Chapter 20: Unwaking Nightmares

'Welcome to where time stands still

No one leaves and no one will'

/Metallica, 'Welcome Home'.

Darwin was slowly crossing the street.

The two vamires, who stood guard in front of the warehouse, came at him. There faces were a blur to him, he was unable to make out their features.

The first one reached him, and he swung Kol's sword with confidence, cutting off his head.

Then the next one came and suffered the same fate.

Darwin was about to step over the headless bodies, but something made him hesitate. He looked to the side, at one of the severed heads instead. It has its face turned away from him and he kicked it lightly. Then he froze, the sword falling from his now limp hand.

His mother's face framed by golden strands of hair, her unseeing blue eyes staring at him, condemning him ...

"It's ok."

Darwin heard the mumbling voice and felt a light pat on his head, but he was barely half awake and still partly inside his dream.

Another pat on his head. "I'm here. Don't cry."

He wasn't really crying, just sobbing a bit as he finally managed to step out of the dream and wake up fully. Then he could no longer remember, why he was sobbing.

Kol's hand was resting on Darwin's head, but his eyes were closed and he wasn't breathing, which told Darwin that he was asleep. Kol always breathed when he was awake, but never when he slept.

He found looking at Kol's unbreathing form a bit disconcerting and rolled over on his other side, trying to fall asleep again.

He entered the half sleeping state again, feeling the dream returning with its chaos of blood and golden strands.

(Break)

Caroline was standing in the middle of the gymnastics hall, looking at the dancing couples with a hint of satisfaction. She had really outdone herself with the Christmas dance this year.

The room was decked out in silver, white, and arctic blue. Like her long, sleeveless dress. Wonderfully detailed ice sculptures stood guard around the room like frozen chaperone, and large silver ice crystals were hanging from the ceiling. She touched one with her fingertips, and it felt cold even to her undead fingers.

The ceiling?

She looked up and realised that there were none. An impossibly blue sky filled the space above, matching the colour of her dress. Snowflakes started falling around her face.

She took another look around the room, realising that she recognised none of the dancers around her. Where were all her friends?

And then she saw them. They were the ice sculptures. She went from one to the other, gently touching their faces; There were Alaric and Tyler, here Matt and Jeremy, and further into the room were Bonnie and Elena.

Then she heard a voice. "Would you like to dance?"

She spun around and there he was, in flesh and blood, smiling and holding a hand towards her. He was dressed exactly like the first time she saw him; In blue jeans and a white t-shirt. The orchestra in their white suits were playing a piece of violin music, she did not recognise.

She slowly took his hand and let him twirl her into a simple waltz. Her heart would have been beating rapidly and she would have been blushing, had she been human.

"I know, who you are, "she stated conversationally, as they danced, feeling strangely unafraid.

He smiled that charming smile again. "As I know you, miss Forbes."

She was pressed against him, feeling heat radiating from his body, probably stemming from his werewolf genes. She felt it through every part of her body, along with an odd desire to crawl under his skin and become one with him; Her cold and his heat striking up a storm.

The waltz came to a halt, and she heard the faint sound of a bell striking midnight.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"Because I need you to do something for me."

"And what is that?"

He leaned in toward her, taking hold of her shoulders, and she held perfectly still, as he kissed her. The kiss was almost too light for her to register, but nevertheless it sent shocks of electricity through her body.

And then he stepped back, suddenly letting go of her and she stumbled backwards, hitting the Tyler sculpture. She could not save it; It hit the floor, breaking into thousands of pieces.

She stared at the mess of ice, seeing her own face reflected back at her a hundred times at once.

Caroline woke with a start, shaking her head to get rid of the dream. It hadn't been a nightmare at all, it had in fact been quite pleasant, which was exactly why it was so frightening.

It should have been a nightmare.

She climbed out of her bed, straightening her nightgown, which has twisted around her in her sleep.

She went to the window, pulling one of the curtains to the side and looking out at the early dawn.

For a moment, she thought that she saw him standing there on the other side of the road, staring back at her.

