Jenna and I knock on the all too familiar door at the boardinghouse, and we are greeted by the last person in Mystic Falls that I want to see, Stefan. I try to act civil. I promised him I would try. Not his fault, not his fault, not his fault, becomes a mantra in my head. "Hi Stefan, can we come in," I ask with a plastered smile on my face?
Clearly acting is not my true calling, because Stefan's worried vampire look is as obvious as my discomfort. Despite his concerns, he moves aside to let us in. My ability to fake it is immediately put to the test when Stefan misjudges the moment and pulls me into a hug. He whispers in my ear, "Everyone filled me in about the spell that sent you here. I was so worried. You must be in shock." A year ago this would have been exactly what I needed. The man that I loved was showering me with concern and love. I should feel safe and cherished, but all I feel is a sickness growing in the pit of my stomach. Panic rises in my chest, and I roughly push him away.
Before I can stop the words from leaving my mouth, I am shouting at him, "don't you dare touch me again." I feel violated and nauseated. Once I regain my composure, I start to notice the stunned faces of everyone who clearly heard my little outburst from the living room. Convincing everyone that I'm not a total nutcase just got a lot harder. Damon runs up to me, but he keeps a safe distance as if the no touching rule applies to everyone. Without a thought, I fall into his arms. He cradles me there for a moment, holding my body and kissing the top of my head, until my breathing returns to normal and my heart stops hammering in my chest. I don't even need to look to see the puzzled expressions on the faces of my family and friends.
This is bizarre for all of them. Damon and I have never been close, not like this. I can feel the judgment coming off of Bonnie and to my surprise my past self as well, but the rest of our audience just looks concerned and confused. When I get a glimpse of Stefan's wounded expression, I feel the tiniest bit guilty. Two minutes in the same room together, and I already broke my promise. I'm blaming him for things he hasn't even done yet. This isn't fair to him. Rational thinking inhabits my body once more and I whisper an attempt at an apology, "I'm sorry. I've been through a lot tonight, and I just wigged out. Stefan, you haven't done anything wrong. Forgive me?"
He nods, but is obviously not convinced of my sincerity. "Of course, it is perfectly understandable. Why don't we all take a seat? You have our full attention whenever you're ready," he tells me in his most diplomatic voice. We move towards the living room, and Stefan carefully avoids my general vicinity. In spite of my apology, he senses that I need space, and he doesn't want a repeat of my verbal assault. I stand close to Jeremy and Alaric. Luckily neither one questions me, when I pull them both in a big group hug.
With half a dozen eyes patiently waiting on me, I start my long overdue explanation, "I wish I was standing here under less dire circumstances, but I'm afraid I have put you all in terrible danger. As some of you know, I am a descendant of Katherine Pierce or Katerina Petrova as she was once known. What you don't know is that the blood of my family line was used nearly a thousand years ago for an ancient curse. This curse was placed on a vampire named Klaus. He is from the original family of vampires, and it is from this family that all other vampires were created. The originals settled in what is now present day Mystic Falls. They lived peacefully here among their neighbors, a clan of werewolves. The mother of the originals even had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers, and it is from this union that Klaus was born. He is a hybrid, both werewolf and vampire. His mother cursed him to keep his werewolf aspect from manifesting, and he has been desperate to break this curse ever since. Because it was Petrova blood that the witch used to bind the curse, the sacrifice of the Petrova doppelganger is needed to undo it."
The reality of what I was saying started to sink in, and suddenly the room was filled with fear. I looked over at my past self, and felt a strange sense of pity. It was if she wasn't even a part of me. In that moment she just looked like a frightened little girl. I felt oddly protective, but my pity wouldn't save her, only the truth could do that, so I continued, "Katherine was meant to be sacrificed by Klaus almost 500 years ago, but she fled and turned herself into a vampire. Only a human doppelganger can break the curse, so Klaus murdered her entire family as punishment for running, and he has been hunting her ever since. If I thought turning myself over to Klaus would end this, I would do it, but Klaus is a destructive force that will ruin all of our lives no matter what we do. He must be stopped. I know how to kill him, but I need all of you to trust me," I pleaded.
