If you can show your scars
Then I can stitch your broken heart
And if you’re too far gone
I’ll follow you into the sun
Caroline strolled through the halls of Mystic Falls High in a daze. The corridors were full of students bustling to get to their lockers, switching out their books before the bell rang signifying their next class. Stopping at her own locker, she turned the dial. She kept turning before a frown marred her features. She knew how to open a locker, she’d done it about a million times, and never in those million of times has she ever forgotten her combination. She continued turning the dial but the first number still wasn’t coming to her. If that wasn’t bad enough, she woke up nauseous this morning and she couldn’t help but feel as if she was forgetting something important. None of that was ever a good sign and it especially didn’t bode well for her first day of junior year. She turned the dial a few more times hoping that something would trigger a memory, but it didn’t work. Huffing, she headed toward the main office. A vibration buzzed in her back pocket. Taking a look at her phone, she read the text that came in from her mother. It was a good luck wish for her first day back in school. She scoffed before she ran into something unnaturally cool and solid. She stiffened immediately as phantom pains radiated from a singular point on her neck.
“No, don’t hurt me,” she whispered frantically, her right hand started to shake causing her phone to clatter as it met the floor. She looked up to see someone she had never met before staring at her in confusion.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said casting her eyes down. She didn’t know why she thought she would see someone with piercing blue eyes and black hair. She didn’t know why she was reacting like this when the guy standing before her had green eyes and light brown hair. Her heart was still beating wildly but she managed to calm herself down a little, almost missing when Mr. Green Eyes spoke to her.
“Are you alright?” He asked, handing her the phone she dropped. She looked back up and into his eyes. They seemed kind and worried almost like he was genuinely concerned about her well-being, as if he was trying to tell her that he was trustworthy with just his gaze. She had never seen this guy before but felt a strange connection to him, maybe just maybe…
“Yeah, I’m…” she shook her head trailing off. “No, not really. I can’t seem to remember much from the last day and a half, I feel like I should but it’s like yesterday is just out of my reach. To top it all off I woke up with a terrible feeling and like an idiot I forgot my locker combination. I— sorry, I’m rambling.”
“No, it’s okay,” he said with a gentle smile. “I forget things all the time. Here, why don’t we help each other out? I’m new and I need to go get my schedule. The thing is, I have no idea where the main office is.”
“Sure, why not, apparently I have to go there to ask for a new locker myself. My name’s Caroline by the way,” she said reaching out her hand to shake his. “Welcome to Mystic Falls High.”
“Thanks and it’s nice to meet you, I’m Stefan. Stefan Salvatore.”
After helping Stefan get to the main office and securing herself a new locker, she found herself at a loss. The prickly feeling at the base of her throat came back again, similar to this morning’s bout of nausea, bringing with it the sensation of stones slowly filling her stomach, she couldn’t shake it this time. Resolving to put her focus on the task before her, she stepped up to her new locker and tried the combination. It opened without any problems, at least that was one thing she no longer had to worry about. Her back was starting to bother her a little with her backpack being weighed down with all her textbooks for the year. Despite such an odd start, she was excited to learn new things. The principal made it so that more classes were available for students to sign up for if they tested out of certain subjects. Due to her high performance, she tested out of all the basic eleventh grade courses thus freeing her schedule up for subjects that actually interested her. She was enrolled in Classic Literature to substitute for English, Conversational French 4, AP Calculus, Physiology: Human Body Systems to substitute for a regular ole science course, and a semester of Music Technology 1 for the hell of it. Unfortunately, she still had to take eleventh grade history with the rest of her class. Something about the importance of Mystic Fall’s town history being passed down from generation to generation or some other bullshit that the founding families cooked up. She figured she could suck it up for one class period since the rest of her schedule was filled with some heavy hitters. That and her father would drive down from Savannah, Georgia to smite her if she said anything untoward against the town’s history. It was ironic that Bill Forbes cared a hell of a lot about this town and its council of founding family members, seeing as he is one of them. With an exasperated breath, she plucked her history book out of her backpack and placed everything else she didn’t need inside her locker.
“Hey Care, new locker?” She looked up at the familiar voice to see Bonnie and Elena looking at her expectantly, before nodding.
“Yeah,” she said. “Forgot my old locker combination, so I had to get a new one.”
“What?” Elena gasped, her jaw dropping in shock. “We’ve had our lockers since freshman year, it’s not like you to forget that.”
“I know,” she said giving the brunette a rueful smile. “Just having a rough start today, I woke up a little nauseous. The feeling has passed but it threw me off my game, that’s all.”
“Well, if you’re sure…” Elena said trailing off before glancing at Bonnie.
Caroline’s eyes narrowed, she knew what that look meant. “Well, spill it already.”
