AN: Thank you so much for everyone for fav/following…it honestly means the world. So sorry for the wait…college has been hectic! Lol So this is my longest chapter to date. It's over 10,000 words so I am really sorry if you don't like long chapters…Please let me know either way though!
To Lady Syndra: Thank you so much for reviewing! I know it's terrible but you have to remember that they are enthralled by Katherine. Stefan is even being compelled by her…makes me hate her even more…lol. I know poor Rosalyn! I almost couldn't bare writing her coming to any harm but it's what I always had planned for her. I think she and Stefan would have been perfect for each other if Katherine had never come into the picture.
To PrincessMagic: Thank you! : ) . I know I am so excited about them working together too. I think Emily helped with trapping the vampires in the church in the TV show so I wanted to incorporate her defiance against Katherine into the story as well. Thank you so much for reading!
To XxMikealsonForeverxX: Thanks a million! : ) Haha so glad you liked it so much to keep reading! Really hope you like the next chapter too!
To Clancy1018: WOW! Thank you so much! : ) That honestly means so much to me!
To Mary VA: Awh thanks a million! I hope everything is okay…I know what it's like to have a hectic life, not fun! : ) I really do love writing the memory parts, love showing how Kol and Kara first met and how their relationship started. There is still a lot more of that to come as well! : ) I also like having Kara interact with her brothers, love Damon and Stefan but I have always been team Damon! : ) It's a bit difficult at the moment as Katherine is around and both are in love with her so Kara can't find any solace in talking with them but their relationship will improve as the story progresses! I really wanted to get across that she was not a frail sickly girl but determined and strong, even for the times she's living in. Well thank you so so much for that, you do not know how nice it is to be called a good writer, especially when I love it so much ! : ) Really hope you like the next chapter! : )
The New world
997AD
It was the creaking of the wooden front door echoing through the stillness of the house as she opened it that alerted her to the emptiness of the residence. The black dinner cauldron sat over the fireplace gently simmering the broth her mother had prepared inside so she knew she wouldn't be far away.
Kol had walked her to the corner where the path met their boundary fence and they had reluctantly said their goodbyes. She had longed to hold him for longer, to kiss the worry for his brother from his face, to stay with him and tell him it would be alright but she wanted him to stay safe and make it home before it became dark. It was getting harder and harder to depart from one another, to say their goodbyes after spending a few short hours after their chores had been completed together and they both knew it. She sighed to herself as she removed her cloak and placed it on the chair that sat near the door brushing her fingers over her lips at the remanence of the tingling from a kiss that still lingered.
She shivered at the polite sensation and moved to the back of the house to the small window that looked out onto the back of their property, overlooking their well and the entrance to the woods. Her mother often washed their clothing in a large basin in the garden and so seemed a legitimate place to look next. She propped her hands on the wooden table-top to view out of the tall window but still could not spy any of her family. It wasn't uncommon for them to be out tending to errands or meeting with friends but despite the volatile relationship she had with her parents and brothers she couldn't help but be worried for them. Vilgard's murder was sudden and unexpected and proved to her that anything could happen at almost any time. She made a mental note to visit with Ingrid when the appropriate amount of time for mourning had passed.
Noticing the looming dusking-sky she turned from the window and moved to the small woodpile at the corner of the room. They had a much larger stock pile outside but often moved some indoors to dry before adding to the fire. She looked for the thinnest, longest stick she could find and took it to the fire that was still blazing under the black dinner cauldron. She ignited the end and went about the house lighting the candles her parents had strategically placed to enhance the lighting in the longhouse. The addition of such light now made the house feel cosier and warmer and in turn Kara felt a small semblance of calmness wash over her. Noticing the broth steadily begin to boil over the sides she took a cloth and moved the cauldron from the fire, settling it on a table-top that her mother often used to serve dinner before strolling to the back of the house where her small bedroom was situated. It was a luxury to have any extra rooms in a long house and even though hers was small she was still glad to have it. She removed the old family grimoire from a small table by her bed, one that had been the most precious possession her family had owned before her parents had made the deal to allow the dark magic to inhabit them, to use them. She didn't think her parents had even touched it since then. Paging through it she noticed the different writings of family members long gone. Spells that obeyed the forces of nature and sprits instead of defiling and betraying them. There was still so much blank parchment at the end of the book, parchment intended for her or her family to write their own spells on. Parchment that was now destined to remain blank. She felt a strange sense of comradery with the book, a small connection to the past and the magic she longed for. Closing the book, she moved it back to its place before lying down on her fur-lined bed and turning her attentions to the bracelet that adorned her wrist. The trinket had been so tenderly made, so thoughtfully crafted that it made her heart swell at just the thought. She knew that the 'K' engraved on the middle bead stood for her name but she liked to think that it stood for Kol's, a reminder of him held close to her at all times. She felt so lucky to have met him, to have him in her life, to know him and to feel him in every beat of her heart. She sighed and only hope that he and his family were okay, that they had found Finn and that the real culprit to this terrible murder would soon be found.
A loud bang emanating from the door suddenly startled her out of her thoughts. She jumped from her bed and moved the main room, quietly nervous but summoning bravery from a depth she hadn't realised she had. The fact that there was a murderer running loose also didn't help matters.
"Is anyone there?" she asked into the room, the front door concealed by a large piece of fur her mother had hung by the door to reduce the draught affecting the fire.
It felt like hours had passed by when really it was only seconds when the voice of her brother answered her back.
"Kara, there you are" Alistair rasped breathlessly rushing to where she was standing in only a few short steps "Come, we need you".
Kara stood baffled and let her eldest brother pull her halfway across the room before she found her voice.
"Al, what are you doing? What's going on?"
He didn't answer, just continued to drag her. He seemed scared, nervous.
