Author's Note: I know it's taken forever for me to update, but the flu knocked me out of creative commission for a week. Also, this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I had originally intended (as is the story of anything and everything I write). I don't have a beta either, so I do all the editing myself. Anyways, enjoy! :)
Counting to ten isn't much different than counting to infinity. It involves the same basic elements: Time. Patience. Monotony.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five…
The sound becomes a mathematical lullaby, hypnotizing the senses into a calming trance. The numbers, finding release in utterance or thought, produce a kind of repetitive meditation that suspend the mind into momentary serenity, making concentration more direct, not to mention more effective. That's why the most focused people, the neurotic counters, also tend to be the most calculating. They're the gifted hiders; they're the feared seekers. Knowing how to clear the chaos is their most valued skill...and their most lethal.
Whoever deemed hide-and-seek to be merely a child's game was a complete moron, at least in Caroline's opinion. It was a blast! To make it enjoyable and entertaining at any age, all people needed to do was adjust the specifications a little bit. A twist here, a caveat there…Get creative people!
It wasn't difficult. At all. She couldn't be the only person in the universe capable of innovation, could she?
...I mean, honestly.
Annoyed, sometimes Caroline wished she could snap her fingers and compel the imaginative inadequacy out of people. At the same time, however, she rather enjoyed passing through life as the pre-selected Queen of Fun. And with a game like hide-and-seek, the possibilities for fun were endless!
Alone, Caroline rested on her back in a patch of periwinkle. Crinkled leaves and purple flower petals littered her blonde hair like a crown; and with her eyes closed and her hands clasped tranquilly over her chest, it looked like the wood fairies had placed her under an enchanted sleep. Only she was neither asleep, nor was she alone...
"You've taken to napping in the woods, I see," a male voice said. His footsteps crunched along the forest floor until he reached a mossy log near her head.
Caroline sighed, but didn't open her eyes. "I'm not napping."
"I see. So, what are you doing?"
"Counting."
"Counting, huh?" He paused and then took a step closer, lowering the tone of his voice as he spoke. "You're avoiding me."
At this, Caroline opened her eyes and rose to her feet. "I'm not avoiding you, Stefan." She swatted away at the dirt that clung to her black skinny jeans. "Like I explained to you earlier on the phone, I already had plans this afternoon—plans that you're interfering with at the moment."
"Go home," she added with a pat on his chest, "We'll talk later when I get back to the dorms."
Stefan clenched and unclenched his fists.
"We need to talk about this now."
"I'm busy now."
Caroline flashed to a cluster of trees two hundred feet away, Stefan close on her heels. Arms behind her back, she sauntered down the different rows of hemlock, spruce pine, and black walnut trees in a skipping sort of excitement, her steps occasionally halted to lift branches, inspect trunks, or run her fingers through dead orange needles on the ground. Though she seemed to wander in winding, directionless patterns, her movements betrayed a determined purpose. She was on the hunt…for something.
Finally, after chasing her through the woods at vampire speed for a good ten minutes, Stefan caught a break. Caroline stopped next to a black walnut tree that stood just behind an intricately carved wooden bench and a dirt trail. (A private little study getaway.)
Grabbing her swiftly by the elbow, he turned her to face him. "Stop running away from this, away from me!"
"For the last time, I am not running away," she replied with a roll of her eyes, "I. Am. Busy."
At this, Caroline shirked out of his grip and retrieved her phone from her back pocket. After a few clicks, she raised the phone to her ear and spoke into it. "Turn left at the bird fountain by the Science building," she said, "After you pass under the cherry trees, you'll come to a fork that feathers out in three different directions. Take the dirt path to the right. We're waiting just around the bend of pine trees."
With a quick swipe, she ended the call and turned to meet Stefan's probing gaze.
"Oh, so I'm allowed to stay now?"
Directing a quick glance back at the tree, Caroline smirked before moving to take a seat on the bench.
"I have some time before my friend gets here," she said with a shrug, "And since you basically stalked me here, I might as well listen to what you have to say. You know, since it obviously can't wait until later."
She gestured to the open spot next to her. "Sit. Talk. You're on the clock."
Tucking his hands into his pockets, Stefan plopped down beside her and crossed his foot over his knee. "Who was that on the phone?"
"A friend. You'll meet soon enough. Continue." Caroline crossed her arms and leaned back against the arm of the bench.
Stefan nodded and pursed his lips. Small talk was getting him nowhere, but he seemed unable to breach the subject he wanted to discuss. He looked uncomfortable. This caused him to fidget—he cracked his knuckles, wiped his hands against his jeans, clutched the back of his neck, and avoided eye contact.
Rubbing his eyes, he gripped the bridge of his nose and let out a long, frustrated sigh before saying, "I don't know what to say, Caroline. Tell me what to say to make this better."
"Maybe there isn't anything to say," she mumbled in response.
"How can you say that?" he asked, his eyes springing open. He pounded his fist hard against his knee. "I mean," he laughed without humor, "we can't just pretend nothing happened. Because—"
"—It's not a big deal, Stefan," Caroline interrupted. "It's fine, really. I'm fine."
"—When we went to pick up Liz's things from the sheriff's office that day…when we, when I—" Stefan paused, shaking his head, "It is a big deal."
"It's not."
"It is."
"It's not."
"We kissed, Caroline. The day your mother died…"
At this, Caroline let out an exasperated sound and hopped to her feet. "So what if we did?" she spat.
Throwing her blue-and-black patterned scarf over shoulder, she paced back and forth in front of him licking her lips, stopping every now and again to point at him as she spoke.
"So what if we kissed! It's not a big deal," she repeated. "It didn't mean anything, did it?"
While she paused to look at him here, he bowed his head and shuffled his fingers—his answer clear. Frowning, Caroline sat back down across from him, tucking a foot under her butt, and took his hand in hers. She patted his knuckles with her free hand.
"Look at me," she encouraged, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
When his brooding green eyes finally met hers, she continued. "If you're worried that I'm upset with you, that my heart was somehow broken by you—don't be. It wasn't. It's not."
Stefan tilted his head, listening.
