Caroline felt like she had walked right into a brick wall, when she slowly opened her eyes and the blunt pain in the head hit her. She managed to lift herself to her elbows as her eyes glided around the room that she hadn't seen before. It had a familiar scent to it, though and after inhaling deeply, she realised that it had to be Stefan's room.
How did I end up in here? And why is my head killing me like this? I am a vampire; I'm not supposed to get headaches.
Slowly, she lifted the covers off her and looked down herself to see a long white nightgown. She had no memory of putting it on and she quickly widened her senses to check whether anyone else was around. All she heard was Damon walking around downstairs, but she didn't even stop to think how she knew it was him.
Instead her eyes were caught by her reflection in the full length mirror she was looking in. Her skin was greyish and looked almost paper thin and her hair was untamed and dull. She looked like she had slept in a coffin for centuries and she searched her mind to remember what had possibly caused her to look like this.
But nothing came to mind and she sighed heavily. As she thought about whatever supernatural explanation was the cause of her looks and memory loss, another thought hit her. She had to get out of there, immediately. She had to run as far away as she could from Mystic Falls before it was too late. She had had enough of this stinking town. There was a whole world out there waiting for her and she wanted to see it.
She ignored the small voice in her head that told her something was wrong. That this was wrong. Caroline Forbes would never leave her friends behind. Loyalty was one of her biggest virtues. And yet there was something pulling her away. Something in the back of her mind that told her to run as fast as she could. And so she did.
With resolute steps, she exited the room and entered a long hallway. She needed to go home and pack, but first she needed blood. Her mouth was so dry that it felt like sandpaper and she realised that her thirst had to be the cause of her throbbing headache and grey looking skin. She knew the Salvatore's had a freezer in the cellar filled with blood bags and she needed to go there before leaving. She couldn't trust herself among humans while she was this thirsty.
She managed to sneak down to the cellar without being caught by Damon. Caroline needed to leave without meeting anyone, who could change her mind. She quickly opened the freezer and reached for a blood bag. It was gone in mere seconds and before she knew it, she had emptied ten of them, which was the whole stock. She was still very thirsty and in frustration, she slammed the door of the freezer down.
She realised her mistake as soon as she heard Damon stop in his tracks to listen after whatever had caused the sound. Caroline began panicking as she realised that he was coming down to her and for a moment she wished she was another Petrova doppelgänger, so she could fool him like Katherine had done so many times.
"Elena?" Damon said as he rounded the corner and found her in front of the freezer. Caroline looked around confused, wondering if her friend was in the room too, but as she moved her head, she noticed the colour of hair and forced herself not to grab it in shock. Because it wasn't blonde anymore. Instead it was the same chestnut brown as Elena's and a quick glance down her body, revealed her friend's lean figure that Caroline had always been jealous of.
Caroline had no idea what was going on, but she realised that she had gotten exactly what she had wished for and decided to make use of her new looks. She sent Damon a greeting smile and Caroline was surprised to see him return it so quickly. But it was Elena, after all.
"I thought you were visiting the Ripper?" Damon asked with a smirk on his face, but Caroline could sense that he was smiling to hide his insecurity. What ripper had Elena been visiting? She had only ever heard Stefan go by that name, but he had left the town without a word six months ago. Had he come back?
"Yeah, but I came back to check on Caroline and then I got thirsty. Let's go upstairs." Caroline said with Elena's voice and it took all of her willpower not to freak out.
"Rapunzel is still sleeping… Like she has for the last week! I think I can manage to look after a corpse." Damon said with annoyance. The others clearly didn't trust his skills as caretaker and she couldn't really blame them. She was after all standing right in front of him and he had no idea.
"She is not a corpse, Damon. And it was Sleeping Beauty and not Rapunzel, who slept for a hundred years." Caroline retorted. She realised her mistake as soon as she saw the suspicious glare in Damon's eyes. Elena would never say something like that and Damon knew.
They had reached the hallway and Caroline was quickly moving towards the front door with Damon right behind her. As soon as she reached the door, Damon was right in front of her, smiling at her with that cunning glimpse in his eyes.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to get more blood bags from the hospital. We're out."
"And what about Caroline?"
"She will still be there, when I come back." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Now let me go."