Alistair had always been the most level headed of her brothers, he was kind and seemed to take pride in anything his younger siblings ever achieved. She knew he had found a type of solace in Brenna. He had known her for years and spent a lot of his days out with her or her family. The Colburn's did not have magic but accepted them graciously into the village when they first arrived as it had been a witch in Europe who had guided them to the New world in the first place. Kara knew however that he hadn't told her about the curse on their family and that is what distinguished their relationship from her and Kol's. She didn't believe it morally right that he would not tell her that the most-evilest of dark magic's would one day claim host in their children or that he would never join Brenna in the afterlife for his soul would be doomed to roam the underworld. She worried for him, as she did for herself and her other brothers. Even Drake who seemed to relish and bathe in the dark magic rushing through their veins.
"Alistair stop" she yelled over their thudding footsteps, pulling her arm out of his grip. She stood strong and just stared at him as he fought to decide whether to explain what was happening or to just continue dragging her. He turned swiftly to take her hand again and it was then Kara noticed his expression. He was pale and sweaty and looked extremely agitated.
"Al you're scaring me, what's happened? Has something happened to Father and Mother? To our brothers?"
Alistair looked to his feet and then back to his sister, looking her plainly in the face.
"Not yet" he replied the sentence not easing any of Kara's worry.
"What do mean 'not yet'?" Kara projected loudly, scared and raw emotion lining the tones of her voice.
"I don't have time to explain it Kara, you'll just have to trust me". His voice seemed forced and stressed so Kara decided not to question further, she just nodded and followed him out of their house.
To her surprise he didn't lead her to the path to the village but instead steered her around the back of their house towards the tree-line in the woods. Kara didn't venture into this area of the woods very often. She only associated it with bad memories, the memory of her parents taking her choices away from her, of choosing her own path. Of them sealing dark magic within her and her brothers. She knew to them that it was an essential act, to gain power and position but to her it was selfish. Even though their relationship would never be as it once was she still had immense pity for the fact that their souls would never be at peace. In a way she felt she owed them something, some form of payment to make their sacrifice worthwhile even if she never asked or wanted it.
Alistair moved deeper into the woods, the sunlight becoming dimmer with the denseness of the trees. He moved behind a large area of bushels into the same area she had been brought to as a child. She felt sick to her stomach as her eyes glanced over the clearing, her senses remembering every tiny moment that had occurred here years ago. She found it strange that everything looked exactly the same, all except for a small wooden building that sat at the far edge of the clearing.
Alistair headed straight for it, his pace quickening substantially. Kara followed, keeping her somewhat cautious pace.
"We built this place to practice the magic's that the people in the village would deem…."
"…Too dark" Kara finished electing a glare of disparagement from Alistair.
"You could say that" he replied knowing he didn't have time to get into the usual argument he had with her over their magic.
He knocked on the slightly weathered door in a series of three knocks and before he had hit his knuckles on the door on the final collision the door opened revealing Wade who looked just as dishevelled as Alistair.
"Thank the gods" he spoke moving from the doorway to let them through "You're here".
Kara moved through the threshold of the building into a scene of chaos. Her parents stood at the side of the building near a fire and table frantically cutting up roots and herbs and adding them haphazardly to the pot that was now obviously beginning to boil. They were both sweating profusely and hardly glanced up at her presence. To her shock a man sat with his head bowed and his hands bound to a chair at the other end of the room. He was bloody and beaten and looked near death, if he wasn't already. Drake stood over him extremely flustered. He had angry tears in his eyes and looked frustrated with the man on the chair.
"I don't understand why it will not work!" he yelled before giving the man on the chair another punch of his fist.
"What on earth is going on here?" Kara asked, the shock of the situation the only thing preventing her from screaming at them all.
"It won't work!" Drake yelled again running his hands through his hair and pulling at the dark roots harshly. The tears of frustration were pouring down his face now and he impulsively knocked all he could find within reach including the man on the chair who hit the ground with a thump.
It was then when Kara saw the man's face.
She narrowed her eyes as she tried to place where she had seen him before. She couldn't think of a name but she knew that he was a relation of Vilgard Bjornson, she had seen them together at the feast.
"That's Vilgard Bjornson's cousin" she said identifying the man bound and unconscious on the floor of her brother's shack "What on earth is going on here, why is he here?"
She asked, a million questions running through her head and knowing that she wasn't going to like the answer to any of them.
She could feel Alistair and Wade glance at each other behind her but she didn't care, the wanted her here for a reason, for help and she was not going to give it to them until she got some answers. It was Wade who spoke first.
"Drake was involved in…an incident today that Destin here unfortunately bore witness to"
Alistair continued.
"He's been trying to wipe his mind but is having no success, we need you to try".
Kara wavered and turned from the scene to glance at her brothers.
"You know I do not like to use this magic" she said almost pleading.
"You don't have a choice" her mother spoke from the corner stirring the pot as her father added more and more ingredients "You don't do this and we'll be feeding this to him instead".
"What is it?" Kara asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
Her father looked up from the blade that he was chopping with to look at his daughter straight in the eyes. He looked determined, much as he had done at the rocks when he had realised Kara's power or when they had summoned the demons that granted them the dark magics.
"Something that will kill the boy if you do not do what we ask" he put down the blade and moved closer to Kara putting his hands on her arms "It's what you were born to do Kara, your destiny, just embrace it and you will be happier and more fulfilled for it"
Kara gulped so hard that she knew her father had seen the lack in strength.
"Why would you kill him? That is just evil and you know it" she spoke finding the composure to steady her voice somewhat.
"Kara you and I both know that I would do anything to protect this family, if we do nothing then that boy" he said indicating at Destin "Will be this family's downfall. They would hang Drake and exile us all to the woodlands, do you truly want that?"
