Chapter 27: This Can't Be Us
The tension in the classroom hung heavy as the group pieced together the pieces of Caroline's transformation.
"How did this even happen?" Bella demanded, her voice laced with frustration.
Stefan sighed. "Bonnie gave her some of my blood to help her recover, but Katherine must have gotten to her in the hospital."
"But why?" Elena chimed in, her eyes wide with worry.
Bella, still fuming, blurted out, "Because Katherine is a manipulative, nasty… little…" she paused, searching for the right word.
Damon, a rare smile gracing his lips, interjected, "Slut? Look at you using your 21st-century vocabulary I taught you."
Bella blushed, momentarily forgetting her anger at the situation. Elena, however, wasn't amused.
Stefan frowned. "She said 'game on'?"
"She's playing with us," Damon stated flatly. "She wants us to know she's behind this."
"But why Caroline?" Elena pleaded, her voice trembling.
Damon shrugged. "Who knows?"
"Poor Caroline," Bella muttered, concern flickering across her face.
"Oh please," Damon scoffed, rolling his eyes.
Stefan, however, seemed to take Bella's sentiment to heart. "We need to find her," he declared, his voice firm.
"And then?" Damon added with a chilling smile. "End her."
Bella's jaw dropped. Seeing Damon kill before was one thing, but hearing him speak so casually about ending a young girl's life was horrifying. "What? Why?" she demanded.
Elena glared at Damon. "You're not seriously considering…"
"She's a liability now," Damon cut her off. "She knows what we are. We have to get rid of her."
Stefan shook his head vehemently. "Absolutely not, Damon."
"Need I remind you of Vicki Donovan?" Damon countered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Caroline, of all people, won't survive as a vampire. Her mother's a hunter. Come on, you all know how this ends. Just flip to the last chapter…"
"It's not an option, Damon," Elena interrupted, her voice filled with defiance.
Damon's eyes narrowed. "No? Stefan, your silence speaks volumes. Wasn't there a school carnival the night Vicki met her end? History loves to repeat itself, wouldn't you say?"
Stefan didn't reply. He simply turned and stormed out of the classroom, Elena hot on his heels.
Bella watched them go, then turned towards Damon, her gaze unwavering. "She's Liz's daughter, Damon," she said softly, her voice a stark contrast to the heated conversation that had just transpired.
The mention of Liz seemed to have a subtle effect on Damon. A flicker of something akin to hesitation crossed his face as Bella followed Stefan and Elena, leaving Damon alone with his thoughts.
Damon clutched the wooden tent peg he'd snatched on his way out, its rough surface offering a sliver of comfort in the face of the churning emotions within him. He stalked through the maze of carnival booths, his senses on high alert, searching for any sign of Caroline.
Across the grounds, Elena's voice echoed, laced with worry. "Do you think Damon's right, Stefan? About Caroline?"
Stefan shook his head, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Not entirely. Katherine enjoys playing with all of us, but…"
"But what?" Elena pressed, her voice trembling slightly. "Katherine is doing this to get to me, isn't she?"
Stefan paused, considering his words. "Actually," he said softly, "she's probably doing this to get to me."
Bella rolled her eyes, her frustration mounting. "Could either of you be any more self-involved? She's done this to Caroline, end of story! Now let's just focus on finding her before Damon does. He might not realize it now, but he'll regret it if he kills her."
"Trust me," Stefan said, a cynical edge to his voice, "Damon's never regretted a kill."
"Trust me, my husband will regret causing Sheriff Forbes pain," Bella countered, her voice firm. "Whether or not he's willing to admit it, she's his friend, and friendship means something to him."
Suddenly, Stefan stopped walking, his hand raised in a silencing gesture. "Wait, stop… do you smell that?"
Elena sniffed the air, confusion clouding her features. "No… smell what?"
Bella, however, caught the scent now too. It was faint, but unmistakable – blood. A cold dread settled in her stomach. "Blood…" she whispered, the word heavy with dread.
Elena's eyes widened in panic. "Blood, as in Caroline's? Where could she be?" Her gaze darted around frantically, searching for any sign of their friend. Then, her eyes fell on Stefan, his expression grim. "What is it? Do you hear her? What's going on, Stefan, what is it?"
Stefan's jaw clenched tight. "It's not Caroline's blood… it's human."
The metallic tang of blood intensified as Damon rounded a corner, revealing Caroline slumped against a dilapidated funhouse entrance. Her face, streaked with crimson, was a mask of horror and dawning realization. In her trembling hands, she clutched a lifeless body.
"He's dead," Caroline wailed, her voice ragged. "I killed him. What's wrong with me?"
Damon forced empathy into his voice. "Hey, hey, it's okay," he said, approaching cautiously. "I can help you."
Caroline's tear-filled eyes darted up to him, a flicker of hope igniting within them. "You can?"
"Yeah, I have to," he muttered, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
"What are you gonna do?" she pleaded, her voice barely a whisper.
"The only thing I can do," he answered with a steely glint in his eyes.
With inhuman speed, Damon closed the distance and reached for her neck. A choked gasp escaped Caroline's lips as her world went dark for a fleeting moment. Damon scooped her unconscious form in his arms, his expression a turmoil of conflicting emotions. He glanced down at the stake lying near the dead boy, a wave of regret washing over him. This wasn't the solution, but it was all he had for now.
Just then, Elena, Stefan, and Bella rounded the corner, their faces etched with urgency.
"Oh my god, we're too late!" Elena cried, rushing towards them.
"Relax, I just snapped her neck," Damon said, his voice calm despite the chaos within. "We need to clean up whoever this kid is," he gestured towards the boy, "and figure out what to do with Caroline. I'm putting her in the cellar for now."
As Damon and Bella began the grim task of removing the body, Bonnie materialized beside them. A gasp escaped her lips as she recognized the lifeless boy.
"Carter?" she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
Stefan offered her a comforting hand. "It's okay, Bonnie. Come on."
But Bonnie's attention had shifted to Bella."I knew you'd slip up!" Bonnie snarled, her eyes blazing with fury. "You'd bring death and destruction to this town!"
Before anyone could react, Bonnie unleashed a powerful psychic attack, sending a searing pain through Bella's head. A choked scream ripped from Bella's throat as she crumpled to the ground, clutching her head in agony.
I didn't do this!" Bella gasped out, her voice weak and raspy.
Damon, fueled by a sudden surge of protective rage, reacted before anyone else. He lunged at Bonnie, wrapping his hand around her throat with inhuman speed. Her eyes widened in shock as her magic sputtered and died.
"That's my wife you're messing with," Damon growled, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "It wasn't her. It was Caroline. She's been turned into a vampire."
He tightened his grip slightly, the threat implicit. "Hurt her again, and I will kill you."
Stefan, ever the problem solver, intervened before things escalated further. He yanked Damon's arm back, careful not to break his hold on Bonnie completely. "Damon, let her go. We need to help Caroline."
"Let's go," he muttered, his voice flat. He shot a questioning glance at Bonnie. "You coming, or are you going to try something stupid again?"
Bonnie hesitated, the fear in her eyes warring with her lingering anger. Finally, she swallowed hard and nodded curtly.