"We've grown close over the past few years, particularly over these last few months. You've been the person, the one friend, who I've learned to rely on here—something my mom saw—and I really value that—I really value our friendship. That being said," she hesitated, clearing her throat, "It's only natural that one…or the both of us…at some point, would wonder if perhaps there couldn't be something more between us…"
As Caroline said this, Stefan flinched, almost as if he was in physical pain. Jerking his hand away, he said, "It's my all fault."
"How?"
"I wanted it to be perfect," he explained, "The right atmosphere, the right feelings, the right moment. There should've been joking and laughter and teasing…a normal, romantic build-up. Just to see if maybe I, just maybe…" Stefan sighed, shaking his head. "Instead, it happens when you're sobbing against my shoulder as we rifle through Liz's final letters as sheriff."
"You were consoling me." Caroline shrugged, letting out a little laugh. "Besides, that kiss was innocent."
"Innocent?" repeated Stefan incredulously. "How is kissing you—for the first time ever, I might add—while you're drowning in grief over your mother supposed to be construed as remotely innocent?"
Caroline toyed with her necklace, a habit she'd recently adopted while thinking. Spinning the sun-and-moon pendant between her fingers, she often allowed the diamonds to press into her skin and sparkle in the daylight, creating refracted rainbow shadows wherever she stood. That necklace somehow acted as her talisman of self-awareness—she understood herself when she held it, when she wore it. Caroline knew who she was, what she wanted, and who she wanted to become.
And although she tried to avoid it, it was in these quiet, pensive moments that her mind often wandered to him—to Klaus—in silent appreciation and tenderness. Not that anyone knew that.
"Because it was a kiss between friends and nothing more," Caroline replied with a smile.
Breaking free from her mindless reverie, she added, "There was no spark. No passion. No butterflies. It was our George and Izzie moment."
Stefan arched an eyebrow. "Who are George and Izzie?"
"Grey's Anatomy? Seriously, am I the only one who owns a television?"
Stefan bit his bottom lip, repressing a smirk.
"Never mind," she scoffed, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. "The point is we shared an innocent kiss. It was innocent because it carried nothing with it but the love and comfort of a friend. And no moment—perfect or otherwise—could ever change that. You know that," she said, poking him playfully in the stomach, "and I know that."
Leaning forward on his elbow, coyness overtook his gaze as he asked, "So you thought the kiss fell flat, too?"
"Absolutely!" Caroline responded, blushing as she heard the word roll off her tongue with unfeeling bluntness. "Sorry…I just meant that it—the kiss—it was sweet. It was sweet, pleasant even…but—"
"—Something was missing?" Stefan finished, completing her thought.
Caroline nodded. Averting her gaze, she began twirling her necklace pendant in her fingers. Again, if only for a brief moment, she felt her thoughts float to Klaus.
His kisses weren't like Stefan's. Where Stefan kissed with a serene patience, like fervency would grow and develop over a slow eternity; Klaus kissed with a dizzying urgency, an insistent tug for more. Almost as if he feared the transient status of the connection, Klaus' lips assaulted hers with a plead to preserve, with a need to prolong. Where Stefan maintained lovely sameness; Klaus challenged with constant transformation. While one kiss was exquisite, one more would never be enough. Where Stefan's kisses left her thoughtful; Klaus' left her breathless and dazed.
At her admission of indifference, Stefan collapsed his face into his hands and laughed, his voice becoming muffled as he talked.
"My God!" he exclaimed, running his hands through his messy brown hair, "I'm so relieved to hear you say that! You can't imagine how relieved I am! I couldn't bear to hurt you, Caroline," he admitted, lifting his head to look her in the eyes, "…not in that way. I'd never forgive myself."
As a thankful, relieved, grin spread across his face, Stefan reached for Caroline's hand and placed a sweet kiss on her knuckles. "Our friendship means too much to me."
He squeezed her hand hard—physical reassurance that he meant what he said.
"Well, buck up, Broody McBroodster!" Caroline joked as she teasingly punched him in the shoulder, "Because this friend's not going anywhere. We can still love each other without being in love, right?"
"Right. Best friends for eternity?" Stefan offered, opening his arms for a hug instead of a handshake.
"Deal."
As they hugged, dispelling any lingering romantic misgivings, Caroline caught sight of a shape in the distance.
"Crap, I almost forgot." She clapped her hands in excitement. "Let the games begin!"
Jumping up, almost shoving a perplexed Stefan off her accidentally, she started sprinting down the dirt path (at human speed) in the opposite direction from where they came, disappearing around a corner of pine trees.
"Jess! Where the hell are you going…Jess!" she yelled, waving her arms in frantic circles. "Over here, over here!"
When she re-emerged from the dense foliage, Caroline walked arm-in-arm with a petite girl who looked to be around college-age. Adorned in a black leather jacket and a flowy tangerine sundress, the girl tossed her long black ringlets over her shoulder. As a result of their laughing conversation, the girls made their way back to Stefan slowly.
"So much for not abandoning me," he said as they approached, "I feel like a discarded puppy."
To further dramatize his mock pouting, he jutted out his bottom lip in an embellished frown.
Shaking her head, Caroline laughed. "Jess, this is my highly exaggerative friend, Stefan."
Shielding her mouth from him, she added in a whisper, "Don't believe a word he says."
"Hey, now! Secrets don't make friends."
Stefan elbowed Caroline playfully; then extended a handshake to Jess.
"Nice to meet you," she responded, shaking his hand.
"How do you two know each other?"
"European history last semester," Jess said as she fidgeted with the straps of her backpack, "Care had the best flashcards. I wouldn't have been able to keep my academic scholarship without her."
Sheepish, Caroline twisted the daylight ring on her index finger.
"You see, I suck at memorizing dates. I always have." Removing the bag from her shoulders, she rested it against one of the bench's wooden legs on the ground. "But she—bumping Caroline with her hip"—constructed this awesome color-coding system that correlated historical dates and events with colors. It worked like a charm."
Her brown eyes brimming with appreciation, Jess threw an arm around her friend's waist in a half-hug. "Because of her, I aced the class after that."
