((So we all know Candice Accola can sing, so I don't think this is too far fetched:) It just came to me in the shower the other day after my husband heard Carrie Underwood's version of "How Great Thou Art" and remarked how much Candice reminded him of her when she sang. I know...right? My husband is fan of TVD, what can I say. If you haven't heard Carrie Underwood's live version of "How Great Thou Art", seriously...It's amazing! Watch it here: watch?v=pLLMzr3PFgk. Anywho. Enjoy. Elejah next chapter))
"Oh! Oh my God," Rebekah exclaimed, closing her eyes in bliss for a few moments as she chewed, then opened them and pointed down to her plate with her empty fork, "I think that's probably… the best thing I've ever put into my mouth!" She immediately looked of the corner of her eye at Damon, sitting next to her at the kitchen table, "No offense, Damon."
"None taken," Damon replied politely as he wrapped some pasta around his own fork
"Ahh! Gross! " Kol cried suddenly, dropping the knife he was using to slice garlic bread at the kitchen island and covering his ears, causing Misha to laugh as he poured himself a glass of wine on the counter nearby.
"Well, I've lost my appetite!" Klaus said with a raised eyebrow, tossing his napkin on the table next to his half-finished plate of pasta Bolognese and stood from where he sat between Damon and Kaspar, "I think I'll just see where Caroline has gotten to."
"If you see her, tell her we're getting bored and we're breaking out the board games soon," Kol said, his dark eyes following his older brother as he crossed the room, bringing his hands down and resumed his slicing, "Does she like Parcheesi?"
Klaus opened his mouth to reply, but Damon quickly interrupted, "Who doesn't like Parcheesi?"
"I don't," Misha offered with a chuckle as he took a sip from his wine glass.
"Me neither," Rebekah added with her mouth full, raising her hand
"Count me out," Kaspar concurred
"Really?" Kol sighed in exasperation, studying the traitors as he put his knife down again and took a swig from the wine bottle where Misha had left it on the counter, "Do you people have any class?"
# # # # # # #
Caroline looked down at her phone in her lap, lighting up the main screen.
Nothing…
No calls, no texts.
It had been at least forty minutes since she had called Jeremy and Bonnie and apprised them of the situation.
They had said that they needed some time to find the Gilbert journals…But, patience wasn't always one of her virtues.
Caroline sighed as she turned the screen off then turned her eyes back toward Stefan, reaching a hand out and taking his hand in hers.
She took in a deep breath, smiling sadly as she slid forward in the chair next to his bed, leaning in closer to him.
"You know, I have a confession to make…" she whispered, "After I became a vampire, I remembered all the things that I was compelled to forget when I was human…like the fact that you and I met four months before that first day of school when you mysteriously 'arrived' in Mystic Falls to live with your uncle."
Caroline looked down to her hand in Stefan's, remembering the handshake they had shared that day four years ago.
"It was in the church…the day of ..." she suddenly stopped, tears now coming to her eyes at the memory and she wiped them away with her free hand, "You told me afterwards, in the receiving line, that I had the 'voice of an angel' and that it had warmed your heart…"
She sniffed then cast her eyes toward Stefan's face.
"Well, Stefan Salvatore, this angel is going to sing for you now."
# # # # # #
Mystic Falls, 2009
Stefan straightened his black striped tie and removed his sunglasses as he solemnly entered the church late and stood in a corner at the back as to not be seen by anyone as the service started, his eyes completely transfixed on the teenage girl in the front row with the long, dark brown hair.
He had been watching her for days since the car accident he had rescued her from—the accident that had claimed the life of the people Stefan now believed to be her parents and who occupied the two mahogany caskets now resting at the front of the church, blanketed in white roses.
He listened intently, still studying the girl and her family as the pastor and guest speakers talked about Miranda and Grayson Gilbert and how they had been devoted parents, community leaders and well-respected physicians.
Stefan closed his eyes, his mind immediately flashing back to his own memory of Miranda and Grayson Gilbert—that night when he had been out hunting in the woods and had heard their car go off the Wickery Bridge.
Not long after diving into the water, he had found the vehicle resting on the bottom of the quarry.
In the front seat, he saw a man and a woman. The woman was unconscious, but the man was pushing against the driver's side door, struggling to get it open.
Stefan could see through the window that he was running out of time, ready to pass out at any minute. He reached for the door handle, ready to rip the door off, but the man immediately made eye contact with Stefan and shook his head.
Stefan wasn't sure why he didn't want to be helped until the man signaled over his shoulder to the back seat.
And it was then, as he swam toward the back passenger door and looked through the glass, that Stefan saw her….the beautiful, dark haired teenager.
He was startled at first. She looked so much like Katherine…it was surreal. But, he quickly reminded himself that Katherine was dead and, after a few moments, reality set in and he pulled the back passenger door off and reached inside, swiftly ripping the seatbelt off of the girl and pulling her to his chest.
After sliding back through the passenger door, Stefan immediately swam to the driver's side window…
Sadly, just in time to see the last air bubbles leave Grayson Gilbert's noise, his eyes fixed on his daughter safely in Stefan's arms, then dilating. His last conscious act was to reach out and take his wife's hand where it rested on the arm rest between them.
