Hello, my lovely readers. I'm a little late on posting this chapter. Sorry! On with the show…
Chapter 3: Doctor's Orders
Halloween: 12:10 a.m.
Caroline Forbes was shaking in her boots. There was something seriously wrong in these woods tonight but she's trying to not show how scared she was. Elena had moved aside to try to talk to Jeremy while Bonnie was keeping an eye out for anyone with a weapon. Elijah Mikaelson came running through the trees to fall down on his knees beside a grieving Hayley. And Damon. Where in the hell was Damon? And Klaus? Feeling her heart begin to pound, Caroline spun around on her heel slowly, trying to catch sight of Klaus, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen and hadn't been all night.
"Rebekah?!" Caroline called, rubbing her arms. She could have sworn that Rebekah and Stefan had joined the crowd. They had been on the other side from where she was standing. Now there were only trees and kids she wasn't familiar with.
Moving forward on legs that were about to give beneath her, Caroline found herself standing over Elijah. "Elijah," she said, her voice hoarse. "Elijah," she tried again. When he didn't look up from his process of rocking Hayley back and forth as the other girl sobbed into his shirt collar, Caroline placed a hand on his shoulder. "Elijah!"
Elijah jumped nearly falling on top of Hayley who looked up at Caroline with bloodshot, unfocused eyes. "What?" she moaned as Elijah looked up at Caroline, his lips pursed, his eyes blank.
"Klaus. He's missing. I can't find him. And Rebekah. And Stefan. I don't. I don't know…" Caroline felt her throat closing up around the words.
Elijah got to his feet seemingly forgetting that he still had Hayley tucked into his arms, pulling her upward until they were both standing. "Jackson," he called to the brother of the recently deceased who was running his hands over his face and hair.
"No. No. Ollie!" Jackson was groaning.
"Jackson," Elijah snapped and Jackson's eye darted upward.
"What?" Jackson snapped back, his temper flaring as his face flushed crimson and he rose to his feet.
The Mikaelson brother did not seem to be worried about Jackson's reaction. "Take Hayley. Go somewhere safe," he ordered Jackson who just scoffed.
"You still think you can just tell everyone what to do, don't you? We're not in high school any more. And you aren't anything to me. I'm staying with my brother," Jackson snarled back before kneeling down to take Oliver's hand.
Caroline opened her mouth to point out that there was nothing that Jackson could do for his brother now and Elijah needed to stop worrying about the Keeners and find his damned brother. Instead she took a deep breath. "I'll stay with Hayley," she offered and Elijah nodded.
"Hayley, Caroline will watch you until I get back," Elijah told Hayley who simply stared into the woods without reacting. Elijah hesitated before he turned to Caroline. "I will be back soon."
"Right," Caroline said, hugging herself. Then she looked over at Elena. She was still on the phone, possibly with Jeremy. Maybe not. Grabbing Hayley by the hand she dragged the other girl over to where Elena was talking to her brother. "Elena," Caroline called, lightly tapping her friend on the arm. Elena jumped before turning to look at her with wide, fear filled eyes.
"Caroline, have you seen Damon?" Elena asked her immediately. Caroline bit her lip. She hadn't been looking for Damon and now that she peered into the crowd she realized she hadn't seen or heard him either in a while.
"No. And Klaus is missing, too. Elijah went to look for him. Oh, God. What if? I didn't even get to tell him I'm still angry at him. And that I would kill him myself if he's gone off into the woods like an idiot and got himself killed. That is so Klaus," Caroline was more talking herself by this point because Elena was ignoring her in favor of talking to Jeremy. Which was totally understandable. She stopped talking when Hayley let out a hysterical laugh. "What are you laughing about?"
"I don't know," Hayley said as tears spilled down her cheeks. "I don't know. I don't know," she kept saying as she sunk into the dirt before she started screaming, pounding the dirt with closed fists.
Caroline couldn't think of what to say when they heard another scream from the woods. This time it was Damon. Caroline would know his annoying voice anywhere. Yanking Hayley to her feet, Caroline dragged her along as Elena sped ahead of them like she was flying with Bonnie on her heels. They found Damon on the ground beside Stefan.