"I don't understand" she said confused. The whole matter did not seem to be adding up for her. Why Destin? What had he seen? And what incident that could justify the hanging of her brother? She hadn't heard of an incident so severe that would warrant such a punishment. Only….
She stopped suddenly at the realisation, her body going cold with the truth. She gulped again this time not caring if her father saw it or not. She glanced at Drake who was now sat in the corner behind Destin red-faced and teary eyed. He just stared into space, the frustration still ebbing but the energy somewhat lacking.
"He killed Vilgard" she spoke quietly mostly thinking out loud rather than asking the question "Drake killed Vilgard".
Edmund loosened his grip on his daughter's shoulders but kept the intensity in the focus of his eyes.
"Yes he did and no one, and I mean no one" he said indicating to Destin's unconscious body "Is going to alert anyone, isn't that right?".
Kara swallowed and nodded slowly.
"But they have Vilgard's body, Ayana and Esther are looking over it as we speak. What if they find something?"
"I already took care of that" Martha replied taking the ladle and moving some of the mixture from the pot into a small wooden cup "All of the loose ends have been taken care of, the only one that remains is him" She said indicating to Destin.
"I've tried the spell several times" Drake said speaking hoarsely and dejectedly still staring into space "It's not working".
"The spell is too strong for him Kara, but not for you, not for my powerful little girl"
His eyes seemed to glaze with pride at the last part of the sentence but she chose to ignore it. She hated the fact that her parents had favoured her over her brothers since she was a child due to the fact that she had more talent with the magic's then they did. That was not how parents should be.
"But Drake has been practicing" she began "I have not".
"Please just try Kara, if you don't then we're going to have to kill him and I really don't want that on my conscious" Alistair spoke putting a supporting hand on her shoulder. Alistair may have thought of the hand as support but she thought of it as a weight, as the weight of the family getting heavier and heavier on her shoulders.
She turned to Drake with fire in her eyes.
"Why did you do it? Why did you kill him?"
Alistair went to answer for his brother but Kara silenced him, indicating him to be silent with a wave of her hand.
"I want to hear it from him, from his own mouth".
Drake looked from his position on the ground to her face. Kara could tell that he seemed distraught but she couldn't help but feel that it was due to not being able to perform the spell rather than him murdering an innocent man.
Drake took in a deep breath before gaining strength and steading himself to standing up once again
"I don't know alright. I don't know why I did it"
"That is not good enough!" she seethed trying hard to keep her emotions in check "His betrothed, his family are in mourning for him and you say you just killed him on a whim?"
Drake marched towards her, anger ebbing from him. He got close enough to her that she could feel the expulsion of his deep breaths blowing the feathery, light strands of her hair
"His betrothed wasn't thinking much of him when she writhed under me only days ago".
Kara felt the air catch in her throat as her mind grasped the meaning of what he had just said.
"You were having an affair with Ingrid?" she asked confused. She had never seen any evidence of his love for her nor Ingrid's for him.
"Relax sister" he said seeing the cogs in her head turning "It wasn't anything serious, in fact it had only just begun".
"Then why kill Vilgard?" she asked. She could feel the tension in the room as all eyes turned to Drake in anticipation to the answer to the question. She couldn't believe that not one of them had thought to ask him already.
Drake just shrugged nonchalantly.
"He and his lackey here cornered me at the rock-point, he knew about Ingrid and I and wanted to fight. I didn't"
"You killed him with your magic, didn't you?" Kara said more stating the point rather than asking the question.
"Like I said" he spoke sternly "I didn't want to fight. Now can you just get this over with, or do you want poor Destin to also die by this family's hands".
"Drake!" Edmund scolded "If it wasn't for us you would be swinging from a tree right now so show some respect!"
"Excuse me for disrespecting the child prodigy" he spat at his father before glancing at Kara and looking her up and down "Even if she is just a woman!"
She couldn't take it anymore; she was losing all patience with him. Feeling the power surging within her she raised her hand and as she did she lifted her brother from the ground before pinning him on the back of the wall all with the force of her magic.
"Outstanding" her father praised moving closer to the scene. Drake, along with the rest of her family just looked shocked.
"You will not hurt any more innocent people, understand?" Kara spoke firmly her hand trembling with the power that was flowing through it. Drake didn't answer, instead opting to struggle against his invisible binds.
"Answer me 'brother'" she said sounding out the "brother" with vile sarcasm all the while increasing the pressure on Drake's body. His struggling decreased and she could see he was trying to counter her magic with a spell of his own which obviously did not seem to be working.
"Fine" he rasped unwillingly and uncharacteristically admitting defeat "I understand, now let me down".
Kara had to pull her hand away in order to let him down. It was like breaking a connection of something extremely powerful and it was hard to let go of. She had not been lying when she had told her family that she hadn't been practicing, she hadn't, her only connection to magic had been through Kol and suddenly she was feeling immensely proud of what she had done. Of what her magic had done. She shook off the feeling and turned to Alistair and Wade.
"Lift Destin and wake him, I am going to try and help".
"That's my girl" Edmund boasted proudly clapping her on the back like he would have done to any of his sons.
Alistair and Wade took either side of Destin's chair and pivoted him upright before tapping him gently in the face to try and wake him.
Martha approached her daughter with a small, dark-cover bounded book. One that looked much different from their old grimoire Kara had hidden in her room at home.
"Here is what you want to recite" she spoke helpfully holding the book open on the relevant page.
"It's alright mother" she said as nicely as she could bare. As much as she blamed her parents for her turbulent upbringing and a fated future filled with darkness and sacrifice she couldn't help but see the lightness in them now. That they were trying to save their family and the life of Destin and for that she could be civil to them.
"I know what I am to do".
Martha nodded and closed the book, returning to her husband's side in order to watch the scene.
Kara approached Destin just as he was regaining consciousness. He looked terrible and she knew that he must also be feeling it.
