The only thing we’re allowed to believe is that we won’t regret the choices we make.
This isn’t how the youngest member of the Forbes family thought her junior year of high school would begin. No one thinks that the horrible things that happen to others in the world could ever happen to them, and certainly not Caroline. Ever since remembering everything that has happened to her, she felt different. Like a piece of her was missing. Sometimes after a shower, even though she scrubbed her skin raw, she still didn’t feel clean. Sometimes she could still feel his hands on her, holding her down, feeding from her, among other things. Not only did she suffer physically from the abuse, she was still suffering emotionally and mentally from it. If that wasn’t enough, it feels like her mind is at war. It was one thing to make her feel like complete shit in her own skin, but to fuck with her mind like that? Unacceptable. It’s a continuous struggle to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s fantasy, what’s a true memory and what’s a fallacy. Especially now that her thoughts have been plagued by so many different voices with only one of them seemingly belonging to her. She didn’t understand how or why she could supposedly hear people talking to her. It’s like she’s tuned into some secret frequency on the radio, like there are messages on the wind that only her ears could hear. She supposed that it would be cool if she had some special powers, but what good would hearing things do? Was she truly a telepath now or was the intricate composition of mind breaking down because of what he did to her. It seemed like everything kept coming back to him.
She blamed him. For all of it. She never asked for any of this. She did not deserve any of this. She thought she was getting lucky after a night out, a typical one night stand. If she were to press charges, she knew what the powers that be, barring her mother, would ask her. What were you wearing that night? Were you inebriated? Why were you out all alone? Did you fight? Like any of that actually fucking mattered. She could have been wearing a burlap sack and a man without any self-control would try to jump her if he could. That’s the nature of being a member of the female population, having to deal with unwanted attention from the male gaze. Unfortunately she wasn’t dealing with an ordinary man, and she did initially enjoy the attention he gave her. What she didn’t ask for, was to be hurt so badly. It honestly still blew her mind that she didn’t even know if she could have done anything differently in that situation. He used some kind of mind control on her and that changed everything. Whether she could have physically fought him off or not, who’s to say that he wouldn’t have just attacked her on the drive home? Who’s to say that he wouldn’t have used that mind scrambling ability while he hunted her on the streets like prey before finally attacking. Who’s to say that he hadn’t targeted her from a far and only just now made a move? There were so many possibilities running through her thoughts, so many different scenarios. Frankly, it was terrifying. He got her. He got her good. Got her so good that she figured he was still after her if his murmurings in her inner ear were to be believed. Going to that damn bonfire probably wasn’t a good idea either, he was so close but ended up attacking somebody else. Poor Vicki. Look at this, here she was reconsidering her choices about a party, about having a social life. This was unprecedented. Look at how fearful she had become of just going outside by remembering what happened to her, by witnessing the aftermath of what befell another townie. She couldn’t live like this, in fear of what may happen, but what was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to protect herself? If she couldn’t protect herself, how was she supposed to be a champion for others?
All these thoughts weighed heavily on Caroline’s mind as she sat in Mr. Tanner’s basic ass eleventh grade history class. She inhaled deeply, holding the breath as she tried to clear her mind, then exhaled slowly. She repeated the calming exercise a few times before trying to focus on what he was saying. But honestly? She couldn’t concentrate worth a damn. Tanner was droning on and on about whatever the fuck he thought was important for the general eleventh grade populace to know. She couldn’t care less. Her main goal for this class was to only do enough to secure herself a solid A and that’s it, her version of the bare minimum which really wasn’t bare minimum at all. Care minimum had a nice ring to it though. She truly didn’t want to be in this class and almost hated the principal for making this watered down history course required when so many other stimulating options could have been made available. Besides, Mr. Tanner’s a total asshat. He literally keeps a confederate flag on his desk at the front of the classroom! It’s like he’s stuck in the past. Like he would have preferred to have been born back then, when the status quo in America was against anything that wasn’t in the norm. How she was supposed to learn anything from this guy was beyond her.
I want you to live your life. Don’t worry about me, my sweet daughter.
I will kill those brothers if it’s the last thing I do!
