The threat of having to run for her life fueled her search for a way out. She threw herself into her studies as this was the only time Damon left her alone. Her research led her to the topic of demonology. Such knowledge led her mind astray in the middle of her Occult Studies seminar. Her thoughts circled around a being by the name of Niklaus and how she saw the actual devil in his eyes.
“Are we boring you Miss Forbes?” Her professor asked.
“No sir, of course not.”
“Then would you care to share with the rest of the class what has you so unfocused during this seminar?” The man asked, his tone stern with no room for a rebuttal. It was clear that she had no choice in the matter.
“I wanted to know if you could truly sell your soul to the devil in exchange for power, Professor Shane.”
“Ahh, so Faustian deals with Mephistopheles is where your interests lie.” There was something in his gaze that made a shiver crawl down her spine. “Tell me, Miss Forbes, is this topic what you will be working on for your final project?”
“Yes, sir.”
It wasn’t a complete lie but she needed to know the answer to this specific question.
“Well,” he began. “I happen to be in the good graces of our very own resident devil.”
Murmurs of comical disbelief and good-natured humor rippled throughout the room.
“Resident devil?” She asked.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the Devil of the Bayou,” he said with a hand covering his chest in mock offense. “Neither man nor beast, but a combination of both—
“With black gold irises and black veins beneath his eyes,” she finished a legend she didn’t even know for him.
“So, you’ve met him then.”
The whispers from her classmates grew as the room turned cold.
“No, sir. I just read that in my research.” She tried in vain to not let the fear and recognition show in her eyes. Unfortunately, her professor saw through it.
“A deal with the devil is not something to be taken lightly,” he went on teaching. “You have to be willing to give up something very specific to gain everything you could have ever wanted.”
“So your soul?” She asked.
“Not always,” he said. “But many lose their souls anyway. I hope you know what you are doing.”
The look in his eye was a knowing one and she didn’t like that one bit.
“Gather into groups of three to discuss your final project for thirty minutes, then the weekend is yours.” She watched as he headed back to his desk. “Oh and Caroline, Faustian deals are best struck under a full moon and you’re in luck. Starting tonight, you’ll have three opportunities to make your desires come true.”
The odd man who called himself a teacher left the room and the silence set in. She almost caved under the pressure of the stares from her classmates but she couldn’t think of that right now. Professor Shane has always been a little weird but she couldn’t help but feel as if he knew exactly what he was talking about. As if he had made a deal with the devil himself.
She was packing her bag when two shadows stretched across her table. She looked up to see two girls with friendly but determined smiles on their faces.
“Caroline, right?” The pretty brown skinned girl asked. “My name is Bonnie and this is my sister, Davina.”
“Nice to meet you both,” she said, not quite believing the two were related.
“We’re very impressed with you, Caroline,” The kind-eyed brunette said.
“Why?” She asked. She wasn’t sure where this conversation was going.
“Not many fourth years are ever accepted into Shane’s classes. His very, graduate level classes,” Bonnie said. “So, we were wondering if you would you like to work on the final project with us.”
“We’re doing ours on demonology and how it ties into modern-day witchcraft,” Davina said.
“It sounds like your topic is right up our alley,” Bonnie said. “Perhaps we could bounce ideas off of each other?”
She smiled at the girls.
Bonnie and Davina seemed nice enough, so she figured why not. Perhaps being around them would deter Damon, if only for a little while.
“I’d love to, thanks for including me.”
“Of course,” Davina said. “Us girls gotta stick together.”
“Besides,” Bonnie said. “We’ve been looking for someone to make our dynamic duo into a talented trio. We seem to have similar interests.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Bon. We just met the girl,” Davina said in exasperation. “Sorry about her, we’re not that great at making new girl friends.”
“No worries at all,” she said. “I welcome new friends.”
“In that case, how about two more?” She looked sharply to her left as two well-dressed guys approached. “Darlings, have you made a new friend?”
That accent.
It registered within her on a much deeper level. That accent was tinged with something dark around the edges, something familiar. She had never met this man before, but she couldn’t help but feel as if she was missing something important.
Her eyes widened slightly when Davina rolled her eyes before placing a kiss soundly onto the man’s lips.
“Pay him no mind,” the brunette said. “Caroline this is my fiancé, Kol. Kol, Caroline.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, darling.”
She grinned timidly and nodded while shaking his hand.
“And I’m Enzo, Bonnie’s husband.” The other man reached out and shook her hand as well.
“Nice to meet both of you,” she said before turning to the sisters. “When would you like to meet up for the final project?”