Alistair and Wade moved to the side while Drake skulked further into the shadows of the corner with a flask of ale, all of them however fixed on the scene.
Kara tilted his head up and his eyes slowly pealed open. He looked confused, before scared and began to pull at the ropes that secured him to the seat.
"Shush" Kara soothed "It's alright, you are safe".
Through the pain Destin chuckled.
"Your brother killed my cousin, I doubt you are just going to let me go…. witch"
Kara shrugged off the insulting inflection of the word and placed her hands on either side of his head.
"I'm going to make you feel better, just relax"
She closed her eyes and concentrated her magic into the vessel in front of her. She imagined each of his damaged wounds healing themselves, of his bruises dissipating and the pain washing away. She imagined it like a wave on a beach, taking more and more with it each time it flowed back.
He gasped breathily and she broke her concentration to look at his surprised face. His skin was now free of any type of evidence of a beating.
"Feel better?" she asked a little out of breath from the strain of using her magic again.
He nodded, now very unsure of his fate or of what may come of the situation.
She nodded and stood up straight trying to loosen her arms in an attempt to somehow gain more strength and steadiness from the act. She turned back to Destin and the rest of the room waited with bated breath as she put one hand over his eyes and the other on the top of his head. She closed her eyes again and instead of seeing the blackness of the backs of her eyelids, flickers of pictures began appearing in her minds-eye. They were not of her creation but of Destin's, flickers of his memories. It scared her how fast and how little magic it took to enter the man's head but she was grateful for the fact that she would fulfil her task and that he would live. The memory of the murder was also easy to find as it was one of the most recent, it was something however she did not want to see. Instead of viewing it she did what she had done to the wounds and imagined the wave chipping the memory away one tiny feeling at a time. It was only after a few long, straining minutes that she knew for definite that it was gone. She stumbled back, her fall only hindered by Wade's large arms catching her.
"It's done" she said smiling slightly looking at Destin who was now unconscious again.
"You're sure?" Drake asked somewhat anxiously.
Kara nodded definitively only now realising that her nose was bleeding.
"What now?" Alistair asked his parents who frustratingly only looked at each other, obviously searching each other for an idea.
"Drake give me your flask" Kara said suddenly an idea springing to her fuzzy mind. He seemed reluctant but a look from their father gave him all of the motivation he needed to comply. She went about pouring the ale over the tunic of Destin, making sure to get it in his hair and around his mouth.
"Kara what are you….?" Alistair asked before Kara interrupted him.
"Untie him and put him behind a hedge far from where they found Vilgard. When he wakes he will think he had too much to drink and that will be why he can't remember anything. That way no one will suspect anything else, not Ayana and not Esther".
Alistair nodded and turned to Wade for help who instantly jumped into action.
She turned to her parents, trying to keep the façade of civility with them.
"If you don't mind I think I'll head home; I need to sleep after that".
"Of course my brave girl" Edmund spoke still bursting with so much pride it made Kara feel sick.
She went to leave.
"Kara wait" her mother called uncharacteristically emotional for her.
She turned back and gazed at her expectantly.
"Thank you" she spoke unsure of what else to say.
Kara just nodded and sent a small smile back to her.
She walked back to her house slowly trying to clean her nose with her hand as best as she could. She still couldn't wrap her head around what had just happened, what she had just learned. Drake was the murderer everyone in the town was so afraid of, he had killed Vilgard in cold blood and tortured Destin for being witness to it. She knew he had always been the one to embrace the dark magic and to always yearn to prove himself but she never thought that he would be capable of such an act. Her stomach churned uncomfortably both from the exertion of power and the thoughts that raced through her mind of the murder. Feeling the bile rise in her throat she held her hair back quickly and emptied the contents of her stomach behind a shrub at the side of the road. Her heart raced thunderously and her hands shook uncontrollably. She shut her eyes to try and steady herself, to slow her racing heart and stall her shaking hands. The more she thought about it the more she believed that she had made a dreadful mistake. Sure she had helped her family, had saved her brother but she had covered up a murder. She had stripped the one man who could confirm what had actually happened of the memory's he would have needed to punish Drake and for some reason she felt extremely guilty for that.
As she continued walking she felt the guilty tears prick at her eyes. Yes, these people were her family but they were also the people who had sacrificed their souls in order to bring dark, demonic magic into their lives and to the lives of any descendants they were destined to have. Kol was her family and right now she needed him more than anything. But she couldn't bring him into this and she knew it. She couldn't burden him with this evil that now burdened her, he was much too good, too perfect to flaw him with such darkness. No, she would go home and sleep and tomorrow she would see him. She would hold him and kiss him and tell him how much she loved him because he was her light, her strength. The only beacon of light in a growing sea of darkness that, she felt, was finally beginning to swallow her.
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Mystic Falls
1864
The weather took a turn for the worst as Kara turned the corner that lead into the town centre. When she had left her estate after her conversation with Emily the day had been bright, not sunny but pleasant. But now even as she walked she could feel the drizzle of a rain shower fast approaching. She knew she would not do well in a rain storm. It would do nothing for her health and a cold would completely hinder her ability to go to the Founders day ball. She quickened her pace and clutched the grimoire closer to herself fearing that it might get damaged if it became wet. She could see small pin-like water droplets falling onto the path in front of her and she knew the rain was becoming heavier. Thunderous clouds loomed up ahead and she could tell that it was the beginning of a storm. She tilted her head downwards and noticed that the ends of her dress and shoes were too becoming wet with the rain but more so the small puddles that had now begun forming on the footpath and roadway. People scurried around her, most trying to find shelter and others restraining animals to secure them for safety against the forthcoming gale. The weather had changed so suddenly that Kara had only a light day dress and cloak draped over her against the power of the tempest. She berated herself that she hadn't observed the heavy rain clouds before setting out. Worryingly she now noticed water droplets running from her hair down to the cover of the book. Making a quick decision she removed her cloak and wrapped it around the book fearing any contact with water would smudge the ink and spoil the contents it held within its bindings.