Mama, I’ll get you out of there. I swear it!
I wish he would leave me be, I don’t want him in my life anymore.
Caroline inhaled sharply, people were talking to her again. There were two new voices, a female and a male. Her eyes widening as she recognized the male voice that spoke to her. She only knew this voice because she recently met the owner on the first day of school, when she ran into him in the hallway. Said owner who she had likened to a shiny new toy for the boys and girls of Mystic Falls High to play with just last night. It was Stefan’s voice and it threw her for a loop. Now that she thought about it, he didn’t seem like too much of a conversationalist. He did see right through her at the bonfire though. To say that her light had gone out and that, as a result, could see darkness in her smile was truly something. He wasn’t necessarily wrong, but how would a random guy she just met be able to see that? She can’t have been that obvious about it but it didn’t really matter at that point because he still saw the results of a traumatic experience. As if it was a beacon drawing broody souls together. Other than that he seemed nice, which is why it was so weird to supposedly have heard his voice just now.
Maybe it’s my fault he’ll never stop. Wherever he goes, people die and I can’t allow that. Not now, not since I’ve met her.
Caroline frowned as she tried to figure out what Stefan meant. Death follows whom wherever he goes and why is it Stefan’s fault this person will never stop? And who did he meet? Was he talking about her? If not, then who? Going back over her interactions with him the previous night, she couldn’t stop thinking about how he reacted to seeing Vicki. He was acting suspicious, like he knew something, and now that she was supposedly clued into his thoughts… did he know who was responsible? Was he an accomplice or something?
“You’re frowning again.” She looked up to see Stefan smiling genuinely at her. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“Nothing to tell really,” she said shaking her head, maybe she was just overthinking things. “Just waiting for this God forsaken class to be over.”
“Are we disturbing you, Miss Forbes?” Mr. Tanner asked, effectively putting a stop to their conversation.
“No sir.”
“Good. Now where was I…” he said trailing off. “Ahh, that’s right. The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle, Miss Forbes?”
“I don’t know.”
“Miss Bennett?” Mr. Tanner asked, moving to her friend’s row.
“Um… a lot?” Bonnie posed. “I’m not sure, like a whole lot.”
“Cute becomes dumb in but an instant, Miss Bennett.” Their history teacher glanced toward the back of the classroom. “Mr. Donovan, would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?”
“It’s okay, Mr. Tanner, I’m cool with it.”
“Hmm,” he chuckled humorlessly. “Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town’s most significant history events?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. Caroline watched as the brunette shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“I was willing to be lenient last year, for obvious reasons, Elena.” Mr. Tanner’s stern voice turned the classroom’s light whispers into silence. “The personal excuses ended with summer break.”
“There were 346 casualties.” Caroline turned in her seat, surprise evident in her widening eyes as Stefan spoke up. How the hell did he know that? “Unless you’re counting the local civilians.”
“That’s correct,” Mr. Tanner said. “Mr—
“Salvatore,” Stefan said interrupting him.
“Salvatore,” he repeated with a curious gaze. “Any relation to the original settlers here in Mystic Falls?”
“Distant.”
“Well, that’s good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle.” Mr. Tanner clasped his hands behind his back as he continued his stroll around the classroom.
“Actually there were 27, sir.” Stefan leaned forward in his seat, as if going in for the proverbial kill. “Confederate soldiers fired on Fell’s Church, believing it to be housing weapons but they were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founders’ archives are stored in Civil Hall if you’d like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner.”
She put a hand to her chin as the class oohed and ahh’ed about how Mr. Tanner himself got tanner’d. Something in Stefan’s tone took Caroline by surprise. There was a hardened edge to it, as if the new student was almost offended that their teacher got a historical fact incorrect. She wondered if it had to do with his status as descendent of the original Salvatores. Perhaps there was something in his own family history that should have been public knowledge and the fact that it wasn’t felt like a slight. Perhaps a Mystic Falls history buff like their teacher should have known facts like this. He’s always so eager to impart his wisdom on the class and make everyone feel inferior, so to witness the tables turning was extremely satisfying. Perhaps it was a one time slip up, but secretly she hoped it would happen again. Maybe one day she should pop by the archives because for all she knew, it would be her that one-upped the infamous history teacher with something that he should have known but didn’t.