"Rebekah was here with him. But then her father showed up and took her. I don't know if they got out here safely," Damon was saying as he tried to figure out what to do for Stefan other than hold his hand.
"Stefan," Elena cried, falling down next Damon. She still had very little medical training but Caroline was sure that she could help. "Just press down on the wound," Elena was ordering Damon as Bonnie took Elena's phone and started talking to Jeremy.
Caroline was gripping Hayley's hand firmly in hers as the other girl just stared at Stefan without a word. "We've got…" she had no idea how to finish that statement when a paramedic came running toward them with another two and a stretcher. They forced the friends to move away from Stefan.
After that everything was happening so quickly Caroline could barely keep up. Stefan was being moved through the woods with Damon running along with them. Bonnie told her and Elena that she going back to the Gilberts. They hugged and Bonnie was gone. A paramedic insisted that someone needed to drive Hayley to the hospital because she was in shock.
That was how Caroline found herself driving to the hospital with Elena in the passenger seat and Hayley and Jackson in the back. Two minutes into the trip it dawned on her that they had left Elijah back at The Falls. If Klaus was still alive and well and something happened to his brother, Klaus would kill her. Stopping the car, Caroline turned the car around in a wide U-turn.
"Caroline, what are you doing? The hospital is that way?" Elena yelled as Caroline sped back toward The Falls.
Opening her mouth, Caroline was about to reply when she spotted Elijah running amongst the cars trying to find something. She was about to shout to him when she noticed a hooded figure stalking toward him. Whoever it was was holding a butcher knife. Gritting her teeth because she had had enough of whoever this person was who was ruining Halloween, Caroline pressed the accelerator to the floor, making everyone in the car scream as she sped forward toward the hooded figure.
Feeling her blood coursing through her veins, Caroline grinned just as her car approached the hooded freak and then they drove away. "No!" Caroline shouted, hitting the steering wheel in frustration.
"Elijah!" Hayley shouted, opening her door and Elena whirled around as the hooded figure got to his/her feet and ran toward the car.
"Close the door!" Elena screamed as the hooded figure ran toward Hayley with the knife upraised and then Elijah appeared. He was holding a tire iron and smacked their would-be assailant's shoulder. The knife hit the ground and Elijah jumped into the car, falling on top of Hayley and Jackson.
"Drive!" Elijah shouted as the hooded figure who would not die got to his/her feet and no one had to tell Caroline twice as she pounded her foot on the accelerator.
"Did you find Klaus?" Caroline shouted at Elijah who was settling himself between Jackson and Hayley.
"No," he replied with a shake of his head. "I tried to, but he… I hope he went home," Elijah said but she could hear the doubt in his voice.
As they drove down the road, they noticed a car parked by the road side. "That's my father's!" Elijah cried and Caroline stopped. She would be so relieved to see Mr. Mikaelson or any adult right then. Maybe he had Klaus with him.
Elijah got out of the car and then screamed when he looked inside. "NO!" Elena and Caroline followed him out. Hayley got out and came to stand beside Elijah who had fallen to his knees.
"Oh, my God!" Caroline screamed, seeing Mr. Mikaelson's head in the passenger side seat, no longer attached to his body.
"We have to go," Hayley told Elijah, yanking on him as he tried to pull away.
"Father!" Elijah cried out.
"Help me!" Hayley yelled, finally coming out of her shock for a minute at least. Elena and Caroline helped drag Elijah to the car. They sat for ten seconds before Caroline hit the gas and they were flying forward along the empty street, in silence.
By the time they got to the hospital, Caroline felt like she was in shock, too. This was one long nightmare and they still had another twenty-two hours to go according to the clock in the lobby of the emergency room. Elena went to the counter and asked for Stefan Salvatore's floor. He was on the fourth floor. They had taken him to surgery but they could sit in the waiting room.
Elena led them to the elevators. She punched the button as Elijah mumbled to himself. When they arrived Caroline caught sight of Damon pacing around. He looked drained. "Hey," he said when he saw everyone who had come.
"My father was decapitated," Elijah told Damon who blinked.