Stefan opened his eyes as silence now filled the church and he realized that the last speaker, a man the minister had introduced as John Gilbert, Grayson's brother, had finished. Stefan watched as the blonde, middle aged man, folded up his speech and placed it inside his suit jacket as he stepped down off the stage.
"And now," the minister said, returning to his place behind the microphone, "In memory of the Gilberts, Miss Caroline Forbes will give her rendition of 'How Great Thou Art'."
The minister then nodded toward someone in the audience and Stefan straightened as he watched a tall, blonde, dressed in a black velvet mini dress and high heels slide out of one of the front pews and walk down the aisle toward the stage, the minister offering her his hand up the side steps.
She wiped under her eyes as she walked up to the microphone stand, casting a sideways glance to the young man in a black shirt and red tie who came to stand next to her, bringing the strap of his electric guitar over his head as he plugged in his amp. He then looked over his shoulder to the respective adults now taking their positions at the piano, the drums and the steel guitar behind them.
When they were ready, the young man pulled his guitar pick out of his pocket and nodded to Caroline and she stepped closer to the microphone as they started playing opening melody of the hymn.
She closed her eyes and sang in a sweet, low melodic voice that took Stefan's breath away.
"O Lord, my God…
When I, in awesome wonder, consider all…
The worlds thy hands have made."
Then she opened her eyes and took hold of the microphone with one hand, smiling softly, but sadly
"I see the stars…
I hear the rolling thunder…
Thy power throughout the universe, displayed."
She cast a glance down at the coffins in front of the stage below her, before closing her eyes again, bringing her hand over her heart.
"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee…
How great Thou art…
How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee…
How great Thou art…
How great Thou art!"
Stefan gasped, watching her take a step away from the microphone as the steel guitarist and the electric guitarist started playing a melodic, weaving interlude.
He smirked, the song instantly bringing back warm memories of his brother, Damon, two hundred years before and how he would always lead the church choir in the song every Sunday…in the very same church they were now standing in.
Damon didn't really like going to church—Hell, he wasn't much of a choir boy either—but he kept going well into his twenties, long after Father had stopped. Stefan knew that he mostly went out of respect for their Mother who had died when Stefan was born. She had been a deeply religious woman and 'How Great Thou Art' had been one of her favorite songs. It was also one of the first Damon had learned to play on the piano and he had taught it to Stefan during their fishing trips to the quarry as boys. Damon always said the hymn would calm the fish and make them bite.
Stefan was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as a projection screen above the stage now lowered and pictures of Miranda and Grayson Gilbert with their family and friends now flashed on the screen as the guitarist's solo came to an end and Caroline stepped toward the microphone again and sang, her voice rising methodically
"When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home…
What joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim…"
She looked out into the crowd as took the microphone off the stand and into her hands, her voice crying out in perfect diva pitch.
"'My God, how great Thou art!'"
Stefan heart suddenly swelled with the music as he heard her angelic voice rise again to sing the refrain,
"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee…
How great Thou art…
How great Thou art!"
Suddenly, John Gilbert respectfully stood in his pew, followed immediately by the minister, Mayor and Mrs. Lockwood and the other town council members. And soon the entire audience followed as Caroline as continued,
"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee…
How great Thou art…
How great Thou art…"
Then she smiled as she looked quickly over her shoulder to a group picture from about ten years earlier of all of all the neighboring families at one of the Founders Day Picnics.
"How great Thou art…"
The adults were all in their late twenties and early thirties, and their young children—including Matt, Elena, Jeremy, Vicki, Bonnie and Caroline—were lined up in front of them, sitting Indian style.
As the picture changed to the final one—a more recent portrait of Grayson and Miranda together outside their home—Caroline turned back to the front of the stage, tears now streaming down her face.
But to her credit, she kept her voice in check as she took a deep breath and delivered the last verse in a long note.
# # # # # # #
Caroline closed her eyes as she squeezed Stefan's still and cold hand as she sang the end like the diva she was,
"How great….thou….art!"
After a few moments, when she had finally let go of the last note, a short silence fell before it was interrupted by a burst of applause.
Caroline thought it was her imagination for a moment, until she quickly turned to look over her shoulder and saw Misha, Kaspar, Kol, Damon, Rebekah and Klaus all standing there in the bedroom doorway, clapping.
She suddenly realized that she had sung loud enough for the whole house to hear her.
"We got ourselves a Carrie Underwood in the house!" Misha shouted over the commotion, then turned to Klaus, "No offense Nik, but she sings way better than you do!"
The hybrid chuckled at this, stopping his applause momentarily to wipe away the tears under his eyes.
Caroline stood up from her chair, covering her face in mild embarrassment before Damon stepped forward and crossed the room, pulling her into a tight, appreciative embrace.
"Way better use of down time than Parcheesi if you ask me," Kaspar quipped as they all continued to clap and Misha, Kol, Rebekah and Klaus burst out laughing.