The lunch time rush always showed the true colors of her peers as they stampeded toward the cafeteria like wild animals. She always brought food with her to avoid the barbaric display. It was at this time that she was catching up with Matt. They weren’t the best of friends, more friends of friends really, but she still witnessed the aftermath of what happened to his sister. After what she went through herself, she felt like she had to at least check up on him and offer an encouraging word about the girl.
“So, how are you holding up after the Attack on Vicki Donovan?”
“Really, Care?” He shook his head with a fond chuckle. “You’re using anime references now?”
“Well, someone has to crack a joke with all the trauma going around like it’s flu season.” Matt tossed his head back and laughed. She quirked a small smile in return, sometimes she had jokes. “But seriously, how is she doing?”
“They’re keeping her overnight to make sure there’s no infection,” he said. “She should be able to come home tomorrow.”
“That’s good news, Matt.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you ever get in touch with your mom?” She asked.
“I called and left a message,” he said shaking his head in disappointment. “She’s in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend so we’ll see how long it takes her to come rushing home.”
“Did the doctors say anything about what happened?” She asked, phishing for information. “Any other injuries than just her neck?”
“Other than basic defensive wounds on her hands and maybe her arms, no.” He tilted his head to the side, looking at her curiously. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, her neck looked pretty…” she said trailing off. “Do the police have any theories?”
“There is some talk of some missing campers,” he said. “But I’m not sure it’s related.”
“Did Vicki say what attacked her?” She asked.
“She said it was a vampire.” Caroline’s breath hitched slightly as they walked together. So, it was true? All of it? There was no mistaking it now.
“What?”
“Yeah, she wakes up last night and mutters vampire then passes out.” Matt shook his head. “I think she was drunk.”
No, Vicki most certainly was not drunk. Okay maybe she was drunk but Caroline was still sure that she was a victim of a vampire attack, just like she was. She fiddled with the strap on her lunch bag, struggling to find something to say but she was at a loss. What could she say to comfort Matt at a time like this when she, herself, needed a little TLC.
“So, what’s your take on the new guy?” He asked, stopping in the middle of the walkway. “Elena seems pretty interested.”
“She is? I hadn’t really noticed much,” she said turning her attention to Stefan who was sitting on top of one of the lunch tables.
“You know,” he said. “I’m actually gonna go back to the hospital and see if I can get the real story about what happened last night.”
“Okay.”
She bid him goodbye before turning to face the tables again. Noticing that Stefan was already gone, she didn’t think anything of it as she made her way over to go sit with Bonnie. Coincidentally, Elena was all packed up as she approached the table and waved before jetting off in the direction of the cafeteria.
“What was that all about?” She asked as she sat across from Bonnie, putting her things down in the process.
“Ahh, Elena said she was going to do something that she almost talked herself out of. It most likely has to do with Stefan.”
“Hmm, Matt was just telling me that Elena was interested in him. I must have missed that,” Caroline said.
“Yeah, I actually thought you were interested in him. I saw the two of you talking at the bonfire,” Bonnie said. “Anything you wanna tell me?”
“There’s not much to tell you, Bonnie. I literally ran into the guy on my way to the office because of that whole fiasco with my locker,” she said. “He was nice about it and he asked for help getting around since he’s new. Other than that, there haven’t been anything but friendly interactions between the two of us.”
“Oh okay,” Bonnie said. “I was just wondering because I do not want to be a witness to a love triangle.”
“Trust me,” she said with a laugh. “You don’t have to worry about me!”
“I do though, worry about you. You’ve been a little off since before school started yesterday. Wanna talk about it?”
Where to start? Seriously, there were too many topics to choose from. She’d been overwhelmed just hours ago in her first class of the day, bogged down with so many thoughts running through her head. As much as she probably needed to talk to someone about what she went through, unloading on Bonnie right now just didn’t seem like the right time. So, she decided to take the easy way out.