She was thankful that her dress was long-sleeved but the fabric gave no warmth and she shivered against the dampness in the air and the torrent now falling from the sky. She was only at the outskirts of the town but she urged her feet to move faster, to take her to her destination sooner so that she may dry herself and be warm again. The sound of a carriage coming from the road behind her made her stand in closer to where the hedge lined the path. Carriages, on wet days had a habit of splashing puddles onto poor unsuspecting pedestrians while the horses kicked up mud dirtying passers-by in the process so she stood as far away from the road as she could in an attempt to shield herself. She walked slower than she wanted, urging the carriage to pass her as it got closer. To her surprise however, instead of speeding passed it slowed down to her walking pace. She looked at the vehicle suspiciously not recognising it. Most of the families in the town that she and her family knew owned their own carriages but this one she had never seen before. It was made of wood, painted luxuriously in a black colour with gold specs trimming the coach handles, the small 'fleur de Lis' designs on the exterior and the interior of the wheels. The two horses also wore matching livery and reins while the coachman looked dapper in a top-hat and gentleman vestments. He tilted his hat in greeting to Kara as the coach came to a complete stop. The rain had left too many droplets on the window for Kara to see through it but her question to whom it was soon answered when the door opened suddenly and a figure stepped out. Her heart fluttered involuntary sending a wave of warmth through her rain sodden body as she came face to face with Kol. She smiled at him, despite her drenched and cold state.
"Kara what on earth…?" he spoke worriedly eyeing her up and down before remembering himself and readdressing her
"Forgive me, Miss Salvatore. I didn't mean to overstep my mark".
She shook her head, the smile unwilling to fade from her face. She watched as the rain fell onto him and watched as the droplet fell down his face, tracing over his skin, his cheek and his lips as it went. She swallowed roughly and reformed the smile once again.
"You didn't, you can call me Kara"
He smiled back at her.
"Then you must call me Kol and also allow me and my coachman here to shelter you from this weather"
Kara shivered a little at his mention of the torrential rain and the gathering winds.
"You must be freezing" he said he eyes betraying the calmness he had wished to project to her.
She was about to shrug it off, to say she was fine but she couldn't. She was too enthralled by him, by his eyes and his concern and worry for her. Before she could answer he had already taken off his own cloak and draped it around her shoulders. She shivered as his hand brushed her neck, the reason not being the cold weather this time and she shyly looked to the ground as he noticed this.
"Please" he spoke, his voice almost a whisper "Allow me to take you to wherever you must go, I would not feel right leaving you out in this storm".
Kara was not a stupid girl. She had known from a young age to not go anywhere with a stranger but that was the thing. He didn't feel like a stranger. She had never felt this way before, the attraction, the magnetism was almost overwhelming but she hated to admit that she liked it.
"Thank you, Kol" she said with a small smile, testing the intimacy of calling him by his first name on her tongue "I would very much appreciate it"
He smiled in almost relief and took her hand to help her into the carriage. The touch felt tingly and almost numb and the feeling only dissipated slightly as he let go. She shook herself subtly in an effort to snap out of whatever silliness that had come over her. She had important things to do and right now all she could think about was how Kol's lips would feel on hers. He almost made her feel normal.
"Where is it you want to go?" he asked still standing outside of the carriage.
"The Fell's manor it's on Fell's Lane" she spoke slowly hoping beyond hope that she wasn't putting him out by accepting his offer.
"Aptly named" he smiled at her before turning to the driver "Did you get that?"
"Yes sir" she heard the driver say.
Kol got in and shut the door behind him, dimming the noise from the wind and the rain outside.
He sat on the same side of the carriage to which she was sitting and Kara couldn't help but feel smug about how close he managed to sit without it becoming improper.
"Why on earth were you out walking in such weather?" he asked her with a severity of concern. Rain water now also dripped from his hair and Kara couldn't help but think that the pair of them looked a state.
"It wasn't this bad when I left" she said indicating to the streams of water that seemed to rush passed them on the road to the nearest drain "it seems to have come out of nowhere".
The carriage jostled forward as the coachman began urging the horses forward.
"Still" he began turning to face her "It would do no good for you to fall ill now would it?"
Kara looked to him and to his sincerity before responding.
"No, no it would not"
A moment of comfortable silence passed over them when all that could be heard was the sound of the horse's hooves echoing off of the roadway.
"Would it be impertinent for me to ask which object you feel requires greater shelter than yourself?" he asked indicating to the grimoire that sat on her lap, still wrapped in Kara's cloak.
Kara looked towards it nervously and fiddled with the fabric that lay atop of the book with one hand while lying the other on the seat beside her.
"It's nothing" she began stuttering slightly. She had never been good at lying and right now she hated that trait about herself.
"Just a book that I was returning to Honoria Fell".
She looked to Kol and the disappointment in his eyes elicited a deep feeling of guilt within her. He knew she was lying and Kara longed to tell him the truth. To warn him all about the vampires and witches in the town but she had to remember that as much as she felt a deep connection and feeling towards him, she had only known him for less than a day and there were still many things she had to know about him before she could trust him with such a secret.
