Author's note

Sorry for the delay. I had a lot of school work to do and I didn't have that much time to write.

Here's the next chapter, again no Klaus. Anyway, I hope you like it :)

Caroline

Caroline closed the old volume with an audible sigh. She was getting nowhere. Caroline had been looking through several old books on witch trials and hadn't found many interesting things. She'd composed a list of possible witches who might've had the book, but there was no way of knowing for sure. And she didn't feel like sending Katherine to the ends of the earth without an actual concrete lead. So far, she felt like going to Scotland might be a good idea, also to Italy and France. She had taken a particular interest in the story of an alleged witch, Angèle de la Barthe. It had seemed solid until she found out that the witch in question wasn't real. She had been an invention by a fifteenth century scholar who wanted to show what witches were truly capable of.

The thing she found troublesome was that there was no way of knowing whether those witches were good or bad. They were mostly accused of maleficia, harmful magic, but that didn't mean that they were bad witches. She found it a complex subject to research and she was glad that Kol was around to help her out. He'd been alive during the witch trials and he had given her some background info.

Most witches that were tried weren't really witches. They just happened to suit a certain stereotype. Kol had mentioned something called the Malleus Maleficarum, Hammer of the Witches, which was the reference work for witch hunters in early modern times. Witch hunts were a thing of the early modern times, not medieval ones. Caroline hadn't really known that. Apparently the view of the witch who had an alliance with Satan was conceived during the fifteenth century. Kol was very well learnt when it came to the witch hunts. Caroline suspected it had something to do with Kol's interest in witches and magic in general. She'd noticed how he talked about witches he'd known with a certain admiration. It was like they held a certain power and he respected them for that. Unfortunately, those witches didn't know a thing about the grimoire or about Gaia.

Kol wasn't always the serious scholar, though. There were times when he'd talk about life during the Great Witch Crazy and how suspicious some people could be. He'd tell them that the times of the witch hunts was both an amazing time to be alive and one of the worst. How suspicious everyone was, not knowing who to trust or who might figure out the truth about who you really were. It wouldn't have been easy being a vampire back then. People were afraid of things that were a little out of the ordinary. Of course, it wasn't constantly like that. In reality, ordinary people believed in magic and didn't persecute every person that had magic. Most cases against the town's healer or witch were when things went bad, bad harvest, lots of deaths. They needed someone to blame. The herbal woman was an easy scapegoat, or the old unmarried hag living on the outskirts of town. Kol liked to talk about those times. He even said he'd helped some poor girls out during the witch hunts, by killing some of the people that were going to condemn an innocent girl. Later he'd admitted that the opposite was also true. He'd also had some fun in helping to organise witch hunts and then later kill some of the people that were going to be executed for their alleged crimes.

One evening, the three of them had gathered in a dark and musty corner of the old library and Caroline had asked why Kol had taken such a great interest in the Witch Craze. "That my dear Caroline, is because of something I was once told. I believe it was somewhere around the late medieval times, fourteenth century, if I recall it correctly. It was at the close of the century. The witches weren't associated with Satan yet and times were quite good. Of course not forgetting the Plague that had swept through Europe and the many dead that had come with it. Times weren't that great in that aspect. But-" "So are you going to beat around the bush or are we actually going to hear it?" An annoyed Katherine asked. "I was trying to paint a picture here. But if you insist." Kol took a breath and waited for a moment before beginning his tale.

"Once upon a late October night, I was walking around the outskirts of town. I happened to run into this rather pretty young lady who seemed to be in a hurry. Of course, me being me, I stopped the girl, not knowing what she was doing out there, so late in the evening. I told her that a beautiful girl like herself shouldn't be walking around unprotected. Who knew what could happen? There were evil things lurking in the shadows. You know what she did, she smiled at me. And it was a knowing smile. She was a witch. And I knew that provoking a witch is never a good idea. I stepped aside to let her pass. She remained standing where she was. She told me that it was a dangerous time for vampires and other supernaturals to be alive. I couldn't fault her logic. I told her that I wasn't afraid and that I was very hard to kill. Once again she flashed me that knowing smile. I suppose she knew that I was no ordinary vampire. She came to stand right before me and this is what she said: 'Hubris suits you, Old One, but I wouldn't be overly confident if I were you. Like I said, dangerous times. Soon, witches will be demonised. Mortals will hunt us and then they will simply stop believing in magic. You ought to be careful. One day you will fall. All of us will. I can see it somewhere in the distant future, centuries past the Great Witch Hunt. She'll come and she'll take back what's hers. She is the evil that is lurking in the shadows, watching, waiting. Soon, they will come for her and you will think that it's going to be the end. But she hasn't even started. Beware of the Woman in Purple." And before I could even blink, the witch disappeared. The wonders of magic. Whether she was speaking the truth, I do not know. I believe she was a prophetess or an oracle maybe. But she was right, the great witch hunt would commence and actual witches were burnt at the stake. And it did end. The only thing I was never able to figure out was who this Woman in Purple was. I have asked around and no one knew. Maybe the witch had only tried to scare me, but something tells me that she was speaking the truth. If only I knew who this Woman in Purple was."

