Chapter 2

Or

Autumn Changes

"No, you're not!" he yelled again.

"Pappa!" I said trying to reason with him. "She can't work there alone, she's afraid, just like I would be if I didn't know anyone there! The head maid is horrible! She's a crone! I'm bringing Elena her bags and I'm taking mine with me!"

Luckily my mother was in the hospital visiting Jeremy so it was just the two of us having a screaming match with one another. She would be so upset hearing the way we were treating each other.

"Caroline, I didn't mean to be losing both daughters in the process."

It took every fiber of my being not to lash back at him. I was done trying to reason, sweet Caroline was out of the picture, and a stranger took her place.

My father was a different person to me at that moment. He turned into this selfish man that I never wanted to recognize.

He was the one who put us in this mess. When his shop began to dwindle in business, he began to gamble on the streets. We had some money saved, but he took it for the possible winnings. And when the bank denied any withdrawals (since he emptied it), he asked for loans from friends to feed his greed.

At that time, my mother, my sister, and I had been working full time. It was just enough to pay a portion of Jeremy's medical bills and keep food on the table. My father, however, continued to gamble, promising that the next game would be the lucky play and our fortune would come back.

Mom tried to get him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. By then, he was in debt to not only close friends, but anyone willing to give. And now he sold Elena to pay his fee. The town would now view her as a blood whore, since that's what most of the girls our age turn into once we start working for the Lords in the town.

I wasn't going to let her go through it alone.

I always wished that my real parents were alive so I could have met them, never because I hated my family. But this was one of the few, if not only, times in my life that my father disgusted me and that I wished Bill Forbes was my one and only father.

"I'm. Going." I said, my fists shaking with the bags I held. Before my father could say anything, I pushed past him onto the street and waved a buggy over.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," a familiar voice said. I looked up and felt my eyes widen bigger than the sun. "Matt!" I squealed as he jumped down from the sturdy carriage.

"I thought you left the town for good when you went away a year ago!" I told him as he embraced me in the biggest hug I've always loved.

"I got my apprentice ship from the neighboring Lord's and came back home a few days ago. Where're you off to in such, well to tell the truth, you looked pissed more than hurry. Can I give you a lift?"

I didn't know if it were possible to say no to those baby blues, but I had to tell him the truth. "Honestly, you shouldn't be seen with me." I leaned in and waited for him to follow in suit. "I'm going to work for the Lord Salvatores with Elena."

"Caroline, no. You can't. Do you know what that means?"

The pleading in his voice almost matched the one I used with Elena yesterday when I begged her not to go. But I'd already made up my mind. Elena and I have been through everything together and I wouldn't let her suffer through this alone.

"Matt, it's already been decided," I said shuffling my feet and looking at the ground. It was so nice to be wearing jeans again. Not many of the townspeople did unless we worked in factories. But I wasn't working today and loved how I could move around in them compared to those long skirts most of the women wore.

"Let me take you there, to the house," he said taking my bags before I could fuss.

"What? Matt, you can't take me. You were headed home, you said so yourself."

"No I didn't," he answered prying another bag from my fingers. "I said that I came back home a few days ago. As a matter of fact, I'm going to the manor too. I'm the new stable head."

"What?" I said he threw my heavy bags on the back as if they didn't weigh nearly fifty pounds. He walked me to the front and helped me up on the buggy before going back to take the reins. He didn't even have to use the footstool to hop up like I did. "I thought you were going into technology, not equestrian."

He huffed a laugh and smiled. "Me too." He tsked the horses to start moving. They responded to his familiar voice and we took off. I ignored peoples gazes as they began connecting the dots. They saw me with my sisters bags, and a couple of my own, heading to the place where the Lords lived. Word on the street would soon be that I was the newest prize to entertain the vampires anywhere around.

"Why're you working there, Care. You know what it means," he said softly in a way I all too much recognized.

It was like when before he left a year ago.