"It's alright" he said, his voice oddly comforting in the moment "You don't need to tell me, you don't trust me yet and that's understandable. I am hoping, however that one day you will"
He lay his hand on the seat in between them, close to where Kara's free hand lay. He stopped however when began to feel the heat emanating from it. She looked to his hand and then to him. Her hand prickled with the sensation of his being so close. She wanted to close the distance, to touch his skin and to have him hold her hand in his and by his expression she could tell that he was hoping for the possibility of it too. It should have scared her. She was not used to being this intimate with a man. She had never had never been courted, there was no where she could have gone with her illness to even meet boys and even if she had she knew that they wouldn't be interested. Why would they be? Sure her family was rich and her dowry large but she would be dead before she reached thirty, that was something Dr Marsh was very sure of. Her father and brothers also didn't help matters by being so protective of her. But Kol, she found was different. He appeared to know her even though she knew that he couldn't, that it wasn't possible, she was comfortable with him. Even in the situation she was in now, a situation that seemed so foreign to her she felt at home and at ease.
She titled a finger slightly towards his in a small effort to brush her hand with his but was broken out of the process by the coach lurching forward slightly.
"My Apologies" they heard the driver shout from his seat in the front of the coach.
Kara looked to Kol a little embarrassed of herself and reined her hand back to her lap.
"I want to trust you" Kara began moving her eyes from her clutched hands to the piercing blue eyes of the man she had once thought she had dreamt up "But it just seems too sudden too…."
"…Hasty?" Kol asked presuming accurately what Kara was think and where she was going with her point.
Kara nodded and looked back at Kol apologetically.
"It would be impulsive for me to trust a man I met but a day ago would it not?" she asked almost hoping for him to agree with her so she wouldn't feel as bad as she did.
Kol waited a beat, thinking deeply before responding.
"Someone very special once told me that 'an act of daring and defiance often produces the greatest opportunistic rewards'"
"So you are telling me to trust you?" Kara asked reworking the phrase over in her head to decipher its meaning.
Kol paused for a moment. He yearned to say yes. To tell her that out of everyone in her life it should be he that she could trust the most but he resisted.
"I'm saying that…taking a chance may not be the worst thing you could do in life"
The power of his orbit seemed to be drawing Kara in further and further and she gave him a smile in an attempt to pacify the growing seriousness of the atmosphere in the carriage. It seemed to fall short however and she began to feel her heart pounding in her chest.
"It must have taken a pretty profound person to tell you that" Kara spoke half-wittily. She had always been one to use humour as a defence mechanism.
"That she was" Kol smiled eyeing her warmly.
Kara couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at the word "She". It was ridiculous, for all she knew the "She" he was referring to was his mother or a sister.
"Well then I shall keep it in mind" she replied, her hands still fiddling with the fabric of her cloak wrapped around the grimoire.
"Please do" Kol replied looking at Kara with a ferocity in his eyes that she had never experienced before. That seemed to set a fire burning deep within her. "Because you are far too beautiful to live your life in the shadows"
She bowed her head in an attempt to hide her burning cheeks. She was not used to being complimented such. Only her father had ever called her beautiful and even then she knew that he hadn't meant it as sincerely as she had just heard Kol say it.
Without restraint, Kol leant over the seat to tilt up her chin so that her eyes met his. The gaze was intense and Kara could feel her heart pounding in her ears. Not out of fear, however, out of anticipation, of longing.
"You are more important than you know Kara"
She made to speak but found that she couldn't, the words seemed to fail to form on her lips. Kol smirked good naturedly noticing this and moved his hand from her chin to a piece of her hair made loose and wet by the ruthless weather. He smoothed it back behind her ear and Kara did all she could to hide the shiver that seemed to appear at the touch of his skin. By the look on his face, however it would have seemed that she had failed.
How she longed for him to lean forward, to close the distance and capture her lips with his own but she had her reservations and they seemed to gain momentum in her head with each beat of her heart. She had an illness, a disease that would end her life prematurely and this had hindered any prospective relationships she might have had in the past. Now she was falling fast and hard for the very first time. For a man she barely knew, a man who barely knew her and it was the first time she had ever felt any resentment at the fact she was destined to die young.
"Kol..." she stuttered unsure. Her head telling her she should put a stop to whatever seemed to be happening between them but her heart longing her to let it continue. To let whatever that was going to happen, happen. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them to continue.
"Kol" she began again her voice soft but pained "As much as I hate to say this, I'm not who you think I am".
For some reason Kol found her sincerity and modesty thrilling and just smiled as she spoke.
"And pray tell me Miss Kara Salvatore, who is it that you think I think you are?"
Kara gave him a small smile but it dissipated when she went to answer.
"Normal…. you believe me to be normal and healthy and vivacious like any other lady of my age but I'm not Kol I'm…."
"…Unwell" Kol finished without missing a beat "I know Kara".
Kara looked taken aback.
"You know?" she asked confused "Is it that obvious?".
She wondered how he had guessed. Was it from her skinny frame or pale complexion? Or maybe she gave off an aura that she couldn't see herself but alerted everyone else to the status of her health, or lack thereof. She smiled dejectedly at him before looking away. How could he ever be interested in her? She wondered why she had even entertained the idea, wondered why she had got her hopes up. She knew better than that.
"Hey" he said angling her face with the tips of his fingers so that she returned her gaze to him. He couldn't help but see the hurt in her eyes "It was Mayor Lockwood who informed me after a brief, yet personal conversation a day or so ago. I knew of the fact before we met last night and it was not obvious to me at all".
Kara felt the surge return, the feeling of excitement. She was falling for Kol Mikelson and she knew it and despite his statement of 'we met last night' in her heart she felt like she had known him for an age.
Kara nodded.
"Apparently I was once betrothed to his son George but I was too young to know what that meant".
Kol smiled to hide the flash of protectiveness that overtook him.
He rubbed his eye, a trait that portrayed his uneasiness and grimaced slightly.
"Yes he informed me of that also"
She smiled at this action, somehow knowing the reasoning for it.
"But he also mentioned that the betrothal was nullified after you became sick"
"That is true" Kara replied "The Lockwood's don't look to kindly on weakness".
She said it as a joke but by the intensity in Kol's eyes told her that he didn't view it as one.