“It’s nothing really,” Bonnie said rolling her eyes. “I was just telling ‘Lena on the way here about how Grams has been going on and on about how we’re descended from Salem witches and that I’m psychic.”
“Witches, huh?” Caroline scoffed even though a chill ran down her spine. “You sure you’re not just clairvoyant then?”
“See, I told you she wouldn’t take me seriously.” Bonnie shoulder checked Elena lightly as they walked to their first class.
“Bon, it sounds like you’re not even taking your grams seriously,” Caroline said reminding her pretty brown skinned friend. “But hey, if your grams ends up being right, that would be pretty cool. Coming from a line of badass women? Knowing the future? What’s not to like?”
“She’s right, Bon.” Elena said as they walked into Mr. Tanner’s classroom. “I wonder if the two of us descend from any cool beings like Bon here.
“I know, right?” Caroline put a hand on her hip and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I’m always right, by the way.”
“Perhaps you might be right, today,” Bonnie said with a laugh. “I was right about Obama too.”
The girls chuckled as they took their seats at the back of the classroom. While they waited on their bastard of a history teacher to arrive, Caroline rested her eyes. Taking a deep breath in, she held it for a few seconds before exhaling slowly. On the exhale, her thoughts began to settle. She continued in the same manner for a few minutes. Inhaling and exhaling, calming her senses, steeling herself for what lay ahead.
Free yourself, my child. Your time has come.
“Wait, what did you say?” She asked.
“We didn’t say anything, Care.”
“What are you talking about, Elena?” She asked, her eyes opening to look at her friends. “So you’re telling me neither of you just said ‘Free yourself, my child. Your time has come.’?”
“No, we didn’t. Are you sure you’re not hearing things?” Bonnie asked. “Maybe you need to get your ears checked.
Caroline’s brows furrowed in confusion. “But, I heard—
“Would you like to share your conversation with the rest of the class, Miss Forbes?”
Caroline jumped at the sound of her history teacher’s voice. She didn’t know when he even arrived. She didn’t even acknowledge him either, preferring to just stay quiet for the rest of the class period. Although she knew starting her school day with this wretched class everyday would be a pain, it was way better to get it out of the way earlier so that the rest of her day could be filled with actual learning. Letting her mind drift to all the possibilities, she almost missed the voice whispering in her ear.
Did the vision of your lost make you scream, little fox? Your path is narrowing, your end is near.
I cannot wait to hold you in my arms, my love.
You are all I dare to dream about, my love.
My darling daughter, I miss you.
Those bastard brothers will pay!
Caroline, wake up! You must remember!
The voices murmuring to her were muddled but she recognized a few of them. She heard her own voice, her mother’s, and two others but she couldn’t place where she heard them or why. She didn’t understand why she needed to wake up when she was fully conscious in the middle of her history class. She didn’t know what she needed to remember. It was so strange, was she truly hearing things as Bonnie so graciously suggested? What could it all mean? Was she just going crazy?
I’m not done with you yet.
Caroline froze. That voice. She knew that voice. All of a sudden, images flew to the forefront of her thoughts. She sank down in her chair a little, cowering as the memories she didn’t know she had made her feel things she didn’t want to feel. She ached everywhere, her groin, her neck, she felt like she had been ran over by a 18-wheeler, felt like she had been ran through with a steel rod. Her skin began to prickle, the hairs on her bare arms raised in alarm. Who was the man that did that to her? She could see him clearly now. That black hair, those enchanting blue eyes, rosy lips with teeth sharp enough to rip through her flesh. She remembered everything. She knew what had become of her in the last twenty-four hours. This is what she felt like she was forgetting. She knew for a fact that she had fallen victim to a sadistic monster and that he definitely wasn’t human. The bell rang, violently startling her from those newly found memories. Her hand was shaking and she couldn’t gather her belongings fast enough. She dashed out of the classroom and into the hall.
“Wait, Caroline!” She whirled around, nearly dropping her things in the process. She noted that Bonnie and Elena were breathing heavily when they finally caught up to her. “Didn’t you hear us when the bell rang?”
“No,” she said as she bit her lip to keep it from trembling. “I had— I had a lot on my mind.”
“We could tell,” Elena teased. “You were totally spaced during the entire class period. Tanner was fuming.”
“Yeah…”
“Well, we were talking about the bonfire tonight.” Bonnie shifted on her feet. “You’re coming with us, right?”
Caroline almost scoffed at the idea. Here she was in crisis and they were asking her about a damn bonfire. Although, to be fair, she had only just remembered what happened to her so her friends couldn’t be blamed for worrying about something as frivolous as a high school party with plenty of booze. Her thoughts were raging right now and alcohol could be the perfect way to calm the storm.
