Paris with a women, blood, and women.
"It is a place close to our little vampires, and close enough to a certain wolf pack. Elijah do you smell that?" Klaus looked around rather curiously at the almost deserted town square. There were a few women going about their shopping, but there was nothing unusual about that. There was nothing so familiar to his senses. He inhaled, being completely consumed by his sense of smell.
" Smell what Niklaus?" Elijah kept a calm, cool facade, but inside he was deeply curious. There were few things that caught his brother off guard.
"All I smell is blood,' Kol said as he glanced at a rather cute towheaded girl, who smiled at him. He suddenly jerked his head towards a rough old building with a sign that had the word 'Diner" gouged out of it. A wraparound porch sagged in front of the door where an old woman looked about the town square with a confused look on her face.
"And a familiar vampire.' Kol murmured. "I wonder who it is. Someone must be remembering your reign of terror, Nik. "
Klaus sent him a look, that made Kol think he must wish he had kept his daggers.
Rebekah cut in before she had to watch her brothers fight again.
" It's the one Damon calls Vampire Barbie. The one that supposedly committed suicide a few years ago. I thought she would have more taste than to settle in this old town." Rebekah gave a pointed look to her brother. Which he ignored.
Klaus was still. All of his siblings took a step back, recognizing a Klaus tantrum coming on. They hadn't seen one in a couple of years, but they knew the signs.
Klaus himself was in the middle of a war. One side was refusing to take in this hope that his light was alive. The other part of him was furious that she had let them believe she was dead. It was like two colors, red and white, were fighting for supremacy. He closed his eyes, and when they opened they were yellow, and he stalked off to talk to the woman in front of the diner. Elijah, curiosity getting the better of him, followed.
Elena was in front of her computer when Caroline grabbed her, and raced out the door. It was kind of like being on a rollercoaster, being carried by a vampire. Elena didn't question Caroline, they had long ago had decided they were going to have to trust each other when it came to running. It had been a good two years without any news, but from Alaric, who sent Facebook messages every now and then. He didn't ask many questions, just asked if Elena was OK.
She was never really sure how to answer the question.
But her current thoughts were of Caroline as she raced through the forest. Something must have really spooked her for her to be running this fast, and this suddenly.
She shrugged and held on as tightly as she could as Caroline flitted through the woods, the sun shining high above them.
Klaus forced himself to calm down. There was another smell pervading his senses along with Caroline's. The doppelganger had been here recently as well. He glanced at Elijah noticing his pleased look. Klaus tried to control his temper. They had been waiting for her to come back to Mystic Falls for months now that Hybrids just needed another Hybrid's blood to transform. He didn't want to pursue the doppelganger anymore. In fact, if he never saw another doppelganger again, it would be too soon. Well, maybe not Katherine, he still wanted to feed her her own heart. Elijah on the other hand had been on good terms with the doppelganger before this little fiasco started.
It took to much effort too much effort to keep up with all the doppelganger's conquests.
Klaus put on his most charming smile, the one with the dimples, that made every lady within a significant radius fall over themselves to give him what he wants, and walked up to the lady on the porch.
"Oh, you mean Caroline?" the lady asked. She was a bit scared by how intense the man's gaze was, but the smile seemed to promise good things in return for her cooperation. He nodded.
"She disappeared, she was here a half hour ago, and now I can't find her anywhere. Why are you looking for her, again?"
"Oh, no particular reason, she and I used to have an understanding a few years ago, and I am surprised to find out that she's been around this area. It would be nice if we could catch up."
"Now," he said, using compulsion, His pupils growing, "Where does she live?"
The woman's voice grew cold and distant, "In the new house on the side of Rattlesnake Ridge."
"You will forget this conversation ever happened, do you understand me?"
The woman nodded, and walked back into the diner, calling out-"She's gone, I can't find her anywhere, dear."
Klaus headed towards the car, where Kol and Rebecca were texting. He pushed Kol out of the way and got into the car, typing Rattlesnake Ridge into the GPS. Elijah took his time, wandering about the town square, before coming to the car. He smiled as he watched Klaus' warring emotions play across his face. He was secretly pleased there was something in this world that would pull his brother out of himself, something that encouraged him to give the world that second chance he refused anyone else.
Rebekah looked resigned to the field trip, they had been traveling for hours, what's a few more? Kol however looked a bit put out.
"Why are we going after the woman who rejected you again? I thought you were over her when you thought she was a pile of ash. Your almost as desperate as Bekah."
"Shut up Kol." Klaus and Rebekah said in unison. Elijah smiled when he noticed Klaus didn't add any threats to his usual bickering. In fact, he actually seemed a little bit distracted.
he jerked the keys, once, twice, three times.
The car wouldn't start.
It was time to run.