Both Caroline and Katherine had been listening intently to Kol's tale. It was quiet once he finished. "Have no fear, ladies. I learnt that prophecies aren't always what they seem. Don't waste your energy in wondering who this Woman in Purple is. If she is real, we'll deal with her if she presents herself as a threat. Don't worry." "It's quite the tale. Did you ever see the witch again?" Kol shook his head. "Never. Sometimes I wonder whether it wasn't just an illusion. Or a dream. My mother was a witch, maybe some magic still slumbers in my veins. But even after so many centuries, I just can't seem to shake it off."

After Kol's story, they focused back on the documents at hand. Caroline asked Kol whether there were a lot of actual witches that were put on trial and executed. Kol said he'd rarely found real witches among those that were going to be executed. They knew better. They hid or fled or just kept themselves out of view. Of course, there were some witches that did get caught, sometimes they were even condemned by fellow witches. It had something to do with power, Kol said. Witches could be rather harsh on one another. They'd sell out others if it meant they could live.

The only thing that Caroline had to do was find the difference between actual witches and non-witches. It was easier said than done. All she had were huge amounts of records and large volumes about witchcraft and confession. It would go faster if Katherine actually was of help, but she had been in and out. She occasionally offered help, but she lacked the patience to sit down and go through all those books.

They had been on campus for about three weeks and Caroline had been occupied. She'd taken on this project and had dived in, head first. She still went to class and did her work, but her social life was suffering ever so slightly. Elodie had already remarked several times that she spent too much time in the library and too little in bars, dancing on tables. She'd also spent little time with Jasper, but she compelled him a couple of times in believing that they had spent some time together. Caroline knew she wasn't being fair to him, but what she was doing was important. And over the course of those three weeks, she'd grown closer to both Kol and Katherine. She'd learnt to appreciate Katherine's brash and bitchy attitude. She'd found it very handy when they went out together. Caroline started to regard Katherine as a friend, despite everything that had transpired between them. Still, Katherine and Caroline were two very different people and had very different views of the world and how they lived their lives. Yet, mostly, it seemed to work. And Kol, well, he was the joker of the group. He had this careless attitude and was blasé about a lot of things, but he was helpful and remarkably insightful.

"So, how long's this thing with Jasper going to last?" Katherine asked as Caroline ignored another call from Jasper. "I honestly don't know. He's great, he's a nice guy and smart and considerate." "But he's a human and dreadfully boring from what I've seen. You need some adventure, Care." "I've had plenty over the past year." "I wouldn't exactly call Lockwood adventure." "I wasn't talking about Tyler and besides, my relationship with Tyler wasn't all roses and sunshine." Katherine raised her brow in question. "Who are we talking about then? If not Tyler and I'm guessing it's not Klaus either, considering you're still mad at him for the damn painting." "Enzo." The name reluctantly left Caroline's mouth. "Enzo?" Caroline sighed. She hadn't talked about this since, well ever. She had refused to talk about it with Elena and she had shut both Bonnie and Stefan down whenever they had tried to breach the subject. "He was a friend of Damon's. They met in the fifties." "Oh, I remember. Enzo, hot guy, accent, bad boy. You were in a relationship with him?" "Yes, I was." Caroline tried to make it clear to Katherine that she didn't want to talk about it. Of course, this is Katherine and she doesn't give up easily. "What happened? He killed someone? Forced you to do something you didn't want? Turned out to be a copy of Damon? Or did he remind you too much of Klaus?" "None of that. He died." There was a hint of sadness in Caroline's voice. "I'm sorry." Katherine said sincerely. "Yeah, well, I'd rather not talk about it." "So, it was serious?" "What part of I don't want to talk about it do you not understand?" "Fine, I'll leave it alone, for now."

Katherine was studying Caroline intently. "What?" Caroline asked, feeling uncomfortable under the brunette's gaze. "I'm just wondering what it would've been like. Seeing you more relaxed. Or at least that's what I believe you were when you dated Enzo. He seemed to be a copy of Klaus, only less evil. He would've been able to let you loosen up a little, be a bit less uptight." She had a point. Caroline was less uptight with Enzo, if ever so slightly. It saddened her a little too, remembering what she had. She'd lost something, only Caroline never quite had the time to find out what exactly it was she'd lost back then. Her mood turned a bit sour, thinking back on Enzo's demise. "I'm right, aren't I? You were totally less uptight. Maybe then you wouldn't have been wasting your time at college. Why bother? You can get everything you want with a little bit of compulsion."

This snapped Caroline back to the present. "I am not wasting my time. I like college. And I bother because I actually want to get an education. This has been part of my plan." Katherine let out a small chuckle. "Caroline's grand master plan. Is it like a five year plan? Or a decade? Maybe you should come up with a century plan. For crying out loud Care, the world is out there. You have the rest of eternity to go to college. Harvard won't be going anywhere. Besides, what you're learning know will change over the course of the decades. Then what with you education?" Caroline shook her head. "I got accepted to Harvard, they offered me a scholarship, no compulsion whatsoever. Me, Caroline Forbes, has the opportunity to prove everyone that I'm more than just a pretty face. And maybe Harvard will be here for a long time, my mother won't. Her time is limited. And I want to do this. I want her to see this through with me. I want her to be proud of what I can do. The world can wait a little longer, this can't. Besides, I want a bit of normalcy, something resembling a human life." Caroline stopped herself from reminding Katherine that it was she who took that away. In all honesty, Caroline had long forgiven Katherine for it. She was better of as a vampire anyway.