"What does all of this have to do with Katherine? Her coming to town can't be a coincidence," Stefan concluded. I knew that I had to be careful. If I was going to use Katherine to help me, they needed to believe she was on our side. Stefan might never trust her if he knew that she came here to hand me over to be sacrificed.
I came up with the least destructive lie that I could think of, "She saw an opening to kill Klaus, and she is here to help. Katherine is an ally, and we need her if we are going to succeed." Apparently they trusted my future knowledge, because no one questioned my faith in Katherine's pure motives for coming to Mystic Falls.
"So what is our next move," Damon finally chimed in?
"I am talking to Katherine tomorrow about contacting an old friend. He will be the key to destroying Klaus. None of you have anything to worry about. Go about your lives just like you have been. I promise I will take care of everything," I assured everyone.
Damon appeared to be getting more upset with every word. He leaped up and started talking a mile a minute, "no, no way! You swoop in here and tell us the future is filled with pain and death, and then you say that you are facing it alone, like Hell. I don't care if you are from the future. Neither you nor your current self is facing this alone. I won't allow it. There is something you aren't telling us."
No matter what time we were in, Damon saw right through me, but things are different now and he needed to know that. "You're right. There is a lot that I am not telling you, and you want to know why? I spent a year with you and Stefan telling me what to do or worse what not to do. You did this all the in the name of protecting me and the people I love paid the price. Mark my words that will never happen again. You can't call the shots this time, because I am the only one with the answers, and I'm not sharing," I must have looked so childish yelling at him, but I didn't care. I finally said things that I had kept buried inside for too long.
His next words however gave me pause, "I'm just trying to protect you. Is it so wrong for me to care about you," he asked?
My face fell and my resolve was weakening. I could never make him understand. Damon would never accept a decision that put me in harms way, but I wasn't budging and neither was he. I sat down in front of him, and took his hands in mine. "You want to keep me safe. You would die for me, kill for me, I know that, but as much as you care about me, that is how much I care about you. Long ago in another time, I promised you that we would survive. I will make that same promise to you now. We are fighters. We are survivors you and I. Back then I asked you to trust me, and you did. You stood by me even when I was being impossible. I need you to trust in me now. I lived through sacrifices, hybrids, and originals. I didn't come all this way just to die now."
He nodded, but I knew this fight wasn't over. Damon simply didn't see another option, so he accepted defeat for now. It was then that I remembered our captive audience. If they weren't baffled by my behavior before, they were now. Stefan was fuming, but he didn't want to provoke another argument, so he simply charged up the stairs. I saw my past self trailing after him. Everyone else made convenient excuses to be elsewhere. Damon and I were quickly left alone before I excused myself. I borrowed my cell phone that my past self had left in her rush to console Stefan. There was one last loose end that needed tying up before the night was over.
I called the bed and breakfast Katherine stayed at when she came to Mystic Falls last time. Miss Flowers was kind enough to connect me to Katherine's room phone. "Hello Katherine," I said as if we were old friends.
"Well if it isn't my least favorite time traveler. Did you call to wish me sweet dreams," she asked sarcastically?
"Actually, I called to make sure that you didn't try something stupid like hurt my friends. You turned my friend into a vampire last time you arrived in town. Consider this your sole warning, if anyone I love is harmed, than our little deal is off, and I won't rest until you are dead. You might want to consider your alliances carefully, because I can give you something that you want even more desperately than killing Klaus."
"What could you possibly give that I can't simply take from you," Katherine asked curiously?
"Why Stefan of course. If you don't double cross me, I will make it my life's mission to see you two are blissfully happy together for all eternity. We can discuss the details tomorrow. Sleep tight." I hung up before she had a chance to respond. Caroline would never become a vampire, and Katherine wouldn't risk losing Stefan by hurting anyone. The future was looking up already.