“Beware the witch with the blood of the demon and the wolf, for with it she shall bring Armageddon.”
“Excuse me?” Bonnie asked incredulously. “I’m trying to talk to you and you’re spouting nonsense?”
“You were the one who said that to me at the bonfire,” Caroline said with a pointed look.
“I did?” Bonnie’s eyes widened.
“Yes. You were trying to see if Ms. Sheila was right about you being psychic and I handed you an empty beer bottle to act as a crystal ball.”
“Oh my God, Care.” She groaned as she face palmed. “I was drunk that night, you really can’t believe whatever I said.”
“But, I do though.” She watched as Bonnie’s head snapped up to look at her. “What you said after… a bar, a car, a man. What exactly did you see?”
Bonnie stared at Caroline for a few moments and she hoped to God that her friend could remember anything that she saw. If vampires were real, witches had to be too. Something had to give, or else she would have to check herself into a psych ward.
“I saw you,” Bonnie finally said as she took Caroline’s hand, her body going still as if she were back in the trance from the bonfire. “In a bar dancing with a guy, he had black hair and these crazy blue eyes. At the car— his face. You— Oh my God, Care.”
Caroline’s eyes welled with tears as she heard Bonnie choke on her words. This was the moment she dreaded and hoped for at the same time. Bonnie knew. She saw what happened. Caroline didn’t know to what extent her friend knew of everything that went down, but it was clear that she did see some of it. There wasn’t any other explanation for Bonnie to react like that. Caroline jumped a little when she felt arms wrap around her. She leaned in when she realized that Bonnie had come around to her side of the lunch table. Bonnie squeezed her tightly and the dam broke. Tears had begun to stream down her cheeks. An all encompassing silence settled in Caroline’s thoughts. There were no hidden messages on the wind, no voices to distract her from sitting with all that she had come to know. Time passed both of the girls by as they sat at the lunch table holding onto each other. There wasn’t much else for either of them to say that their tears hadn’t already expressed. Trauma has a way of bonding people together and even though the circumstances were dire, Caroline was still grateful to have someone to talk to. After awhile, they let go of each other and noticed the quad was deserted.
“Wanna get out of here?” Bonnie asked.
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
She stood to grab her purse and lunch bag. Whatever she didn’t have on her person would be safely stored in her locker. It probably wasn’t her smartest decision, what with all her advanced courses, but Caroline felt drained emotionally. Going back inside the school walls to try and focus on schoolwork just wasn’t going to happen. Not today. She followed Bonnie to their cars and the two left the Mystic Falls High School parking lot.
Their chosen destination happened to be a favorite spot of Bonnie’s grandmother, a new age shop called Bell, Book & Candle. It was a quaint little store that offered unique books, rare gems, vintage knick knacks, and so many other little things and trinkets. Caroline hadn’t been there since she was a kid but Bonnie still made frequent trips with Ms. Sheila. It really was a cute place. As soon as she walked in the shop, it was like the proverbial load she carried on her shoulders was lifted if only for a time. Smiling at the feeling, she and Bonnie strolled around the shop for a bit, waving at the charming owner, before coming to a sort of message board.
“Is there really something mystical about tonight?” Caroline asked, gesturing to the flyer advertising the celebration for the elusive comet. “Mr. Tanner talked about it at the end of class but I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“Oh, I bet.” Bonnie gave her a wry smile. “Grams said the comet was discovered five centuries ago and hasn’t been seen in over 145 years. It’s a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, it was a lot of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity. She also said the comet will be at its brightest right after dusk, tonight’s celebration will be over by then though.”
“I’m much more inclined to believe your grams now…” she said trailing off.
“Yeah me too,” Bonnie said with a sigh. “I’m still reeling after… everything. I guess this means I actually have to take her seriously now. She wants to like train me as a witch or whatever.”
“Really?”
“Mhmm. Maybe I could learn a protection spell or something for you,” she said.
“I’ll take whatever I can get at this point,” Caroline said. “I know I’m not like you, but whatever you can teach me, I’d be really grateful.”
“Maybe Grams won’t mind if you tagged along.”