Stefan rocked back on his heels, his hands in the pockets of his green zip-up hoodie. Squinting to avoid the directness of the sunlight, he winked at Caroline, and pretending to whisper, said to Jess, "She's the best person I know."
"Me too," Jess agreed.
Suddenly, feeling extremely flattered yet self-conscious at the same time—a deep red began to seep into Caroline's ordinarily pale cheeks—she snapped back into focus. She remembered why they were here.
Yanking Jess by the hand, she navigated the girl around the wooden bench, trudging her through muddy grass and dandelions.
"Now that introductions are over," she said as they walked, "Let's get started."
Caroline heard Stefan rub his hands together in readiness behind them. "What's on the study agenda today? Biology? Calculus? Philosophy?"
"We're not here to study," Caroline snapped, nodding devilishly at Jess. "We're here to finish a game."
"Could you use an extra player?"
Just as he said this, there was a loud snap. One of the tree's branches began to shudder and tremble despite the lack of wind, causing a shower of walnut leaves to coat the forest floor in a blanket of green. Kicked from their branches, walnuts plopped to the ground like springing rocks, rolling under trampled leaves and splattering against moist moss pockets surrounding the tree's trunk. Caroline ducked under the lowest branch, braving the falling walnut pellets by using her forearms like a shield. She peered up into the inside, squinting.
"There's no point in climbing higher," she bellowed into the leaves, "I found you fair and square. You lost—now climb down."
Smacking the dirt from her hands in disgust, Caroline came out from beneath the tree to re-join her friends who were standing nearby talking about post-college goals. Jess looked animated and vivacious as she described her journalist-to-be hopes to Stefan.
"Did you bring what I asked?"
Pausing in her conversation with Stefan, Jess nodded and patted her jacket. "They're in my pocket."
"Excellent."
"Caroline—" Stefan paused, sounding suspicious, "What's going on?"
"Nothing."
At this moment, the branches began to crack and shake again. This time, however, as well as showering the area around it with leaves, twigs, and walnuts, the tree also dropped a young man onto the ground with a large thump.
Grumbling, the man erected himself onto his feet with caution. As he stood, swiping at the muddy leaves stuck to his plaid button-down shirt, he revealed a tall frame with lean muscle. He hid a mass of wavy blond under a backwards Red Sox cap. His jaw clenched, he turned to face the others with an air of alarmed defiance.
Caroline could feel Stefan studying her, analyzing her motives behind a wrinkled forehead, but she ignored him. Instead, she flashed behind the newly departed tree accessory and jabbed her elbow into his kidney, causing him to lurch forward onto his knees.
"Johnny! I'm so glad you accepted your defeat with such honor and integrity today," she exclaimed with bubbly acidity. "After all," she goaded, her hands ripping his hair as she dragged him along behind her with ease, "nobody likes a sore loser."
With a flick of her hand, she tossed him like a pair of dirty, crumpled jeans at her friends' feet. Circling him in calculated, predatory steps, she said, "I, however…I love to win."
Stefan stepped between them.
"What exactly are you winning here, Care?"
"The game, Stefan," she said with a cocky smile, "I'm winning the game."
Bending to his knees, he hoisted Johnny upright and pushed him next to Jess, acting like a vampire wall of defense. Though he said nothing, his crossed arms held his intended meaning: To hurt them, you must go through me.
Approaching her, Stefan grabbed Caroline by the shoulders. "Humiliation? Cruelty? Lack of humanity? That's a damn dangerous came to play, don't you think?"
His fingers dug into her jean jacket with resolute roughness as he attempted to make her understand. "This isn't who you are," he said, shaking her, "You're better than this."
At this, with Stefan coddling her, his eyes beseeching that she embrace her positive morality, Caroline knocked his hands away and then broke into uncontrollable laughter. She couldn't help herself.
"Oh my God, would you just relax? I haven't turned into some soulless, blood-sucking Barbie villain with no reference to my humanity, okay?" Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she continued, "When my mom died, I could have. But I didn't; I won't. I know what I'm doing. So…back off!"
Just wait, her icy gaze implored. Just wait.
Abandoning his protect-the-humans stance, Stefan looked a little less suspicious than he did a few seconds ago. Still a tad unconvinced, however, he maintained a cautious air.
Caroline scoffed. As she flashed next to Johnny, she gave him a pat on the back and said, "We were just playing hide-and-seek." Nudging him, "Right?"
Johnny gulped, unable to speak.
"Right," Jess agreed.
Though she had remained quiet up until this point, Jess now sauntered over to Johnny—her face beaming with fond affection—and looped her arm through his, using her free hand to trace the scruff along his jawbone. After that, she placed a quick, sweet kiss on his cheek.
"Since my boyfriend prides himself in his ability to conceal, we figured he'd be the perfect addition to our little game."
"What's the unique twist?" Stefan asked unsmiling. "I know you have one, Caroline. So let's hear it."
"You are such a buzzkill! This is exactly why I didn't invite you."
His disapproving gaze bore into her, but he gestured that she "get on" with the explanation.
"It's quite ingenious," Caroline admitted, cocking her eyebrow. "The same rules of hide-and-seek apply, of course." She flapped her hands flippantly. "Only in my version, there's an extra incentive to win…"
"If Johnny won," Jess said, still caressing her boyfriend lovingly, "Caroline would compel us both to forget that I found my scumbag boyfriend of two years in bed with his Spanish tutor."
"It didn't mean anything!" Johnny croaked with pleading eyes, "I swear, man, you've got to believe me."
"And if he lost…"
Nonchalant, Caroline interjected.
"—I'd eat him for lunch."
At the sound of this, Stefan stiffened. Rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie, he stepped forward, ready to take action. "I can't let you do that."
"It's already done! He lost. And now…" Caroline paused, shrugging her shoulders, "…he must pay the consequences."
Johnny jerked in an attempt to run, but Jess held him by the elbow—steady and firm. "Sorry, baby, but you're not going anywhere."
Flashing in front of Stefan before he could intrude, Caroline detained him with a calm, controlled stare. "Stay here. You will not move. You will not interfere. You will not help him."
Gripping her by the wrists, Stefan looked resistant.
"Best friends trust each other, remember?" she whispered so only he could hear, "I know what I'm doing. Trust me. Please."