Elena and I shared everything together, she knew that I was seeing Matt for a short period of time, nothing too serious, just getting to know one another better. We grew up together, and he asked to take me for walks. We talked about practically everything on those evening or morning strolls, but something always stopped me from telling the truth to him. Everyone knew about Bill Forbes, but no one knew he had a daughter except my parents, and Elena. There was something inside me that always stopped me from telling Matt, and he could see it too. When he held my hand, when he brushed my pale hair back, when I didn't meet his gaze, he knew I was keeping a part of me from him. And maybe that's why my heart didn't break when he left us.

By the time we got back to the familiar gates that I hope would, in time, stop bringing dread, a small sprinkle began in the air.

"We're here," he said. Did he feel the depression from this place too?

"Caroline," he said stopping the buggy. "Let me walk you inside."I got down and grabbed my bags. His hair was beginning to frizz from the small shower the clouds brought.

I shook my head. I needed to do the rest by myself. I grabbed the bags and separated my ways from him. He got back on his buggy and led his horses to the stables where he would be working.

I went through the back door of the mansion and kicked the gravel along the way before the rain let go in a down pour. "Caroline!" I heard someone yell once I got inside.

I regretted kicking the gravel as a felt a few pebbles that made their way into my shoes.

"Caroline, it's so nice to see you!" Before I could look up, a pair of thin but sturdy arms wrapped around me in a tight hug. She pulled away revealing a person I hadn't seen in a few years. "Bonnie Bennet?" I squealed going in for another hug.

She, Elena, and I were best friends growing up until Bonnie came here when her grandmother died. Her parents were never in her life. I never asked her why. It was never my business.

"You brought Elena's things," she said with a smile. It was weird to see her more grown up. She had a figure that no longer resembled the twelve-year old that I remembered. "Let me show you to her room."

I followed her down a few corridors that led to some stairs. She seemed so happy unlike the town's people. Maybe this place wasn't so bad if the orphan in front of me could smile like nothing in her life went wrong.

Thunder cracked across the sky as the rain poured down harder. It sounded like smalls bells going off as drops hit the second story marble patio.

"Here we are," she said leading me down a few more halls. "This is Elena's room." I tried to keep my mouth from hitting the ground as I took in the room. Four beds could fit in it with some extra furniture. "Unfortunatly there're a few leaks, and it's kind of small, but she didn't complain. You brought quite a few bags," she said eyeing the suitcases in my hands.

"Well," I said taking a step into the room. "Miss. Greene offered me a job here." Her eyes widened. "So I decided to take it."

I looked back into theromo and obsorbed everything in awe. I couldn't believe how big this 'small' room was. Elena could fit at least two of our shared bedrooms in here. There was another bed in the corner, probably for her roommate, and a small vanity table against the side wall. There was even enough room for two wardrobes in two separate corners. Even the walls had a nice calming color to it against the shiny marble floors. This place was not a mannor, it was a castle if there was this much space for two humble servants. But what did we have to do to earn this?

"Miss. Greene offered you a job?" Bonnie said taking me out of my trance. "She never does that. We must really need more help than what I thought." I snapped back to Bonnie who took the suitcases from me and set them down next to the vanity table. "You'll most likely get to share a room with Elena, so I'll bring your outfits up here. I know Miss. Greene is in her office right now so you should go speak with her to see what she'll have you do. She's always in her office around noon."

I swallowed loudly. The thought of being with that woman alone scared me more than any nightmare I'd had. But I wanted—needed, this job. "And where is that?"

Bonnie laughed at herself. It was so nice to hear it hadn't changed. "Down the hall, up the stairs, to the left. If you get lost, ask someone nearby. There's always someone roaming the halls. But I'd better go before I'm late for my other duties." She turned and ran to the doorway and turned back to give me another genuine smile. "I'm so glad you're here Caroline. This autumn will bring so many changes and I know you and Elena are some of them."

Hope you like it so far. Next chapter will be posted next Friday. Don't worry, Tyler will be introduced soon and then things start happening between all the characters. I'm looking forward to how I'm going to write that. In the meantime, if you review and let me know what you think, that would make me really happy =) Enjoy your weekend!