“You think so?” She asked. “Because I’d really like to know if you’re the witch with the blood of the demon and the wolf or not. I’m still not over that whole ass prophecy you dropped on me at the bonfire.”
“You’re not gonna let me forget that, are you?”
“Never,” Caroline said with a smirk.
“Oh shit, I’ve gotta get going.” Bonnie scrambled for the vibrating phone in her back pocket. “I told Grams I would come over today.”
“See you in the square tonight then?” Caroline asked. “Or will your grams not let you out of the house since you’ve embraced your true heritage.”
“Shut up.” Bonnie nudged her shoulder playfully. “See ya tonight!”
Caroline waved as her friend exited the store. Turning her attention back to the message board, she considered how her day had gone so far. She now had a friend that she could talk through her issues with and could do the same for Bonnie when it came to subjects outside of the norm. Knowing that creatures of the night were actually real and that she knew two of them personally was mind boggling. She couldn’t help but wonder what else was a reality and not just a fantasy now that she knew about witches and vampires. Did that mean ghosts and ghouls were next? She chuckled a little at the thought. She could no longer staunchly deny the existence of creatures of nightmare, no matter how outlandish it seemed.
“Did you find everything you were looking for?” A voice asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Oh Miss Nightingale,” she said jumping a little.
“Call me Cassie, Caroline.”
“Right, of course, Cassie.” She smiled sheepishly. “I actually wasn’t really looking for anything. My friend, Bonnie, and I were just looking around before she had to leave.”
“It’s when we’re not searching for anything that we find everything,” Cassie said with a peculiar twinkle in her eye before leaving Caroline to her own devices.
Not thinking too much of the interaction, she merely smiled at the owner before leaving the message board behind to check out the candle section. Coming to a set of lavender candles with a white and gold label on them, she noticed something. Or rather, she heard something. A whisper weaved its way into her ears, a soft voice carried by a phantom wind into the deepest recesses of her thoughts. It was always a strange sensation to be aware of these little murmurings, but she was quickly becoming used to it. She had to wonder though, this sixth sense of hers, did it mean anything? Could it be that there was more to the young woman known as Caroline Luciana Forbes?
Where do you wanna go? You can go anywhere. Where do you wanna go? You can go anywhere.
The voice became cleared the more she paid attention to it. It was different from the voices that called out to her in either anguish, pain, or revenge. It was like the first set of voices she heard when she woke up out of sorts after a harrowing night out on the town. This voice was childlike, singing to her a nursery rhyme that promised to take her anywhere she wanted to go. The voice echoed in her ears as it lured her closer to the back of the new age shop. On the employee doorway was a curtain of multicolored beads hanging from the opening and there, swaying on one of the strings was an oddly shaped piece of metal.
Where do you wanna go, Caroline? I can take you anywhere. Rome, Paris, Tokyo?
As if in a trance, she plucked it from from the beaded curtain and all white noise simply stopped. She held what she realized was a key in the palm of her hand and examined it, the metaled object was surprisingly heavy. The bow was shaped into a half circle with six smaller entwining circles. Each circle appeared to have horns. There were two prongs protruding from the shaft leading to the bit. It was shaped almost to resemble a letter or perhaps it was a runic symbol.
Where do you wanna go? You can anywhere. Where do you wanna go, Caroline?
Where did Caroline want to go? How was a vintage piece of metal supposed to take her anywhere? Seeing the door to the unisex restroom, she looked back down at the key. Given everything she’s been through, having a mystical key seemed like the least of her problems. After making sure there weren’t any cameras in the immediate vicinity and checking to see where Cassie was, she walked over and inserted the key into the lock. On a whim, she visualized the bathroom in the Mystic Grill and turned the key. She looked around one more time before opening the door. She gasped as the sounds of music from the dining area of the grill floated into her ears and immediately closed the door. She almost couldn’t believe it. Shaking her head, she opened the door again and peeked inside. She could see the dirty mirrors, the sinks, the stall doors, she could even smell the scent of stale disinfectant. Caroline couldn’t believe her luck. Perhaps every dark cloud did have a silver lining. Perhaps hearing things and finding magical keys was hers.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
