Nine Months

Chapter Three: Time & Punishment

Caroline Forbes

Dangerous people walk amongst us everyday. They hide behind polite smiles and graceful nods. They keep their distance to ensure their darkest secrets are kept locked away. But sooner or later people drop their guards and its then the dangerous people creep in. So how do we ensure our safety from these people?...

I entered the grill carrying a bunch of purple roses under my arm as I scanned the room. I spotted Bonnie sitting in one of the back booths. She was reading a book as she ate a garden omelette. I walked over to her catching her eye just as I reached the booth. I smiled slightly and sat down in front of her settling the roses down on the table next to us. Bonnie looked at the roses then back to me.

"Uh I went to the flower shop and asked them what kind of flowers say I'm sorry for being a bitch" I said.

Bonnie smiled.

"I was going to go in there and ask what kind of flowers does a vampire get her witch best friend for saving her hybrid boyfriends life. But I had a feeling I would give old Mrs Harrison a heart attack"

"Well at least there would be some nice flowers at her funereal" Bonnie said.

We laughed together.

I shook my head and then sighed "I don't know how to even begin to say how sorry I am for what I said to you Bonnie. I was so upset and I hadn't been sleeping. Not that its any excuse for what I said. I just needed you to know, the things I said well I didnt mean them" I told her.

"I know you didn't"

"I hated myself for what I said. I just needed to scream and shout and you seemed like an easier mark then the real person to blame"

"Who do you blame?"

"Myself. If I had just been stronger than I would have did something more brave then run away"

"Your mum knew the risk you were taking by staying in Mystic Falls and she got you a ticket out of here. You were running because you didn't want your mother to go through anymore pain. That's brave in my book Caroline"

I reached my hand across the table and padded Bonnie's hand.

"How's Tyler doing?" Bonnie asked.

"He's tired. He's staying with Jeremy right now while his mum is out of town"

"I'm sure Jeremy appreciates the company"

"The spell must have been pretty hard on you? How are you feeling?"

"I was tired afterwards, it was even worse at the end because Elijah dropped me back at my house"

"Silent the whole drive home?" I asked trying to hold in my laugh.

"I didn't know what to say" Bonnie whispered.

I drummed my fingers against the table "I guess Klaus is back to normal by now" I said.

"Well with him being an original he's probably been fine for days now. Tyler's probably still a little sore though huh?"

"Tyler's just as tough as Klaus"

Bonnie smiled "Protective girlfriend much?" she asked.

I smiled "I thought he was dead Bonnie. He's lucky I even let him out of my sight these days" I told her.

"It must feel so wonderful to have him back"

I smiled and nodded in response. But in my mind I casted back to the note sitting inside my nightstand back home. The note from Klaus asking that I didn't give up on him. I didn't know what I was suppose to think about it or even how I felt about it. Klaus asking me not to give up on him made me think he believes I have faith in him. I didn't know how I felt about him. I knew for certain that I wasn't in love with him. I loved Tyler more than anyone in this world and if I was going to fall in love ever again it would never be with Klaus. He was the reason all of my friends were miserable. And the reason Tyler and I were apart for so long while he broke the sire bond.

"I was thinking that maybe tonight we could all go over and see Elena" I suggested.

"Oh that would be great. But do you think Matt would be up for it?"

"I had a talk with Matt and I'm sure he's starting to see sense. I'm sure it would do us all good to get together"

"I agree"

"Great" I cheered.

Klaus Mikaelson

I was channelling my frustrations out on my latest painting. A mixed of bloody reds and blacks covered the pad in front of me. I didn't know if the painting was going to amount to anything. I just knew it was stopping me from painting the thing I wanted to the most at that moment. I hadn't saw Caroline since I came back to my own body. Not seeing her in so long made me want to do something to see her. I wanted to paint her beautiful face. The girl was so stunning I could paint so many versions of her and yet none of them would do her real justice.