"Well I think he's an idiot, this George Lockwood" Kol spat the name obviously thinking of the man.
"Well he's been to university" Kara began "And he is now fighting for us in the war"
"Education does not breed intelligence Kara" Kol began subconsciously moving closer to her so that he could speak softer "Perhaps cleverness but not smarts and if the man gave up on you then I fear he has neither".
She couldn't help but let out a laugh at this, a genuine, whole hearted laugh.
"What is it?" Kol asked smiling at her impulsive fun but failing to see what she found funny.
Kara stifled her chortle and took two long breaths in to satisfy her lungs before replying.
"It's just that, no one has ever spoken about me the way you have" She paused a moment to gather her breath, a large smile still fixed on her face "But also no one has ever called George Lockwood 'unintelligent' before either".
Kara let out another few giggles and Kol couldn't help but chuckle a little with her.
Seeing her like this, happy and full of life seemed to almost transport Kol back to when Mystic Falls was just some small village in the 'New World' and they had nothing to worry about other than her parents catching them kissing behind some tree. It didn't seem unimportant back then, in fact they spent their days making up excuses for their families and discovering new hiding places in which to rendezvous but in hindsight it was the happiest he had ever been. If he had known what was to happen, what was to transpire the months after they had begun courting then he would have held on to each solitary moment with both hands and enjoyed it to the fullest. Now he was just grateful to have Kara and to find a second chance with her, even if she did not know it yet.
"Well I find that hard to believe" Kol said with an almost inflection of giddiness in his tone "On both counts".
Kara let out a small laugh once more which seemed to be fast becoming the newest and sweetest music in Kol's ears.
He tilted his head slightly whilst leaning it lightly on the back of the cushioned seat that lined the back of the carriage and just gazed at her.
"You really are candid Kol Mikelson" Kara spoke, the laughter only diminishing at the end of the sentence.
He shrugged.
"I've been called worse"
"Now that I do not believe" Kara smiled now trying to turn the conversation to him. She lay her head on the back of the chair just as he was and continued.
"Tell me about you"
Kol opened and closed his mouth in surprise to the question when suddenly the carriage came to a stop.
They both peered out the window simultaneously and Kara felt crestfallen to see that they were already stopped on Fell's Lane just outside the gates of the Fell manner.
"We're here?" Kol asked looking down at Kara for confirmation.
She nodded regretfully looking at Kol with sad eyes.
"We're here" she confirmed.
She couldn't help but see a flash of disappointment flicker in his eyes also.
As they heard the coachman dismount from his seat Kara turned to Kol, a polite smile now adorning her face.
"Thank you Kol" she began sitting up straight in the seat "For seeing me here in one piece"
"You are most welcome darling" he replied his tone sounding a lot more compassionate than he had intended it to. Their journey however had made him decide that he didn't care if she discovered of his affection for her. He wanted to tell her anyway just not quite yet, not while she presumed that they had just met yesterday. She smiled at the expression and went to move closer to the door as the coachman opened it from the outside.
"Kara" he called reaching out and grabbing her wrist more gently and tender than he had touched anyone in centuries.
"Yes?" she asked turning immediately. She didn't know what she wanted him to say, she only knew that she didn't want to be away from his presence, from him.
His hand trailed from her wrist to her hand, unconsciously stroking the tops of her knuckles.
"Just be careful won't you?"
She narrowed her eyes at him as her brain went into overdrive. 'Did he know? About the vampires and the witches? Or was he just being protective of her because of the weather issue'
She paused a moment, half in and half out of the carriage, her hand still in his and their eyes locked onto another and searched his face for clue as to what he was alluding to.
He gave nothing away, his facing only full of concern and …. want? She shook herself out of her musings and decided that he had said it because of the latter.
'Of course he couldn't know of the darkness in the town, Kara had only just found out and she had lived here all of her life, Kol had only just arrived. If anything it should be her warning him.
She took the coachman's offered hand, reluctantly letting go of Kol's and descended the couple of steps to the wet curb with Kol following behind gentlemanly. The coachman shut the door behind them and returned to his seat atop of the carriage whilst Kol lingered behind.
"Kara?" he asked again pushing her for an answer.
She nodded.
"I will but only if you promise to be careful as well".
He smiled a little, not used to anyone worrying about his safety.
"Very well, I promise"
She gave him an encouraging smile whilst turning to move away when suddenly she remembered the cloak.
"I almost forgot" she laughed a little nervously slipping the cloak from her shoulders.
Kol shook his head, extending his arm to fix the heavy material back onto her firmly. He took his time not caring about the rain and fixed the collar of the cloak and tied the clasp that sat over her collarbone more securely
"It looks better on you anyway".
Kara looked down slightly, not one to take a compliment but looked back to Kol through her eyelashes.
"Hey" he said softly, skimming his hand up her throat to reach her chin and tilting it up once more so that she confidently met his eyes "What did I tell you?"
Kara knew what he had said but she in no way believed it or took it to heart.
She shuddered inwardly as the thumb holding up her chin began caressing her jaw-line gently, reaching up far enough to graze lightly off of her bottom lip. The feeling was overwhelming and one that she had never felt before. It was something akin to craving your favourite dessert while it is sitting right in front of you and knowing you cannot have it.
"That you are more important than you know" he elaborated.
Kara's heart skipped a beat at the fact that his voice shuddered at the declaration of the sentence. She watched as the rain poured down his face; as drops dripped down from his hairline and trailed from his forehead down his cheek to his lips where it lingered for a moment before falling away, joining the litres of liquid flowing down the street.
"Kol you are getting drenched" Kara tried to laugh light-heartedly.
Kol shook his head and removing one hand from her chin, slid his two hands to the back of her neck where he proceeded to lift the hood of the cloak over her head. The coat seemed over-sized on her but Kol was happy to see that the material covered the entirety of her crown, if not more.