“I’ll be there,” she said, plastering on a chipper smile even though there was no way it would have reached her eyes. “I’ll be the preppy girl in blue.”
Caroline left the girls to their own devices and hightailed it to the restroom. There was no way she could deal with anything right now. As she sat in a locked stall, she played with her phone. Her thumb hovered over her mother’s contact information. Should she still go ahead and press charges like she had originally wanted? Would they even stick to a, to a… She didn’t even know what to call him. The word vampire popped into her head multiple times over the course of her history class but she chalked it up to all the Anne Rice novels she had read. She had quite the obsession as a young and impressionable ninth grader, the famous author and others being the main reason her reading level was so high already. Another reason why Classic Literature was the obvious choice for her substitute English class.
Yes, the more she thought about it, about the way the man moved, the way he came at her, the way he took whatever he wanted from her without remorse, the more it made sense. This creature was a watered down Lestat for all intents and purposes. It was all coming together, it was startlingly clear that a vampire attacked her. It was the only explanation. However, there was just one more thing that she still couldn’t comprehend. Why was she hearing voices and what did it all mean for her moving forward?
The night air simmered as if it were a thick blanket, it cloyed under her nose but wasn’t so overwhelming that she found herself yearning for the relief of air conditioning. She could smell the crispness of the water from the falls, the pungent aroma of trees that towered into the sky, and the smoldering embers from the bonfire in the center of the clearing. The wind rustled the leaves as it carried the sounds of the party to her ears. Standing on the outskirts and watching her peers indulge in alcohol, food, and each other, Caroline found that she no longer felt the pull to engage in such activities like she used to. She didn’t feel much of anything at the moment, she was still working through what happened to her to even truly enjoy the festivities. As she weaved through the crowd, she spotted Bonnie and made her way over.
“Caroline, are you sure you’re alright?” Bonnie asked her immediately. “You seemed off ever since history ended. We don’t have any more classes together so I didn’t have a chance to check up on you before cheer practice. Speaking of which, you quit? Is there something going on?”
“I don’t know,” Caroline said with a shrug. “You tell me, you’re the psychic one.”
“Riiight, I forgot,” Bonnie said with a slick look in her eye, making Caroline smile in return. “Okay so give me a second. Grams said I have to concentrate—
“Wait, you need a crystal ball.” Caroline looked around before spying an empty beer bottle on the ground a couple of feet away. “Tada!”
She watched as Bonnie smiled before grasping the bottle herself. They both froze once their skin touched around the cool glass. Ice radiated from their joined hands and traveled up Caroline’s arm. Her jaw dropped in shock, a gasp slipping past her lips as her gaze met Bonnie’s. The whispers she had been hearing off and on came back in full force. The tones of their voices rising until it sounded like they were screaming in her head. A man vowing a reckoning that would shake the earth, a woman yearning for her lost child, a man craving freedom from his prison, a woman promising that all truths would be revealed if Caroline were to just. Wake. Up. Bonnie’s gaze seemed to pierce through her thoughts, silencing the voices as they continued to stare at each other as if they were in a trance. The silence was deafening until Bonnie’s own voice rang out clear as day, smooth as night.
“Beware the witch with the blood of the demon and the wolf, for with it she shall bring Armageddon.”
“Bonnie? What do you mean by that?” She asked, her throat tightening as her comfort level dropped severely. Bonnie and Caroline both abruptly let go of the bottle, it shattered into thousands of little pieces on impact with the ground even though it was covered in grass. They jumped at the sound, dropping their gazes in the process. The spell was effectively broken.
“That was weird,” Bonnie said inhaling sharply. “When I touched you I saw a bar.”
“What?” Caroline backed away slightly, her heart rate spiking as the possibility of Bonnie seeing what happened to her took hold of her psyche.
“A bar, there was a car, and a man. His face was— I’m drunk,” Bonnie said cutting herself off immediately, shaking her head as if to clear it from an unwanted image. “It’s the drinking, nothing psychic about it. Yeah? Okay, I’m gonna go get a refill.”
Caroline was stunned into silence. Her hands started to shake and tears welled in her eyes as the fumes from the burning embers filled her nostrils. There had to be an explanation for why Bonnie said those things. There must be a reason for all of this to be happening to her. The icy sensation from the whole psychic vision quest still clung to her veins, sending out a numbness that seemed to pulse in time with her heartbeat. The numbness seeped steadily into her very being, transforming her into a living icicle, she was so cold. Turning her gaze to the fire, she stared at the flames. They danced in tune with the music, sending sparks into the wind to be carried into the sky. Perhaps she should place her hand in the blaze, perhaps she should take a step into the fire. Would she burn like the wood as the flames licked at the bark? Or would she combust and leave no trace like a magician’s flash paper? Would the fire warm her body or would it completely consume her like a witch on a pyre? Would it caress her spirit like a soothing balm or would it ravage her entirely? Caroline stretched her hand out, she could feel the heat radiating from the massive bonfire. She stepped closer until the heat became unbearable before having to move away lest she truly burn like a depraved and despaired soul.