Although it took a second, Stefan softened. "I may not understand you right now, but I do trust you. Go," he said reluctantly, "I won't stop you."
"Thank you."
After arching his eyebrow in warning, he leaned against the bench to observe. And to wait—in best-friend-trust.
Caroline strode back over to Johnny with an air of sass and dug her fingernails hard into his chest, signaling at Jess to release him.
After removing his baseball cap—which was actually hers—Jess tossed Caroline a Ziploc bag from her jacket pocket. Retrieving her backpack from the ground, she slung it over her shoulders and skipped down the same dirt path on which she arrived. Only looking back once, she blew him one last kiss and sent the words "I won't miss you" echoing along the wind.
As his girlfriend disappeared, abandoning him to his fate, Johnny backed away, his hands raised in submission. "What are you going to do to me?"
"Expose you for the liar that you truly are."
"I don't know what you—"
Her hands around his throat, Caroline zoomed at him like a linebacker and slammed his head against the tree.
"—Tell me what he wants!"
Unexpectedly, Johnny cackled.
For the first time since he entered the clearing, he abandoned his mask to reveal his true face. No fear, no concern, only pure malicious disgust. As Caroline rammed his head into the bark again, this time drawing blood, he sneered, almost as if he derived pleasure from her violence.
"Do you think I squirm that easily, sweet Caroline?"
"No, but I know a slimy worm when I see one." She pressed her fingers into his tonsils and squeezed. Hard. "And I will find a way make you squirm."
"You can't hurt me," he taunted, panting for air. "And even if you could, you wouldn't dare."
Raising his hands as if in prayer, he flicked his fingers and fell into a trance, a chant rolling off his lips in a low hum...but nothing happened. No dust. No wind. No fire. Nothing.
Panicked, Johnny's eyes flung open. After shaking out his fingers, he started the Latin spell over, allowing his voice to emphasize certain words and syllables. But again…nothing. "What the—"
"All talk and no magic?" She paused, cocking her head to the side. "Bummer!"
Caroline kneed him in the stomach; then launched him into a puddle of mud near a small duck pond ten feet away.
Flashing after him, she lodged the heel of her brown ankle boot around Johnny's throat and made a seat of his chest, indifferent to his thrashing beneath her. Unzipping the Ziploc bag from Jess, Caroline extracted four capital letters and smacked them evenly across his chest.
"You know, it's bad enough to cheat on your girlfriend—who's way too good for you, by the way," she continued as she traced the letters with her fingers, "but letting Kai—your psychopath of a best friend—cheat you out of all your magic?" She paused, yanking his greasy, mud-stained head up to look at her. "That's just plain stupid."
When she finished pressing the letters, she clapped in girlish satisfaction. The effect was absolute perfection!
There, stuck on his white v-neck shirt, was one word written in an audacious red: LIAR.
Stefan, still observing from a distance, hardened at the sound of Kai's name. But bound by the promise of trust—per Caroline's request—he couldn't interfere. And he didn't.
"Don't be stupid for a third time, Johnny."
She tugged him to his feet, letting his sneakers dangle along the edge of the pond's murky shore. "Tell me what he wants, what he's after…or I swear to God, I'll eat your stubborn, no-longer-witchy ass for lunch...And enjoy it."
"And tarnish your perfect vampire virtue?" Johnny laughed, pond water encircling his ankles, "I don't think so."
"Fine. Have it your way," Caroline shrugged. "Unlike you—I am not all talk."
She tore the plaid button down from his arms, and then spun him onto his knees in the water with an arm clenched behind his back and his neck tilted, exposed and ready for the taking.
As Caroline bent her face toward his jugular, the veins beneath her eyes began to pulsate. Closing her eyes, that sweet, copper scent flooded her nose, engulfing her body in that unquenchable fire of thirst, alerting her of blood's close proximity. Vampire instincts awakened, she not only heard, but felt their encouragement: Bite. Drink. Kill.
Her fangs descended. Sharp, powerful, and deadly, they were primed and ready to puncture flesh...And so was she.
"NO!" Stefan shouted.
With her eyes bloodshot with rage and hunger, a low hiss vibrated in her throat. Then, without hesitation, she clamped her fangs onto the side of Johnny's throat and sucked in a no-mercy frenzy. The more he resisted, the faster, the harder, she slurped and swallowed. He became her human lollipop, the forbidden dessert of darkness. A delectable treat until the last drop. And, oh, how she relished that salty taste of wickedness!
Blood trickled in a flowing stream—drenching not only Johnny's starch t-shirt, but also Caroline's pale, virtuous vampire chin. Her fangs pierced the skin on his neck with such accuracy, that had she not wanted to prolong his suffering, or had she no control, no focus, she could've ended his life with two over-sized gulps. As it was, however, that wasn't the aim.
Johnny's screams electrified the clearing. The woods echoed with the horrors of his agony. But while Caroline clung, no one could stop her; no one could save him. The power was hers—the power to restore life, the power to eliminate it. His life…his death…the decision rested between her poised fangs. Literally.
Embrace darkness; don't become it.
Somehow, in the space of a moment, Klaus' advice became her mantra. And so, at the precise moment Johnny believed that he would die, that she would suck the last sliver of life from his veins, Caroline paused, relinquishing her death-bite.
"I could kill you. I could end your suffering. Right here, right now," she purred in his ear, "All you have to do—" she lifted his chin "—is tell me what I want to know. Answer my questions, Johnny, and I'll kill you quickly. If not…"
She paused here, allowing him to fill in the blanks.
Johnny peered up at her with heavy, lidded eyes. Though he was exhausted, the dread on his face said everything: Dying was not what he wanted. Not today, not anytime soon. But a slow death? That was worse.
"What are Kai's plans?" Caroline asked again.
Escaped from the 1994 prison world, Kai Parker, the resident egomaniac of the Gemini coven, spent the last few months of his new-found freedom terrorizing Mystic Falls. Wherever he traveled, wickedness and destruction followed. Worst of all, however, he siphoned magic. He absorbed it, collected it, and protected it...sucking it from any and all supernatural phenomena he encountered along the way. Magical supremacy charged him like a high voltage battery. In essence, he became a ticking bomb Caroline and her friends needed to neutralize. Immediately.