She looked him into the eyes and noticed the sudden change in his appearance as his body became relaxed and his eyes went blank for a moment. To her surprise he quickly stepped aside and opened the door for her. She stepped outside and turned to look at him again. He seemed to return to his normal self and was now looking at her with a confused expression in his eyes as he had no idea why he had just done that.
She looked at him for a long moment before she stepped closer and caught his eyes again.
"Stick out your tongue." she told him and Damon immediately did what she told him. He was looking at her with big eyes as he realised what she could do and Caroline was just as shocked.
"Put your tongue back in your mouth. You're gonna let me leave and you will forget that I was here. Go check on me- I mean Caroline in an hour. Than wait another hour before you tell anyone she's gone. Do you understand?" Caroline compelled him with a smile on her face.
There was murder in his eyes as he nodded at her instructions and put back in his tongue.
"Good bye, Damon. See you in... Well, who knows?" Caroline said with a cheery voice, feeling excited about her successful escape. All she had to do now was pack a few of her things and then be on her way. The world was waiting!
Caroline was surprised, when she reached her house in just a few minutes, much faster than usual. She quickly went inside and found a large bag that she began throwing clothing and her personal items into. She had automatically changed back to her normal self as soon as she had entered her room and one look in the mirror reminded her of the disaster she looked like. Her skin wasn't grey anymore and the headache was gone, but her hair was still a mess and she was only wearing the night gown.
She decided to take a quick shower as she could not force herself into public looking like that and quickly threw on some clothes. As she put on make-up, she noticed a diamond bracelet that lay on her nightstand and didn't hesitate to put in on. Something inside her, told her that it was important and she didn't think about it twice.
Caroline was looking for one last dress to take with her, when her eyes stopped at a blue ball gown, she didn't remember buying. Slowly, she took it out of her closet and let her hand glide over the light material before she put it on her bed. A knot suddenly started forming in her stomach and the more she looked at it, the more the feeling grew of having lost something. Or worse, someone.
As soon as the feeling of regret overwhelmed her, she shook it off and removed her eyes from the beautiful dress. She then picked another dress and put in her bag without taking a second glance at the ball gown. In the last moment, Caroline decided to write a note for her friends. She felt bad for just leaving without saying goodbye and quickly scrambled some words down on a piece of paper:
Goodbye.
When you see this, I'll be long gone and hopefully far away from this place.
This place that has caused so many heartbreaks for all of us that it is no longer home for me.
This wasn't how our lives were supposed to be. We were going to grow old, have kids and die in peace.
But our reality has changed and I think it is time for me to embrace that.
So I'm leaving this town to go see what the world has to offer me.
Great cities and music and art; genuine beauty.
I will return someday. Maybe in a year, a decade or even a century, I will turn up at your doors once more.
I don't know where I will go; Rome, Paris, Tokyo! Who knows?
I love you.
Ps. Take care of the puppy, will you?
Caroline looked down on the paper and was for a moment filled with immense sadness. Then she looked at her last line and felt confused. Why had she even written that? It made no sense to her whatsoever, but as she placed the pen on the paper to erase it, something stopped her and she placed the note on her bed instead.
Caroline grabbed her bag and took one last look around her room. This was her old life. This was the Caroline, who had died in a hospital bed two years earlier and if there was one thing Caroline wasn't: it was dead. Before she closed the door behind her, her eyes glided over the dress on the bed and the note on top of it and she knew she had to get out of there before she changed her mind.
Before she pulled out from her driveway, Caroline took out her phone and found a world map on Google. She placed the phone in her lap and closed her eyes. Caroline spun the phone around a couple of times and then she placed her finger on the screen. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see where she had pointed and when she lifted her finger, the phone zoomed in on her destination: Spain.
With a wide smile on her face, she threw her phone out of the window and shifted to drive. As Caroline drove towards the edge of the town, she turned on the radio and she laughed out loud when the music blasted through her speakers. Moments later, Caroline passed the sign telling her that she was leaving Mystic Falls and she cranked up the volume as she sang along.
But now I've seen it through
And now I know the truth
That anything could happen
Anything could happen
Anything could happen
Anything could happen
Anything could happen
Anything could happen
A/N: Confused? Well, you're suppose to be;) I would love to hear your thoughts of what you think happened!
This is where part one ends, but don't worry because part two will give you all the answers! And make you ask even more:P
There will also be a time jump after this chapter, but you'll see:)
The lyrics in the end is from the song 'Anything could happen' by Ellie Goulding.