"Good morning!" Caroline greets with her usual bubbly demeanor.
He enjoys their usual morning routine one last time, pushing his intention away to not tarnish these moments.
She talks about her upcoming assignment on The Sun Also Rises.
"Hmm, I haven't read that." Enzo comments.
Caroline dives into an overview, adding comments throughout. He tries to pay attention, but he watches her instead. He wants to remember everything about her, from the way her blue eyes shine with happiness to the way her hair falls perfectly over her shoulder. He smiles as she begins to talk with her hands, as if trying to mold her ideas together. She pauses briefly, biting her bottom lip as she tries to recall something.
She chooses that moment to notice that he isn't present in the conversation. "Are you okay?" She asks, concern evident in her voice as her sky eyes search his face.
"Yes, gorgeous, just enjoying your summary." He says.
She doesn't believe him, he can tell by the slight pause in conversation and tension in her shoulders, but she respects his privacy and says, "I can bring it to you if you want?"
"I would love that." He replies, truly honest about the statement even if it can't happen.
Caroline finishes her summary, all the while she keeps taking him in as if to figure out what's wrong with him.
Billy and Paul couldn't come in soon enough, if Caroline didn't stop worrying about him he was eventually going to break.
Whitmore uses poison today, he doesn't quite know what it is, but it's enough to kill a man. Too bad he's not a man.
At first Whitmore forces him to ingest it, which isn't too bad, aside from the painful expulsion of the poison, his bile is a mix of the small cup of blood last night and the thick black poison. After a couple of trials of this, Whitmore decides to inject the poison into various areas on his body, starting with his heart. It does the trick and stops his heart, but doesn't kill him, he just lies there as the poison is forcefully removed from his body. It's a combination of vomiting and the injection site oozing poison. It isn't a pretty sight, nor smell, but it does the trick. Eventually this too bores Whitmore, and he starts to test his ability to heal with poison in his body. It doesn't do much to slow or hinder his body's magical ability to heal, but it feels awful. All the while, Paul, Billy, and Caroline look on with disgusted looks on their face.
He breathes a sigh of relief when Billy and Paul drop his body on the floor. It hurts, but the outer pain is so much better than when his body is attacked from the inside.
Caroline walks in moments later with a small dose of blood, which he almost wants to refuse due to how raw his throat is. Yet, his body begs for the immediate relief it will bring as his face changes on it's own.
She begins her light chatter as the blood makes it's way throughout his body, just enough to heal but not to satisfy.
Today has been long and hard, he would like nothing more that to let Caroline's ramblings wash over him as his body heals. Unfortunately, he must stop her, "Caroline." his voice is low but commanding and Caroline's jaw shuts with an audible click.
She raises an eyebrow, prompting him to continue. He starts with a sigh and the smile that seems to always be on her face slowly disappears, "You must leave."
"What?" She asks, her voice full of confusion.
Enzo sits up, gazing into her eyes, hoping he get his message across without to much resistance, "You are truly passionate about your life, and this place, with these people, are slowly crushing you. Your love and duty to your family blinds you to this. Let me help you."
Her blue eyes shine with denial, but her mouth says otherwise.
"Okay." Her simple statement is powerful, giving him complete control and opening his eyes to the level of her trust in him.
Tears fall elegantly down her face as she nods, knowing what this means but not really having a choice as his eyes expand taking away any and all free will; her trust in him makes it all the more easy for him to have her mind open for his manipulation even in his weakened state. Caroline takes a hand and wipes the tears away as she walks toward him, dangerously close.
Enzo tilts his head, listening for intruders before reaching though the bars to hold her face, her hands come up to cover his, shocked by the open touch. The monster in him wants to drink every last drop of blood, the man in him wants to set her free, the man that she saw from the very beginning.
Enzo smiles, showing too much teeth, "It will be painless." He lies, it will shatter whatever remains of his heart.
Caroline nods, her soft locks tickling Enzo's hands as she removes her own.
Enzo holds her face between his hands, enjoying their last moment, rubbing small circles on her cheek with his thumbs before saying the words that will send her away. "Caroline," he breaths, steadying his heartbeat so he can will her to do what she needs, "follow you passions, don't let anyone dim your light, be happy, and forget every stolen conversation we ever shared. Leave tonight, and never look back."
He pauses, knowing the last part will leave him alone with their past, "You will only remember the vampire your parents sent you here to study, nothing more." He effectively breaks her promise.
He adds one more, though he's not sure if it will work, "No other vampire can compel you besides myself."
If Enzo though having open heart surgery was torture, or drowning to the point of death over and over again was horrid, losing her has left deep ravines on his soul that will heal into scars he will forever carry.
He enjoy the last moment of contact before letting her face go as her sky eyes flutter shut, knowing full well when they open she won't remember him through their memories and shared stories, but she will remember him as the subject her father sent her here to study, as a monster.
"Good bye Caroline." He says, giving her one last gaze of openness before closing off.
Her breath hitches at the sound of her name, "Good bye," She trails off. His name is a whisper on her lips, but for the life of her she can't remember it, her lips part with the need for closure but she doesn't know what to say, he can read it on her face, for he can't compel her away from him.
Enzo lets his dark eyes move to the door, and Caroline's gaze follows. She sighs before gathering her stuff and moving to leave, she lingers at the door, he can see her thoughts moving around filling in the holes he made. He steps back into the darkness, hoping she doesn't give one more look, he doesn't know if he has the will power to keep him from removing her compulsion if her blue eyes search for him. She does look over her shoulder, but she does not look for him, he can see her eyes searching for the pieces only he carries.
Then the door shuts, and he's back to his loneliness.
A/N I'm sorry for the late update, and future delayed updates, life is just crazy. I do hope you guys haven't given up, and I appreciate you for sticking around.
Loveklaroline: I'm so sorry I haven't updated, I'm awful at that. Thank you so much for all of you reviews, they are wonderful and truly do motivate me to write. I'm sorry to worry you, and I'll try to be better at updating in the future. I'm not sure if I would be writing this if it weren't for your reviews. I truly appreciate everyone of them, and reread them to help me stay motivated. I'm working on a little one shot for you, and it involves Caroline ;) Have a lovely day!
Guest: Thank you so much for your review! I hope you enjoyed this.
p.s. This is poorly edited, so if there are any glaring errors please let me know. Don't be afraid to nitpick, I'm always trying to improve!