"Normalcy? This isn't normalcy Caroline. A normal college experience isn't being hauled up in dark corners of old libraries, trying to find a grimoire that once belonged to a very powerful witch. Normal isn't helping out the person that took your human life away and turned you into a vampire without your consent. Normal isn't having a friend who is stuck on the Other Side. Your life isn't normal, Caroline. And it won't ever be. You're rooming with a witch and a vampire. You stock bloodbags in your minifridge because you refuse to drink from the vein. You're not living your life like it might have an end. And neither are you taking full advantage of the gifts immortality granted you with. You can have anything you want, yet you're wasting away. You're simply surviving and surviving isn't living. In all bluntness, you're a sad excuse for a vampire." "You can't help it, can you? You just have to be a bitch. And here I was actually thinking we could be friends." Caroline stood up, getting ready to leave. Those words were hauntingly familiar, reminding her of something she didn't want to face. "We are friends, Caroline. That's why I'm going to tell you how it is. Whether you like it or not. I'm going to push you, and maybe you won't agree with it, but I know you are more than this. You're more than just a student. You are such an amazing person, you're one of the best people I've ever met. You have a big heart and you want to make other people happy. And sometimes, you forget your own wants in order to do that. It's okay to want things for yourself, you deserve that. You deserve to be happy." Both vampires were staring at one another.

"Are you guys having a Kat-fight?" Kol suddenly popped up, but the girls didn't laugh at his joke. "You see what I did there?" Both Katherine and Caroline rolled their eyes at him. "Ah, at least there is a reaction. You two really have the synchronised eye roll down. Anyway, what were you lovely ladies talking about?" "A subject that will never be brought up again." Katherine huffed at Caroline's words. This earned her another glare from Caroline. "Maybe another drink? I just got here and now we can get this party started." Caroline shook her head. "Another time. It's getting late and I'm tired. Good night." Caroline grabbed her things and left the bar.

She didn't head back to her dorm, but opted to walk around. Katherine, the brunette did know how to push Caroline's buttons, but at the same time she was honest. And she was right, Caroline wasn't living. It was funny how Katherine was one of the few people who ever told her that she deserved happiness. Maybe she should start to live a little more, be more like Katherine. Of course, Katherine herself had always put what she wanted first and didn't give a damn about the consequences. That wasn't exactly who Caroline would want to become, but maybe she could do something she wanted to do. But right now, she was good with being at Harvard and helping Kol out. She had meant what she'd said. She wanted to get an education and she was enjoying her time here. What Katherine had said still echoed through her head, reminding her of very similar words once said to her. She sighed. She hadn't thought about Enzo in a very long time. Caroline considered this as one of the perks of being a vampire: the ability to shut things off. She'd pushed Enzo to the dark corners of her mind, simply because it hurt to think about. She had dated Enzo only for a couple of months, before he'd died, but she blamed herself for his death. And she was to blame, if only because she didn't chose him.

"You look lost in thought." Kol's voice sounded from next to her. Caroline looked up. "Just thinking about the past." "And you've barely begun to live." Caroline sat down on a bench and put her head in her hands for a moment, trying to push Enzo back to the farthest corner of her mind. "Does it get easier?" Caroline looked at Kol intensely, hoping he'd have an answer. Kol let out a hollow laugh. "Sweet Caroline, I wish I knew. I guess some things do. Other things will always stay with you, but time will create distance and with distance comes acceptance. Or something like that, I don't know. I'm not that great of a philosopher. I'm not the brooding type, darling. I act without thinking about consequences, I do as I please. I don't really deal with repercussions of my actions." Caroline sighed. She knew that Kol wouldn't really hold an answer. No one would. "Don't worry your pretty little mind, Caroline. Katherine can be painfully honest, but she does care about you. She wants what best for you. So do I. And you can always take to us. About anything you want. And like I said, you've barely lived. Some things won't look that bad in a couple of decades. There will always be things you will carry around with you. But they will become easier to bear, until one moment, it just becomes part of who you are. You accept the things that you can't change and you change what you cannot accept. Wow, that's actually a sound piece of advice." Caroline let out a small laugh. "Look at you, maybe you will be a philosopher one day."

So, what do you think? I know I sort of threw a lot of information about the witch trials and such, but that's because I'm very interested in the part of history. I've done a paper about witch trials last year, so I know a thing or two about it. If you want more of that, tell me, if you don't, let me know.

What do you think about Caroline's past with Enzo? Are you curious about it? What actually happened is going to remain a mystery for a while. Do you like the dynamic I'm setting up here? Are you for a friendship between Kol and Caroline and Katherine?

Please let me know what you think. I welcome feedback.

I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to upload again next week. And I hope this was worth the two day delay.

Thanks for reading.