I had visited her house a few nights ago and left her a note. I didn't want to leave it but I needed to get the message across that I wasn't the arse she thought I was. She wouldn't believe I had true feeling for her. She probably believed all of this to be some silly game. Caroline was many things in my eyes but a play toy wasn't not one of them. I wouldn't have risked my own skin to get her out of that school if her life held no meaning to me.

"The bitch is leaving" Kol shouted from upstairs.

I grabbed a cloth and wiped the paint off my hands before leaving my study. I could hear something or someone coming down from upstairs.

I entered the lobby to find Kol standing at the top of the stairs smiling. Elijah entered the lobby at the same time I did and we found Rebekah wheeling a luggage case behind her heading for the door.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Our sister has finally grown up and decided to leave home" replied Kol.

"Rebekah" Elijah said.

"You're not going anywhere" I told her.

"I'm not sticking around when you can't stand to even look at me" Rebekah said to me.

Rebekah's eyes met mine.

"You are so disappointed in me and all because I killed one girl for the revenge over your death"

"She was my doppelganger Becca"

"She's the reason you were dead. A life for a life Nik"

Rebekah sniffled slightly and tears filled her eyes. I shifted uncomfortably as did the rest of my brothers.

"I can't live here with you hating me so much"

Rebekah opened up the door.

"You really think being upset buys you a ticket out of this family?" I asked making her pause in her tracks.

I looked to Kol and then over to Elijah then returned my gaze to Rebekah.

"You're our little sister. Our baby"

I walked over to Rebekah and brought two hands up to either side of her head and kissed her forehead. Rebekah wrapped her arms around me and sobbed quitely against my shoulder. I looked up to Kol who smiled slightly and returned back to his bedroom. Elijah took Rebekah's suitcase and left us alone together.

"Never again sweetheart" I promised her.

Caroline Forbes

I packed my bag up ready to have a movie night with my friends over at the boarding house. I was so excited because it was going to be the first time we had probably hung out together in weeks. We were going to each bring a movie and some snacks and of course some pillows in case the boys boring action movies but us girls to sleep. I felt like a proper teenager again and it felt great. With no more trouble happening in my life it felt good to just have a boring night inside with my friends.

As I reached over to my nightstand to grab my phone I looked at the drawer below. I reached down and pulled the drawer opened bringing out the folded piece of paper inside.

Don't give up on me

Part of me was screaming at myself for even looking at this card again. It was just a silly little message and yet I had looked at it again just to read it just one last time. Klaus had gotten inside my head yet again and I had two choices about how to handle it. I could forget about it and go to the boarding house early and help Elena set up for movie night. Or I could be reckless like a twenties girl and go over there and finally confront him about all of this.

Klaus was out of all our lives finally. There was no reason for me to go over there. And yet deep down there was a part of me that wanted too. I didn't have feelings for Klaus, I knew he was handsome I mean come on I wasn't blind. He was handsome and charming but that didn't mean anything to me. Tyler was my boyfriend and I had to keep reminding myself of that pure and simple fact.

If Tyler even saw me right now looking at this note he would lash out and do something stupid like go after Klaus. But if I continued to let Klaus play these mind games with me then he would keep hanging around. Klaus hanging around wasn't what I wanted for Tyler and I. I wanted us to finally be a couple free of all this drama. So I was going to get my happiness then I would have to let Klaus know once and for all that he had to stop chasing me.

I grabbed my phone and car keys and pushed them into my coat pockets as I headed for the front door. I took a quick glance at my watch making sure I had time to do this. I didn't want to be running late for movie night. I wanted to go over there make this Klaus thing go away and then start to live nearest to normal life as I possibly could.

Dangerous people walk amongst us everyday. They hide behind polite smiles and graceful nods. They keep their distance to ensure their darkest secrets are kept locked away. But sooner or later people drop their guards and its then the dangerous people creep in. So how do we ensure our safety from these people?...We start by having faith that someone in our lives will have the power to save our lives.

I turned around after locking the door behind me and found my eyes focused on a gun pointing at my forehead. I gasped as I felt the bullet shoot into my forehead turning my world black.