Unfortunately, so far, Kai had proven to be not only resourceful, but devious. His purpose, his grand plan, it avoided detection.
And while the unknown threat he posed generated alarm among her and her friends, Caroline found the distraction from her grief helpful. She needed a hyper-focus. Though it sometimes manifested in an obsessive recklessness, it granted her the control she required to survive the loss of her mother…humanity intact.
Weak, Johnny hesitated in response.
"Freya. He wants to reunite with Freya," he breathed, barely above a whisper, "That's why he's collecting magic. Why he—why he needs the ascendant."
After he said this, Caroline dashed them both out of the pond. Johnny rolled onto his side in the grass just as Stefan approached.
"Bonnie," Stefan murmured into her ear, "She has the ascendant; she isn't safe. I need to warn her."
He touched Caroline's shoulder, applying pressure, a warning reminding her not to do anything she'd regret; but she shrugged it off.
"Go," she said in dismissal. Her gaze never left Johnny. "I'm almost done here."
With an apprehensive nod, Stefan vanished. Off to alert Bonnie.
Alone now, the only detectable presence was that of robins building nests of twigs and moss, deer trampling through leaves to find water, and geese flapping, splashing, and bathing in the pond. Thankful for the privacy, Caroline kneeled next to Johnny's head and continued her questions. Perhaps now, without interruption, she'd get somewhere.
"Who's Freya?"
"A powerful witch with ancient ties. Kai's perfect magical complement."
Caroline scoffed, clearly disgusted, "You make them sound like puzzle pieces…or worse, supernatural soulmates."
Rolling onto his elbows, Johnny laughed weakly. Coughing, his blue eyes fixed her with a stern stare. "Who says they're not?"
"Oh, come on! This is real life, not Twilight!"
"All I can tell you is that where Kai is weak; Freya is strong, and vice versa. The ancestors designed it that way to—" he grimaced as he rolled onto his side"—to preserve balance. Their individual powers alone are deadly…but together?"
He paused, rubbing his bleeding neck wound against the sleeve of his shirt, "They would be almost invincible."
Leaning forward, inches from Johnny's face, she asked, "What do they want with the ascendant?"
"It's the key ingredient. It'll provide them with the one thing they want, but don't have."
"Which is?"
Drained, Johnny wheezed and his head lolled onto his bicep.
"Immortality," he murmured at last.
A shiver traveled down Caroline's spine as he said this. Though she'd only been part of the supernatural world for a few years, she understood one thing clearly: Magic was a precarious treasure. A treasure that, if it fell into the wrong hands, would be cataclysmic. In other words, this was not good news.
As it was, mortal witches already possessed formidable potency with their ability to manipulate nature. But immortal witches? What kind of abominable threat would they pose? Without needing to recycle, let alone share their power with their descendants, Kai and Freya would continue to grow in unnatural strength. Forget formidable! Before long, they'd be completely and utterly indestructible, just as Johnny suggested. They'd be the King and Queen of North America, of the planet, of the universe!
A young, naïve, and inexperienced vampire Caroline might be, but there was one thing she was not: afraid. She would stop Kai and Freya; and she would win. How? She had no fucking clue!
Johnny groaned, breaking her from her thoughts. "That's all I know," he said, "You have your information. So kill me and be quick about it."
Dropping her fangs, Caroline hissed and leaned close to his face, pushing sweaty bangs off his forehead with her fingers before flipping him onto his back. Licking his blood from her fingers, a delighted maliciousness took over her tone when she spoke.
"Oh…I'm going to kill you. I'm going to make you sorry, so, so sorry—" she crooned, "Before we're finished, you'll regret that I know you…that we ever met."
"But you said—you said—that if I answered your questions," he stammered, attempting to crawl away on his elbows, "that it'd be quick."
"Don't worry, Johnny, I keep my promises. It will be quick…" She patted his shoulder, pressing him back against the grass. "…but it'll be painful, too."
And it was. Caroline slayed him just like she'd promised: swiftly and excruciatingly.
All in all, it took her two minutes to kill Johnny's reputation as Whitmore College stud forever. All she'd needed were three things: 1) A brilliant idea 2) Poised fangs 3) Compulsion. And so, leaving Johnny sleeping and clueless underneath the shade of a walnut tree, Caroline wiped his mind clean of his witch-filled past. In its place, however, for Jess, she flooded him with one emotion that'd forever outweigh all the others: guilt.
As she turned to leave, a bold red caught her eye. Caroline looked back at Johnny one last time. There, still stuck against the front of his white t-shirt, stood the one word he'd never be able to forget: Liar.
Carved like blood in his chest, they read like the scarlet letters of truth. The whole world would see them now; the whole world would know. (At least they would every day for the rest of the semester). And nothing, at least in Caroline's mind, had ever felt more beautifully justified.
The sky brooded with dark grey clouds, banishing the April sunlight back into concealment. The air, thick and dense, clung about with a stale, stagnant pause which aroused suspicion and produced an unconscious panic to wait amid the disconcerting silence. No crack of thunder, bluster of wind, or droplet of icy rain needed to descend to alert her. Caroline felt the truth vibrate in her bones: something sinister loomed. For her, the counting, those endless hours, minutes, and seconds she'd spent preparing to unlock Kai's intentions, were over. It was now time to act. The time had arrived—either seek or be found.
Caroline slammed the front door of the Salvatore boarding house shut. Marching into the living room, she found Bonnie and Elena sitting on a couch in front of the fireplace—waiting.
"I know why that lunatic's hoarding magic," Caroline said matter-of-factly.
Plopping down next to Elena, she hugged a pillow to her chest. "Immortality," she continued, "Kai and this ancient witch-bitch named Freya want to be the world's first immortal witches. Isn't that freaking insane?"
Instead of the satisfaction (and the questions) she'd hoped to inspire from her friends, Caroline's Kai-revelation only seemed to generate silence.
"Well? Say something! We need a plan!"
Overcome, Bonnie and Elena just gawked at her.