(Break)

Half past eight and Kol was the first one out of bed at the Boarding House. Darwin had kept waking him with his stirring and whining, and Kol seriously considered getting his own room.

He was sitting in the parlour, flipping through the tv channels. There were mostly what appeared to be children's shows on this Sunday morning. He put down the remote control, deciding to watch something called 'Sesame Street'.

He found it a little hard to follow, as there seemed to be references to a lot of things that he new nothing about. But that was a common problem with tv programs and not just this show. His initial fascination with televisions had quickly been replaced with indifference. He never seemed to be able to keep interested in anything for very long.

After five minutes, he was horribly bored, but luckily the doorbell rang, distracting him.

He went into the hall and opened the door. Two women were standing outside, both wearing long, high-necked dresses, almost like the ones women seemed to prefer the year he was daggered. One of them was holding a thick leather-bound book and the other some colourful pamphlets.

No, need to ask; He knew they were Christian missionaries of some kind.

He regarded them for a moment, coming to the conclusion that they were both human. And if they were vampires, only Elena could invite them in.

Well, they weren't particularly pretty, but they would have to do for morning intertainment.

"We are here to talk about ..," one of them began, but he cut her off.

"Yes, I know ... come on in."

(Break)

Elena woke up before Stefan. She groaned in despair, as she realised it was Sunday. Officially, she was staying at Carolines, but tomorrow was a school day and she would probably have to go home this evening.

Stefan was used to having her in his room by now and didn't wake up, when she crawled out of bed.

She went into the walk-in closet and took a pair of dark blue jeans and a purple top from her shelf. She dressed quietly and went downstairs.

She met Darwin in the hall. He was exiting the parlour. As she went past him, he reached out a hand and gripped her arm lightly. "Elena, don't go in there..."

"Why not?" She frowned, then realised he was holding something in his other hand. A bloody rag. "What is going on?"

"Elena ..."

She pulled free of his grip and ignored him, continuing on her way, but stopped in the doorway to the parlour.

"Oh God!"

The body of a young woman lay sprawled on the floor and another one was on its stomach on a couch. They were both in their underwear, their arms and legs covered in bite marks. The rest of their clothes were casually strewn about the room.

"Are they dead?" Elena choked out.

"Very much so, "Darwin was standing right behind her, and she spun around to look at him.

"Did you do this? "she demanded.

"You know me better than that, Elena, "he sent her an annoyed look.

"Then who did?" He looked away not answering, and she quickly caught on. "It was Kol, wasn't it? He killed those innocent people in this house!"

He still didn't answer, merely turned his back to her and walked away.

"Did you hear me! "Elena yelled, following him into the kitchen, "He killed two innocent people!"

Darwin turned on the tab and started wringing out the rag under the running water. "I heard you."

"You agree with it?!"

"No, Elena, I don't, "he answered through gritted teeth, "But Kol does a lot of things I do not agree with. I have to pick my battles with him and believe me; two dead Christians is not one of them."

"Couldn't you at least talk to him about it? He listens to you."

"Yes, sometimes, but if I start bitching at him all the time, he won't listen to me at all."

"Then I don't want him in my house!"

Darwin looked up, giving her an dark glare. "It may be your name on the deed, Elena, but this is not your house. Until Damon tells us to leave, we're not going anywhere."

"Then I'll talk to Damon."

"Fine, "Darwin threw the rag into the zink, "but do remember to tell him that if Kol goes, we all go."

Elena was seething, but knew she had lost. As the situation were they needed the protection that the Originals provided.

She opened her mouth to make an angry comment, but something about Darwin made her shut her mouth again and swallow her words.

He had always seemed innocent and boyish to her, but there was nothing of either of those about him now. The look in his dark eyes were ancient and disillusioned.

And he knew ... He knew the enormity of these murders and there were absolutely nothing he could do about it.

And if he couldn't, how could she?

(Break)

Alaric walked back to the Boarding House alone, which was immensely stupid, but he seriously needed to clear his head. He felt beside himself; The world moved on around him, and all he wanted was to make it slow down and give him time to think.