"What?" Damon asked with his eyes widening to the point that Caroline feared they would fall out.
Elena took Damon's hand. "What did they tell you about how Stefan is doing?"
"He's," Damon looked at Elijah who Caroline had forced to sit down. "The doctor told me that he been stabbed three times but that they'd missed any major organs. I guess I should thank Rebekah. She's the one who stopped the killer… from killing Stef. I don't know what he was thinking going out there off by himself," he continued.
"We just need to stay together," Caroline added and Damon nodded.
"Where's Bonnie?" Damon asked, looking at them. "And where's Klaus?"
"Bonnie left before we did to go be with Jeremy," Caroline said and then Elijah interrupted.
"When did you see Niklaus?" he asked Damon.
Damon stared at the wall like that would give him the answers. "Like an hour ago… Wait. No, what time is it?"
"It's two o'clock," Hayley told him, looking at her phone.
"Ummm… It must have been when I arrived at the party. He was looking for Caroline. But you weren't there yet. Then he started drinking and I lost track of him," Damon looked at Caroline whose breath hitched in her lungs.
"I'm sure he's fine," Elena told Caroline and Elijah who did not look like they believed her.
"Okay. So, I'm going to get some coffee," Caroline said. She moved toward the machine. Removing a dollar, she started to stuff it into the machine when she noticed Hayley moving away from the group.
"Where are you going?" Caroline hissed but the other girl just hurried off. Caroline huffed as she tried to make up her mind about which coffee she wanted. Looking up at the group, she turned and ran after Hayley who had snuck into the stairwell. "Where are you going?" Caroline called as she chased the other girl down.
"I'm going to get some drugs," Hayley said. "I need something to calm down and something to keep me from falling asleep."
"This isn't Nightmare on Elm Street," Caroline reminded the brunette who let out a chuckle.
"Could have fooled me," Hayley retorted as she pushed a door open. She walked by someone and grabbed their visitor's pass before getting a nurse to let her onto the sixth floor. Caroline felt guilty as she swiped a doctor's keys. They hurried down the hall, ducking into corners to hide from doctors. Yanking the door to a closet open, Hayley found the drugs and held out her hand for Caroline to offer the keys.
"Watch for people," Hayley ordered as she shoved keys in and pulled them out until she found the right one. Caroline was watching when someone went walking by in a pair of scrubs. Ducking her head, Caroline let out a cry when someone jerked the door open and she came face to face with Klaus.
"Klaus," Caroline whispered, her eyes widening. She was about to say something else when Klaus slammed a hand over her mouth. His eyes flicked to Hayley and he signaled for her to be silent with an upraised hand.
Caroline wanted to ask Klaus what was going on when she noticed the bandage on his arm. "Klaus," she whispered again when he pulled his hand down.
"Caroline. Hayley. We need to get out of this hospital. Now!" Klaus announced, taking Caroline's hand, he jerked her out of the closet and they were moving quickly down the hall. They stopped when two doctors began to chat as they walked down the hall. Klaus jerked Caroline behind a corner and then shoved Hayley into her with a frightened expression on his face.
"A psych patient escaped from the eighth floor," one of the doctors told the other one.
"What did the person look like?" the other doctor asked.
"Male. Early twenties. White. Tall. Thin," the first doctor told the second.
"And he has a British accent," the doctor that Caroline had seen when she was in the closet told him. She noticed that Klaus slammed himself against the wall, his chest moving rapidly as his breathing became erratic.
"Yeah," the first doctor said with a smile. "Don't worry. We'll find him, Dr. O'Connell, and you can take him back to New Orleans. How did he get this far, anyway?"
"He's always been able to manipulate people. I'm sure he found a way. He always does," Dr. O'Connell told them with a sunny smile.
When the three walked off, Klaus took Caroline by the hand who reached out and grabbed Hayley by the hand. As a group, they ran as fast as they could down the hall and into the stairwell. They were trying to get to the fifth floor when Hayley slipped and knocked the other two down the remaining five stairs. They landed in a pile at the base of the fifth floor steps.