"Please tell me you didn't kill anyone to acquire this new information?"
Though expressed with concern, Elena's words still held an undercurrent of judgment. She disapproved. Plainly and openly.
Bonnie, who seemed more sympathetic to the idea, averted her gaze and cracked her knuckles, electing not to insert her opinion into the conversation just yet.
Caroline felt affronted. Ever since her mom's death, her friends treated her like some damaged baby bird with ripped feathers. Was she injured? Absolutely. She loved Liz; she mourned Liz; she missed Liz. And she would continue to do those things—love, mourn, and miss—every single day for the rest of her eternal life. But did that somehow render her fragile? Pathetic? Helpless? Absolutely not!
She was cracked perhaps, but not broken. A flightless bird she'd never remain! Soar she would; soar she must! If Caroline could realize and accept her own resiliency, why couldn't her friends? Had they drifted that far apart?
"What?" Caroline exclaimed, hopping up. "Are you seriously accusing me of murdering-for-information?"
"No, of course not." Elena played coy. "It's just—when Stefan left you, he seemed worried you might…" She paused, unable to find the right words. Running her fingers through her silky hair, she added with a sigh, "…I don't know, do something you might regret later?"
Ah, yes, Stefan. Caroline should have known. He must've been the one to inform Bonnie and Elena of her new, "dark" investigative tactics. Figures.
"I didn't. I don't regret a single thing I did to Johnny."
"Stefan said you fed on him…"
Caroline shrugged. "So?"
"So, that's not what you do. It's not who you are, Care—"
"—You know what, I am sick and tired of hearing that, of being treated like some delicate piece of china that's about to shatter into a billion no-humanity pieces," Caroline interrupted. "I'm not like you, Elena!"
Haughty and offended, Elena flashed in front of her with crossed arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't get defensive," Bonnie said pointedly, speaking for the first time.
Leaning over the arm of the leather sofa, she nodded at Caroline and said, "Let her finish."
In submission, Elena resumed her seat. The scowl on her face, however, betrayed that she hadn't yet abandoned her self-righteous attitude.
Pacing before the fireplace, losing patience, Caroline massaged her temples and crunched stray fire embers beneath her boots. "Since we've known each other forever, you both presume to know me, to understand me…but you don't," she said, "I'm not who I was—I'm not the same person anymore."
"Then, please," Elena replied sarcastically, her head resting lazily against her hand, "tell us who you are."
That was it, the last straw. There'd be no more hypocrisy, no more judgment, only pure, unadulterated truth.
With her hands on her hips, Caroline rounded on her friend with a huff.
Her skin sizzled with courage, with strength, with pride—it beamed from her like a giant orb of sunshine, much like the sparkling yellow diamonds on her necklace—and she'd scorch all those who dared to condemn her. Gone were the days of feeling ashamed and insecure. She wouldn't put up with this crap anymore. She deserved better.
"I'm a vampire," she responded. "But unlike you," she continued, her noise lifted in the air, "I am not afraid of the monster within anymore. I embrace it. I understand it. I control it."
Caroline traced the exposed skin on her forearms gently with her fingertips. "A perky viciousness runs through these veins, Elena…and I accept it," she said with a satisfied smile, "I accept me now. Fully. I guess the only question is…can you?"
Excusing herself, Caroline retreated to the back patio to think. It wasn't to escape Elena, who apologized immediately for her short temper and lack of compassion, her brown eyes brimming with guilt and regret, but to process.
Here were the facts: Kai and Freya were coming. They needed the ascendant, which Bonnie possessed. If they captured it, if they succeeded in their plot for witch immortality, they would become apocalyptic hurricanes of destruction—unencumbered and uninhibited by any and all opposition. They'd all suffer. Or worse, die.
Here was the problem: No plan existed to stop them.
In other words, now was so not the time for disorganization and inefficiency. While Caroline wanted to hammer out details for possible solutions, Elena seemed determined to wait until the boys arrived.
"Ten more minutes," she'd said as Caroline slipped out the back door, "We'll think of something when we're all together."
What Elena didn't seem to understand, however, is that they'd needed a strategy ten minutes ago…ten hours ago…Hell, ten days ago! This game of hide-and-seek grew more and more treacherous by the second, and if they kept waiting…they'd lose more than some silly game.
And so, there, on the cement steps of the back patio, with her head on her knees, Caroline sat and contemplated. What should we do? What should we do? What should we do?
Fisting her hair, she rolled her head to the right and stared at her phone. It rested next to her on the top step. With her thumb poised and hovering, the bold, black letters of his name taunted her, telling her that if she wanted help, if she wanted advice, all she had to do was press send. All she needed to do was call and he'd be there. He'd be snarky and smug most likely, but there. Somehow, whether she wanted him or not, he always was.
Caroline hesitated, biting her bottom lip.
The chilly wind picked up, blowing her hair off her face and misting her blonde curls with icy precipitation. A spring storm brewed in the distance.
"Are you going to make that call or just stare at your phone all day?"
Lowering herself onto the cement steps, Bonnie handed Caroline her phone.
"Call him," she encouraged, "Klaus may be monstrous, but he's clever and cunning; and God knows he's talented at defeating his enemies."
The phone felt heavy in Caroline's palm, the weight of indecision pressing down on her.
"Call him," Bonnie insisted again, shrugging, "He may be able to help."
Pressing her forehead to her knees and hiding her face, Caroline's voice became subdued. "That's what I'm afraid of…"
"What do you mean?"
Bonnie nudged her, trying to break her from her hermit pose. When that didn't work, she looped her arms around Caroline's elbow and gave her a gentle squeeze.
"Talk to me," she whispered as she rested her chin against her friend's shoulder.
With a sigh, Caroline's head popped up. She leaned back against the brick wall bannister and immediately felt for her necklace, which was tucked underneath the fabric of her purple shirt.
She explained Klaus' impromptu visit. The isolation she craved, but couldn't find; the blood binging, the alcohol guzzling, and the hours and hours of avoiding; the unexpected appearance of Rebekah and "projected" Klaus; the temptation she felt to "blot it all out," ridding herself of the pain of motherly loss—Bonnie heard it all.