Elijah and Finn were standing in front of the Boarding House both with shovels in their hands. Elijah was leaning on his and Finn had his slung over his shoulder.

"Well, if it isn't Alaric doing the walk of shame, "Elijah remarked cheerfully, "How was it at Jennas?"

Alaric shrugged. "Uneventful. What are you two doing?"

"Burying dirty, little secrets in the back yard." Finn sounded glum in sharp contrast to his brother's light tone. "They seem to be piling up these days."

Finn was covored in dirt, whereas Elijah's shirt was perfectly white and looked as if it had just been ironed. Apparently, nothing could ruffle that man.

"Great."

Alaric didn't ask, as he didn't want to know and entered the Boarding House, walking into the parlour.

Darwin and Stefan were playing cards, both looking like they would rather not, but had nothing else to do. Rebekah was sitting on a couch, leaning back with her eyes closed, while one of Darwin's laptops was playing pieces of classical music. Kol was sitting on the floor, absentmindedly eating a gingerbread rune and watching 'The Spy Who Shagged Me' with some interest. The electric lights on the christmas tree were on, along with several light chains with coulered light bulbs.

An atmosphere of pure boredom hung in the air.

"Where's Damon? "Alaric asked.

"In his room with Andie, "Darwin said listlessly.

"And Elena?"

"Packing her things. Finn and Elijah will take her home soon."

Stefan frowned. "I think I just won."

"You did? "Darwin glanced lazily at his cards. "How many times was that?"

"I don't know, somewhere between 5 and 50." Stefan sighed. "Who cares anyway?"

(Break)

Caroline had been on edge all day and usually when she felt that way, she went shopping or hunting, but Damon had asked her to stay inside and only leave the house if it was absolutely necessary, and neither of those were.

Besides, she felt monitored and kept walking to the window, looking out at the street. She didn't feel safe and even worse; her mother was at work and there was no way any of them could protect her while she was out of the house. They were all too busy looking out for each other.

Her phone rang and she answered, glad to be distracted. "Hello?"

"Caroline, how are you?" Darwin sounded as frustrated as she felt.

"Locked up, bored, and paranoid. How about you?"

"Pretty much the same." A piece of classical music was playing in the background. "Listen, Finn and Elijah will pick you up at 7.30 tomorrow. That alright?"

"Fine." Caroline paused, listening to the faint violin music. It reminded her of something. And then the dream came back to her again. "Darwin, what is that piece of music playing?"

"It's the Bridal Waltz. I downloaded it for a friend's wedding."

"This is played at weddings?"

"Yes, at Danish weddings. The bride and groom have to dance to it before midnight. Why?"

"I have to go." She hung up.

What was happening? Was Klaus controlling her dreams? Could he even do that when she was on vervain? Or was the dream simply a result of her own secret desires?

She shuddered at the thought.

(Break)

Damon walked into the kitchen that evening, only to find Alaric laying in the middle of the kitchen table once more. Claws was curled up to him, purring contentedly as Alaric continually stroked his back.

Alaric looked up apologetically. "This is now my happy place."

Damon threw up his hands in defeat. "Oh God, now what?"

"I asked her to marry me."

"What?! "Damon yelled, completely outraged, "Are you out of your mind?! Do you know what marriage is? It's a man trap, Rick! It's prison for life! I could murder you on your weddingday and call it a mercy killing. No judge would convict me ... I certainly hope she said no."

Alaric shrugged, not in the least surprised by Damon's reaction. "She said she'd think about it ."

"Well, isn't that romantic?"

"This is not the 1800's, Damon, and we're not Jehova's Witnesses. There is such a thing as divorce."

Damon snorted. "Oh yes, where a man loses at least half of his possessions, including his balls and his will to live. Why do this to yourself again? You were lucky enough that I got you out of the last one."

"Oh yes, don't think I ever thanked you properly for that." Alaric sat up, gently moving Claws over to one side, then drew back his fist and punched Damon in the face. "Thanks a lot, buddy."

Damon shook his head. "You're welcome."