"I care not" Kol replied eyeing Kara as Stefan or in fact Damon would look at Katherine.
She gulped involuntary and for some reason, could no longer feel the rain falling from the sky, or the dampness that laced each breeze.
Suddenly a voice called out to her. It wasn't Kol's, the voice seemed farther away.
She could see that Kol had heard it to and joined her in looking about to see who had summoned her. She turned just in time to see a slightly dishevelled Sterling Fell running from his parent's manor house, a large umbrella fanned out above him to shield him from the elements of nature.
"I thought it was you" Sterling yelled over the rush of the rain water as he became closer.
"You shouldn't be out in such conditions" he berated standing near Kara so that she would gain the advantage of the umbrella.
Kara chuckled good naturedly.
"That is what Mr Mikelson here was just advising me" she said indicating to Kol who was now looking at Sterling somewhat dangerously.
"Ah Mr Mikelson? Pleasure to make you acquaintance sir" Sterling greeted friendlily holding out his hand to shake Kol's.
"Mr Fell I presume" Kol replied hiding his discomfort and shaking hands with Sterling.
"That's right" Sterling replied in somewhat a cheerful and animated manner "I apologise that my family have not bestowed the promptest of welcomes to you sir, I daresay we have been quite occupied as of late but I do hope that we become acquainted formally soon enough".
Kol nodded civilly.
"Of course" Kol replied. In truth he could admit that he wasn't the least bit interested in acquainting with the 'Fells' but for Kara's sake he figured he would at least be courteous to the obviously polite man.
"No matter in any case, I have had the charming Miss Salvatore making me most welcome to the town".
Kara bowed her head unable to help the smirk that played on her lips.
"Ah" Sterling exclaimed joyously patting Kara on the back as if he would a child "Charming, that she is".
Kara subtly shrugged him off. She hated being patronised and coddled. She was not a child anymore and it seemed that no one in the town wished to see it. No one but Kol that is. She turned to Sterling with fire in her eyes.
"Your Mother is expecting me I presume?" she asked with a formality she didn't often use with family friends.
Sterling nodded a bit taken aback.
"Good"
She bowed her head slightly to the two gentlemen and made her leave towards the large gate that separated the Fell's large manner house from the footpath that bordered the street.
Sterling walked after her but more so to enter back into his own house than to follow her.
Kol waited a beat before calling after her.
"Miss Salvatore" he called ceremoniously as Sterling was still in earshot. She stalled and turned back catching Sterling's eye as he moved passed her.
She had just entered the courtyard, inside the boundary designated by the gate but walked slowly to exited once more as she viewed Kol walking in-pace towards her.
"I apologise for calling you back" he began, uncharacteristically nervous "You have a task and I am distracting you, preventing you from completing it".
Kara smiled at his sincerity and shrugged lightly.
"A good distraction".
Kol smirked a little smugly, the compliment awakening both the loving and possessive emotions he had for her.
"Whilst I agree with that" he all but laughed, eliciting a laugh from Kara "I am a distraction none the less and for that you have my apologies".
"Well" Kara responded ceasing her laughter but failing to keep her mirth from her voice "I do accept your apology but I beg you to believe me when I tell you that your 'Distracting' as you called it has been the highlight of my ever so increasingly stressful week. For that I feel I must give you my thanks"
Kol looked to his feet and back to her face.
"I wish to do this again, if that is alright with you?".
Kara chuckled a little.
"What? Save me from a rainstorm?"
"No" Kol breathed with a smile "Spend time with you, converse with you, get to know you".
The humour vanished from Kara's face and she could feel her heart hammer in her chest. It wasn't necessarily bad feeling but one of unsureness and anxiety.
"Why?" she asked after a few beats, for it was all she could think of to say.
Kol gave her a look. It was one she had never seen anyone give her before, only him. It was the same look of tenderness and adoration he had bestowed on her throughout their carriage ride.
'Because I love you'
That was the response he had wanted to say and it played over and over in his head, but he knew he couldn't tell her. It was too soon, way too soon and he would scare her. Scare her away most probably and it would kill him if she were to look in anyway fearful of him.
"Because…" he began thinking of each word carefully.
"I am…fond of you. Greatly fond of you in fact"
Kara couldn't help but let the large smile that adorned her mouth eclipse her face. All worries of her illness seemed to dissipate, all of the concern about the vampires and witches and missing friends seemed to seep away. Not gone but not overshadowing her either.
"Well that is good" she began looking from him to her feet to him again "Because I am greatly fond of you too". She used the same words as he did and it made him smile.
"It seems we have an audience" Kol said suddenly looking over her shoulder and indicating to the Fell's house.
Kara turned to see Honoria Fell, obviously after receiving some information from her son, watching them both out of the window. She seemed to disappear behind a curtain however when she saw she had been discovered.
Kara sighed and turned back.
"I'm sorry" she spoke looking regretfully at Kol "I should go".
Kol nodded and without warning bent down and kissed her adoringly on the cheek. It seemed to last forever but equally Kara never wanted it to stop. Chills were pulsing up and down her spine at the gesture and a warmth she had never experienced before overcame her.
"Go" Kol said breathily as he summoned his strength to pull away. His scent still remained, surrounding her.
Kara nodded and stepped back, hoping that if she was far enough away from him then she might be able to get her mind working again so she could figure out what she was going to tell Honoria about Emily. She began moving once more, urging her legs forward
"And Kara" Kol started again.
She turned to look at him, her heart thumping hard against her ribcage at just the view of him.
"I will see you soon"
Kara smiled and nodded.
"Soon"
Hey guys…so that was chapter 17! I hope you liked it and didn't find it too long. : ) Please let me know what you think and if you have any ideas or comments I am all ears. Thanks for reading! : ) xxxxxxxxxx