More than that, though, Caroline illustrated the profound effect of Klaus' not-so-welcome interference. He had forced her to confront Liz's death. As she had danced around the edge of that whirling black hole, springing and ready to dive into the oblivion of no-humanity, he had yanked her backwards. He had pulled her out, away. Far, far away.
At times, it stung. Klaus wasn't afraid to use the vicious fangs of truth or honesty. And though she hated him for it in that moment, she'd realized not long afterwards that she needed that rage and fury he'd encouraged her to embrace. She needed those emotions. She needed to feel them, to harness them, to revel in them...
Enduring the pain, controlling the darkness—that's what made her strong. That's what gave her power.
"Klaus saved me," Caroline told Bonnie.
Holding a mirror that reflected a warrior, Klaus had reminded her of the indomitable ruler that resided within her, the person with the control to choose who and what she wanted to be: a vampire. As long as she knew and accepted that simple fact, she didn't need to be afraid anymore. And she wasn't.
Bonnie listened to Caroline's tale with an attentive patience, nodding and asking questions at all the right moments. If she was surprised at Klaus' role in the matter, she masked it well. In fact, her expressions remained rather aloof, almost as if she were deep in thought.
When the story finished, an amused smile traveled across Bonnie's face.
"What?" Caroline asked, prepared for the worst.
"Nothing," she replied, repressing another smirk. "It's just—I've been wondering where you got that necklace."
Blushing, Caroline fiddled with the pocket of her jean jacket, refusing to make eye contact.
"It's new. You started wearing it not long after your mom died."
Leaning in, Bonnie lifted the necklace into her palm and twiddled the melded sun-and-moon pendant in her fingers, examining it, even flipping it over to read to the personal inscription.
"Fancy," she remarked as she released the chain, sitting back on her feet, "He always did have expensive taste."
Caroline clasped a hand over her necklace, adjusting it so that it pressed against the skin underneath her collar bone, inches above her heart.
"It's no big deal," she shrugged. "I wear it as a reminder, not a gift."
Bonnie looked skeptical.
"Regardless, that reminder seems to have left quite the impression…and so has he. Actually," she laughed, hugging Caroline's arm, "I'm kind of impressed."
"Really...why?"
"Because he understood you when no one else did," Bonnie admitted with a frown. Her eyebrows arched in surprise at her own words, at her own commendation of Klaus. Though she wasn't exactly a fan of his, or a friend, she still appeared to be grateful for his unselfishness in this regard—in his ability to help a grieving Caroline.
With her head resting against the brick wall, she turned to look at Caroline. "What you said in the house earlier was true," she said, "I didn't realize who you are, who you've become."
Bonnie tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear and continued. "But I'm beginning to now…I'm trying. Don't be afraid," she added with a whisper, "I'll always support you. That's what besties do."
Caroline exhaled and cuddled into Bonnie, contented at her friend's unconditional acceptance. "Thanks, Bon. I'm not afraid. Not anymore."
With her cheek pressed against her friend's head, she added, "Can you believe we have Klaus to thank for that?"
"No," Bonnie deadpanned, shaking her head, "Not really."
The girls giggled, filling both the patio, and their hearts, with a gaiety they hadn't known since Liz died. In that moment, they were just two friends enjoying a good joke. In that moment, nothing dangerous loomed. In that moment, they were normal.
Unfortunately, this cheerful "normalcy" came to a quick end. For as they laughed, distracted by their momentary relapse into a carefree life, the weather transformed from peaceful and cloud-filled to violent and aggressive, the purple-green sky electrifying the ground with streaks of lightning and dropping hail pellets the size of golf balls. The wind, hurricane-force strong, knocked Bonnie and Caroline backwards, forcing them to crawl against it on their knees…to no effect. They couldn't escape through it. Looking up, a flashing blue vortex burrowed from the edge of the Salvatore's roof to the cement steps, depositing a sinister shape hidden behind a smoky cloud.
Suddenly, the storm calmed. The sky resumed its previous grey appearance, opting for fine snow instead of hail, and the wind slowed to a chilly lull. A young man with dark hair, probably in his early 20's, stepped out from behind the smoke. He wore a Green Day t-shirt over long sleeves with the cuffs scrunched up his forearms.
As Caroline and Bonnie regained their feet, they exchanged panicked glances.
"Too dramatic?" he asked with a naughty grin, his arms spread wide, "I admit I opted for Lord-Voldemort-flair. He is just so much more interesting than that Harry Potter you all love, right?"
It was too late, Caroline realized. They had been found. Someone had come to collect. There was no plan; there was no escape; there was no secret weapon of defeat. They were trapped.
When neither one of the girls spoke, Kai strode forward with an excited, almost gleeful bounce and stopped in front of Bonnie. Lifting her chin with his index finger, he forced her to look at him.
She gazed back at him with disgust, jerking her head out of his grasp.
"Didn't miss me at all, huh?" he asked. "I must say I'm rather disappointed." He frowned and released a depressed sigh. "I've grown fond of you after our time spent together in 1994."
"What do you want, Kai?" Bonnie asked through clenched teeth.
Throwing an arm around her, Kai hugged her into his side with possessive force, his fingers caressing the bare skin of her arms with sadistic affection. He maneuvered them closer to the grill under the awning. Bonnie attempted to evade his clutch, but his hold remained firm.
"Bonnie, Bonnie…" he hummed against her ear, "You know what I want—why I came here…"
Caroline clenched her fists at her side. Where the hell were her friends? Elena? Stefan? Damon? Enzo? There's no way they didn't see the commotion outside, let alone hear it. They should've been here by now! Unless…
"Forget it, Kai," Bonnie said, elbowing him hard in the ribs and setting his sneakers aflame. "I'm not giving you the ascendant. You'll have to kill me first."
He grabbed her by the hair before she could escape, throwing her like a rag doll onto her knees, his hands clutched around her throat. With a flick of his hand, water expelled the flames encircling his feet.
Petting her head, he placed a kiss against her hair and laughed. "You really are precious."