“Hi, Caroline.” She jumped a little before looking to her left and gave the newcomer a bashful wave.
“Hi, Stefan. I see you made it.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” She exhaled slowly, tilting her head to the sky. The night was clear beyond the line of the trees, it calmed her heart a little.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m alright,” she said turning her attention back to Stefan. “Why do you ask?”
“You were frowning at the fire, did something upset you?”
“No, I…” She sighed. “Have you ever felt like you’ve been thrown into a storm and no matter what you do, you can’t calm it?”
“I have actually.” He looked into the fire, a contemplative expression taking over his features.
“How did you find peace?”
“I’m still trying to find it,” he said with a wry smile. “I hope you find the peace that you crave as well.”
“I used to be the life of these parties,” she said, glancing at him before turning back to the fire. “I used to be a lot of things. But now, I— Things feel so different. Now, all I am is numb.”
“It won’t be like this forever, Caroline.”
“How do you know?” She said with a faux teasing smile. “You’re the mystery new kid, the shiny new toy every one is talking about. What do you know about forever?”
“I may not know a lot, but I do know that there’s a darkness behind your smile.”
“What?” She was taken aback by his words.
“I saw it when we first met earlier today,” he said turning to fully face her. “I’m an outsider looking in, I can see things pretty clearly and be objective. I’m pretty sure others, if they know you well enough, can see it too.”
She nodded along, understanding what he was saying. Bonnie tried to get her to open up, but she deflected immediately. She chose to joke around about her friend being psychic instead of taking the olive branch that was offered and talking about her fears. She did indeed quit the cheer team, it just didn’t seem that important anymore. Her perspective was changing, her thought processes were evolving as they came to grips with her trauma.
“I don’t know what happened to make your light go out,” Stefan said continuing his spiel. “But I truly do hope that you get it back.”
“I—
“Somebody help!” A familiar voice rang out from the trees, it sounded shrill with fear. The duo looked up to see Elena trailing after her younger brother, Jeremy, as he carried a limp figure into the center of the clearing where the gazebo and tables were. A caw could be heard in the distance, as if a lone crow was hanging in the shadows that became the trees. It felt eerie and foreboding, as if something else was lying in wait for them all… and where a crow’s call brought with it chills, death was sure to follow. “It’s her neck! Something bit her, she’s losing a lot of blood, it’s bad!”
“Bonnie, call an ambulance!” Matt exclaimed in a frenzy, his worry quickly consuming him and most of the other partygoers witnessing the distressing display.
The now familiar sensation of ice wrought havoc on Caroline’s senses as she saw the state of Vicki’s neck. Her hands flew to her own neck and the memories of getting attacked flooded her thoughts. She whimpered lowly before taking a deep breath. Was he at the bonfire? Is he responsible for what happened to Matt’s sister? Is this some sort of sick game of his letting her know that he could always get to her? Was she going to be attacked again? Her knees almost buckled under the weight that seemed to press heavily on her chest. She reached out for Stefan but stumbled to the side anyway when she realized that he was no longer standing next to her. He was backing away from her, almost as if her touch would have burned him somehow. It would have bothered her more had she not seen the emotions flash across his gaze. Shock and recognition gave way to fear and paranoia. Did he know what was going on? Did he know the vampire responsible? A flurry of activity distracted her from her break down. The sheriff had arrived with the paramedics in tow, and she knew she would have to make herself scarce in order to avoid dealing with her mother. Especially now that she remembered everything. How was she supposed to live in the same house without spilling the beans? Would she even be believed? Would anything even happen if her mother did try to help?
“Hey Caroline, I’m gonna head home now,” Bonnie said jogging to catch up with her. When had she even started running?
“Alright, let me know when you get home okay? With Vicki getting attacked like that, it’s not safe—
“I know, Care.” Bonnie cut her off, her gaze holding Caroline’s. There was something in the way she said it that alerted Caroline to something else. Bonnie’s eyes, they looked shaken. “Caroline, I know there’s no way I’m psychic. I know that… but whatever I saw, or think I saw, I have this feeling.”
“Bonnie, what?”
That sense of foreboding came back with a vengeance at what her friend was saying. It crashed over her like a wave does to a beach’s shore. Caroline didn’t know what to expect, she didn’t know what else would pass through Bonnie’s lips, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear it. Would the girl confirm what she had already figured out? Would she be safe? Would anyone be safe?
“I have this feeling that this is just the beginning.”
ns 15.158.61.23da2