Numbers were exchanged and hang-out plans were made as a small smile graced her lips.
For the first time in a while, she felt a sense of happiness. No one has ever sought her out for her intelligence before, let alone wanted to be in her company. It felt really nice to know that someone, two people, had witnessed her efforts to excel in the only outlet she really had.
Unfortunately for Caroline, her smile was due to expire. For as soon as she was left to her own devices, trouble found her.
Just as she crossed the threshold of the building that held her next class, a flash a black hair caught her eye. It sent shivers of dread through her. In her momentary happiness at making new friends, she had forgotten something. She had momentarily forgotten that her life was hanging by a thread.
Before she could even contemplate staying on campus, she bolted.
She flat out ran until she barreled into someone familiar.
“Watch it, Forbes!” An irritated guy exclaimed.
“Not now, Tyler.” She huffed. “I’m late for class!”
The irony of the situation was indeed lost on her. She didn’t have time to contemplate that she had just told someone that she was late to class when she was actually running in the opposite direction of it.
She kept running until piercing blue eyes caught her. Such a hold this man had on her. He didn’t even have to say anything to stop her in her tracks.
“Cat and Mouse is one of my favorite games, you know.”
The voice of her tormentor was barely above a whisper but his tone implied so much more. She was in for it now, that much she knew as she felt his breath on the back of her neck. He had begun to circle his prey.
Her hands shook as she shut her eyes, as if trying to will him away a thought.
“Ahh, so someone must have tipped you off about that little power of yours.” His voice was menacing in pitch but sounded further away. “No matter.”
Her eyes snapped open as she turned abruptly, nearly giving herself whiplash.
She was shocked to see him a few feet away from her beating against some kind of invisible wall in the alleyway they were standing in. She didn’t even realize how isolated they were.
She also didn’t understand what he meant by his words. She should have, but didn’t. She didn’t stay to find out either. She turned tail and ran again. At times, it seemed that was all she was capable of. As if the only thing that she learned throughout her entire life was how to run away.
She had nearly made it out of her seeming isolation and into the streets before she felt him at her back again.
Teeth bit into her already injured shoulder. The memories from last week blurring her vision as she cried out.
“Poor little Caroline,” he said picking her up by her throat. “A powerful witch reduced to nothing but a vampire’s plaything. It’s a shame no one ever helped you develop your talents. You could have put me on my ass back there!”
The girl doesn’t even realize that there is much more to her than the seemingly human blood that runs in her veins.
The words spilling from her tormentor’s lips brought forth a memory tinged in pity. The creature from the woods had known all along that there was something different about her. Why didn’t she know? Why had no one told her? Why did she have to wait for a horrible person to reveal something like this to her?
Under normal circumstances she would have scoffed in Damon’s face. But her predicament was far from normal. She knows too much of the world when she’s allowed to remember.
“I think I’m done,” his voice slithered into her ear. She shivered in disgust at how the words made her feel. “Look. At. Me.”
The command was sharp. Her eyes snapped to his almost immediately. The grip on her neck made her see stars but she kept her eyes on him nonetheless. It wouldn’t do well to defy his demands now.
“Remember, Caroline.” His face changing to reflect that of a monster. “Remember everything I’ve done to you. I want you to remember it all. NOW!”
Her eyes widened as the compulsion took hold or better yet, as it was released.
She barely noticed that Damon’s hold on her person was slowly relinquished. It was poetic in a way. It seemed like she was falling to the ground for hours when in reality it was mere seconds. Her hold on her sanity had finally broken as tears streamed profusely down her cheeks. The horrors of her sophomore and junior years of college coming in droves. It was like watching a depraved version of Caroline’s best hits. Her body shook with tremors as it tried to cope with the influx of torment that she was reliving.
All the beatings, living as little more than a minion, the sex, none of it consensual, the blood… so much blood. Hers, his, she couldn’t distinguish the substance that she had grown accustomed to drinking from water.
Her head tilted back and just beyond the images that flew past her mind’s eye, she saw the moon. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as she tried to howl at it, begging it for answers on how to end her pain.
“Poor Caroline,” he said bringing her attention back to him. “Now, I need you to run.”
She scrambled to her feet in haste, still shaking from the shock of it all.
“Run, Caroline,” he said as the veins beneath his scarlet eyes pooled with blood. As his teeth elongated into ferocious fangs. As his voice took on a sinister tone. “And pray to the devil that I never find you.”
She fled.
And she keeps running. She doesn’t stop.
Not even when her feet begin to bleed in her own shoes.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