Gripping her by the shoulders, he tugged her to her feet. Kai spun Bonnie around to face him, bending his head until their noses were parallel. "While I find your fearlessness sexy," he said, dropping the sarcastic tone, "if you're not careful, it's what will get you killed."
He tapped her on the nose with his index finger and smirked. "I don't want to kill you, Bon Bon," he paused, his eyes black and serious, "…but I will."
Heat raced through Caroline. It radiated across her veins in different shades of light and dark, tingling her fingertips. Her palms pulsated with rage, with love. Looking down, she noticed that they glowed—one yellow, one black. Ignoring it, she focused on Kai.
"Get your hands off my best friend," Caroline spat as her fangs descended, "Now."
For the first time since he appeared, Kai noticed Caroline. Amused, he tilted his head and considered her. "How are you going to stop me, vampire?"
"By going all Khaleesi on your ass."
At this, Caroline charged. Diving through the air like some kind of vampire gymnast, she tackled Kai to the ground before he had time to react, giving Bonnie time to run. Pressing him into the concrete with her knees, she cocked her head back and nestled her fangs into his left shoulder. She bit and sucked with an unforgiving fury. Die bastard, die!
Kai's death meant nothing! Caroline wanted to rip life away from him. She wanted it shredded and tattered into pieces by her teeth, and her teeth alone. Die, die, die! She possessed the strength, the power, the resolve, to take it away. And she would. Right now—
An invisible force tore her from the ground and thrust her backwards, crashing her back against the bay windows. The glass shattered as she fell to her hands and knees, jagged shards of window cutting into her exposed flesh.
Panting and livid, Kai roared. "You shouldn't have done that. You really, really, shouldn't have done that."
Gaining his feet, he staunched the bleeding of his shoulder wound with his right hand and used his other to cast spells sending furniture, branches, and light fixtures flying at Caroline's head.
She dodged the first few like hurdles, but then found herself grounded when a rocking chair connected with shin. Resilient, she rebounded to her feet in a flash.
"You're springy and willful. I like that," Kai commented as they circled one another, "You'll be more fun to kill."
He sent a fire poker soaring at her chest like a dart. Spinning—ballerina style—she avoided the hit, causing it to fly onto the floor of the library inside.
"Stop!" a female voice shouted.
It was Bonnie. She stood in front of the French doors that opened into the kitchen. Reaching behind her, she stuck a hand into her back jeans pocket.
"I have it," she said, extracting the item. She placed a gold, star-shaped object into her right palm. "I have the ascendant right here."
Crossing his arms, Kai's back relaxed and he lowered his hands. He smiled. "So noble of you," he clapped, moving towards her with enthusiasm, "I knew you wouldn't let your friend die, Bon Bon. Four months with you taught me that much," he winked.
"Bonnie, NO!" Caroline gasped. "What the hell are you doing?"
Stunned, Caroline couldn't move. This couldn't be real! This couldn't be happening! Was Bonnie just going to willingly hand over the ascendant to this psycho? Seriously?!
Kai bounded, almost skipped, over to her, a boyish excitement plastered on his face.
It was like Christmas morning to him probably, Caroline thought. Santa was good; Santa was real. The ultimate present had been delivered—wrapped neatly and elegantly in a flawless red bow. All he needed to do now was open it and release the magic inside. (Much to her horror.)
"Do you want it?" Bonnie taunted flirtatiously. Holding the ascendant against her chest, she rubbed it against the exposed skin by her collar bone.
Quirking an eyebrow, he traced the veins of her free hand with his thumb and extended his left hand in acceptance of the offering. "Oh, I want it," he said as he kissed her knuckles seductively, "I want it bad."
Bonnie leaned in, inches from his face. Fluttering her eyelashes, she looked him dead in the eye, pausing only seconds before their lips collided. With a shrug, she whispered, "Too bad."
In a quick, unexpected movement, before Kai could recover, she turned and underhanded Caroline the ascendant. With only a nod at her friend, an unspoken signal asking that she trust her, Bonnie extended her arms in a pushing motion and chanted three words over and over again—Ritus eunt lux (travel with light)—with a practiced concentration.
Before long, fireworks sprang at Caroline from Bonnie's fingers. They exploded and detonated around her body in an infinite stream of chaos, erasing all known life, Bonnie and Kai included, from her view, blanketing her in a swirling turbulence of white and yanking her backwards like a flopping fish dangling from a fishhook. Not only that, but color crammed her senses: She tasted lavender, heard fuschia, touched periwinkle, smelled turquoise, and saw pumpkin. And yet, while some invisible gravity kept her steady and not flailing, Caroline continued to travel. To fall. She fell and fell and fell—an endless stream of somersaults and cartwheels into nothingness. Finally, a windy whoosh prickled her skin, giving her goosebumps—the good kind—before the zooming stopped.
The ride had ended: Caroline had arrived. But where?
A peaceful blackness surrounded her wherever she existed right now. With a silky coziness encircling her head and a satisfying warmth covering the rest of her body, Caroline nestled into the tender something that stroked her hair with softness. It made her feel comfortable and safe. Content, she sighed into it.
Despite this, however, she sensed that she wasn't alone in this place. Were those fingers caressing her hair?
Caroline's vampire senses detected a heartbeat—an anxious one at that—and while the thump-thump-thump sounded familiar, she couldn't place the owner of it. That thumping coupled with those ragged, impatient breaths, made her curious to know who this person was. Who waited? Who tended to her sleeping form with such tangible anxiety? Whose warm breath tickled her skin?
With her head still pounding out the back of her skull, however, Caroline decided against opening her eyes. But just because she wasn't ready to see this new world yet, didn't mean she wasn't ready speak in it.
"Where the hell am, I?" Caroline croaked finally, her throat dry, "Oz?"
Someone chuckled near her.
"I'm afraid not, love," Klaus whispered into her ear, "But if it'll make you feel better, I'll buy you a pair of ruby slippers."
Caroline froze.
"Welcome to New Orleans," he said.
Additional Note: I'm not sure how many characters from TO I will/should include in further chapters. There definitely will be a few, however. Right now, I'm leaning against including Hope/the baby plot because I think it would detract from the story I'm attempting to tell. Thoughts? I welcome any and all feedback. Thanks for reading!