The first thing that Hayley did was make sure that the drugs were fine. "Cool," she breathed as Caroline and Klaus glared at her. "Sorry. We need these." Looking back at the stairs, he eyes rounded. "There's blood. I slipped on blood."
"Oh, no," Caroline moaned as she looked at it.
"We need to go!" Klaus reminded them as they heard a set of running footsteps coming downwards.
"Come on." Caroline got to her feet and pulled Hayley up.
They were running when they heard the person right behind them. "Go. Now," she ordered and they ran into the fifth floor lobby. If they could make the elevator, they would be fine. She turned around to find that Hayley was missing. Seeing a fire extinguisher. Caroline grabbed it and ran back.
"Caroline!" Klaus cried as he followed her back into the staircase. Caroline was so done with being scared. When she entered the stairwell, she raised her weapon of choice when Klaus grabbed her and she gasped when she realized she had almost killed Elijah who had blood coming out from his ankle.
"There is a fake doctor here. We need to leave as soon as possible," Elijah was saying to Hayley when he turned to see Caroline's arms raised over her head, ready to smash his brains in.
"Caroline, if you must kill someone, make sure you're killing the right person," Elijah said with his usual calm demeanor.
Caroline felt ashamed when she lowered her arms. Then she heard another voice. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you. You really shouldn't have tried to leave the ward," Dr. O'Connell was saying as she moved down the stairs. "I'll have to have you restrained once we get back," she was telling Klaus.
"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked the doctor who blinked her blue eyes back at Caroline like she was stupid.
"I've called security. They should be here any time now. If I were you, kids. I would leave before you end up in jail tonight," she informed them. "Now, come along, Klaus."
"He's not going anywhere with you," Caroline said, raising the fire extinguisher again.
"Yes, he is. And I would put that down if I were you or you'll find yourself in a restraints, too," the not so good doctor informed Caroline with a smile that chilled Caroline.
"I don't think so," Hayley said before shoving a needle into the doctor's arm. "Have a nice nap, bitch."
They took off down the stairs as the doctor slumped onto the steps. Elijah was in the lead as he shoved the doors to the waiting room open. Elena and Damon looked up with matching expressions of confusion. "We have to leave," Elijah announced as Damon looked at them.
"We can't. Stefan's still here. The doctor just came in to tell me that he just got out of surgery," Damon said as Elijah shook his head.
"Where's Jackson?" Hayley asked, looking around.
"A cop came to take him to the morgue," Elena told her gently. Hayley nodded as tears ran down her cheeks.
"We should find Stefan and leave," Klaus said as he looked around.
"How?" Damon asked.
"I have privileges here," Elena spoke up and the others nodded. "I'll get you all some scrubs. She disappeared for ten minutes while Damon began to pace again. When his girlfriend reappeared with the scrubs, causing other visitors to give them weird looks, Elena forced a smile.
"It's Halloween," Elena reminded them. That seemed to do the trick and they separated, changing their clothes in the bathrooms. Coming out, Elena showed her I. D. before a nurse let her through. "Sorry. I forgot the code. That's what happens when you're new."
The group hurried to Stefan's room. Stefan was asleep when Damon woke him. "Hey, baby brother," he said quietly.
"Hey!" Stefan replied.
"It's time to go," Damon said gently.
"What?" Stefan looked confused when Klaus yanked his bedclothes off and looked for his clothes.
"Looks like you'll be leaving in the gown," Klaus muttered before he and Damon helped Stefan off the bed. Caroline was half in and half out of the room, watching people as they passed by. When the coast was clear, they left the room, with Stefan. Soon they were entering an elevator and they were sure everything would be okay when the elevator door opened to a group of security officers with their guns drawn.
"Shit," Klaus whispered and Caroline felt the same as a pair of handcuffs were slapped onto her wrists. This nightmare was just getting started.
And now you know who two of the killers are. Now, who are the others?
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Answers to guest reviews:
halfmylifeDE: Thank you! I'm having a lot of fun branching out into to writing horror with this fic and it's wonderful that readers are enjoying it too. Trust me, there will be a lot of Damon and Elena moments in this story. Damon will be targeted at some point in the story but I can't say when just yet.
Peace,
J