82Author's Note: Another take on the show I love so much. As well as the couple. I know, I'm the worst but this couple needs more love. So let me know what you think! Enjoy!
There is freedom waiting for you,
on the breezes in the sky,
And you ask "What if I fall?"
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?
-e.h
There is this routine that she took up a few years after she activated the curse.
She spent the first few schooling years being bullied by this boy. His name was Elliott Smith. He would always grab onto her hair and pull it as hard as he could while laughing into her little, crying face. He would do it all the time. No one did anything. Not the teachers, not her parents, not his parents. No one. This had just become her life. She would do everything that she could to run away from him or hide behind her friends when he came around.
This time, she was up at the top of the spider web out in the backside of the playground. She had gotten into a fight with Elena and of course Bonnie chose her side and they both ran off to play together for a while until they all forget that they were fighting and it all goes back to the way it was before.
When she wasn't paying attention, he snuck up behind her on the web and grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled. She's not sure if it was the surprise in the action, as she didn't see him sneaking up on her, or the actual strength in which he pulled, but she flayed and screamed and threw herself around in pain, surprise, and fear. She must have either scared him or knocked him back - it all happened so fast, but one second after it started, there was a hard yank on her hair and then she was staring up at the sky with pain radiating along the back of her head, neck and shoulders.
She's not sure what happened, other than that she somehow knocked him backward where he hit his head or neck just right that when he hit the ground in the center of the spider web, having fallen through the bars, he never got back up again. She doesn't really remember the look on his face, but she remembers looking down at his body, her eyes locked on his little, clenched fists with long strands of blond hair tangled between them.
Caroline got it out of her aunt, years later, exactly what had happened. He apparently hit the bar behind him wrong and somehow flipped into the web, spraining his neck, only to fall down seven feet and break it completely. He died almost instantly.
He was only nine-years-old. Same age as Caroline.
And just like that, he was dead. And Caroline triggered her curse.
It was an accident and Caroline didn't get into trouble. But she was sent away anyway to live with her mom's sister. Turns out, her mom was the same as she was, and her aunt had triggered the curse long ago too. Her mom knew about it but knew that she couldn't stay at home. Not with a man like her father. He wouldn't be able to understand why his little nine-year-old was turning into a monster every full moon. He just wouldn't get it.
So her aunt, Cassandra or Cassie, took her into her home in a small town in the middle of the country yet in the middle of nowhere in a small town that had miles of open land around it and taught her all about the change. About how the hours leading up to her first change. But no matter how much they talked about it, she wasn't prepared for her first change. The agony, the flurry of memories, the fear, the primal animal instinct, and the thirst for the kill.
Being chained up in her aunt's basement with her aunt as they both went through the change together was a nightmare on repeat every single month. Sometimes they stayed all night, thrashing about, howling and snarling until they change back and sometimes they escape and kill a crazy amount of local wildlife, waking up miles away from home and having to find a way back without getting caught. Thankfully, while she was still young, Caroline didn't have to worry about breaking her chains. She was still so small and young that she wasn't able to.
Cassie told her all about the supernatural world. Told her about vampires and werewolves and witches. She told her about how wolves should usually travel in packs, but not her. She didn't trust anyone. She figured that she wouldn't be able to fit into any pack because she's too paranoid. She never told Caroline why she was so paranoid, but she was.
And when Caroline was fifteen, her aunt vanished and Caroline became a runner. She lived on the streets and did everything that she could to survive.
She thought about going home, briefly, but maybe it was her aunt's paranoia getting to her or realizing that if anyone knew the truth for certain - i.e her parents - that her aunt was missing, she would be brought back home and that couldn't happen. Her father would learn that she was a supernatural being that he hated so much.
So that wasn't going to happen. No one had to know anything. Her aunt was a recluse anyway and Caroline kept in touch with her parents through texts and calls. That was it.
That Caroline could keep up with. The lies she could fabricate if her parents needed it, and they didn't really. But the older she got, the more distant they got. She just didn't have anything to say to them about her life. Nothing she could tell them about. So they spoke less and less. Now it was maybe once a week she spoke with each of them.
Being on her own though, made her even more aware of the full moon and its effect on her. So after over a year and a half on the road, Caroline found something that she thought helped her with the change. Caroline found bed partners. It didn't really matter who he was, so long as he could tire her out before the transformation so that her wolf wouldn't get out of control. Without being at her aunt's house in the middle of nowhere Iowa, she didn't have a safe place to turn. So she would scope out an area for a while, then when the full moon came, she would find a partner for the night, leave before the moon reached its apex and the change began and would be on her merry way.
She finds that she doesn't travel as far or kill as much depending on how physically drained she is leading up to the painful drain of changing. She created a system and she liked it.
She had seen many vampires over the years. Well, "many" is an operative word. She's seen more vampires than werewolves. Other than her aunt, she only ever saw one other werewolf and he wanted nothing to do with her. Vampires, if they didn't know anything about werewolves, never thought her more than a human. She's had to run for her life from a few vampires before. She became good at running away.
Today was one of those days. It was early evening and she still had plenty of time before the moon reached its apex to hunt for her prey. That's when she met him.
She didn't know his name at first. Handsome, blond hair and blue eyes with stubble and a charming English accent. She could sense him from the moment he walked in through the door of the pub. The whole room seems to fall for him in a moment as his entourage surrounded him protectively until he waved his hand dismissively and they spread out, trying to be inconspicuous but Caroline knew better.
He didn't have to sit right next to her, close enough for her to not feel the normal heat a body would exude to know that he was a vampire. She could just tell by the way he held himself, looked around at everyone and everything. Like they were all his playthings. He was a vampire, and he was an old one.
"Hello there, little wolf," he says, waving the bartender over and getting himself a shot of whiskey. His voice is low and gravelly and when he smiles at her, it's like a predator cornering its prey.
"I don't want any trouble," Caroline says slowly, knowing from experience, the older the vampire the worse the trouble. "I'll leave."
He turns slightly in his chair to look at her. "Now why would you do that? I just got here." He sips leisurely at his drink, looking at her curiously. "An interesting night to be out and about, you know."
Caroline isn't sure how to answer that. She's not even sure what's going on. Either the vampire knows what she is and is either terrified or angry, or they don't and they either want to eat her or don't care about her. The interest of this vampire is very different. And very alarming. She can't even begin to imagine what he could want from her. A bite from her could kill him, yet he's talking to her like they are old friends.
"I'm not here to cause any problems," Caroline repeats. "I was just here - " she cuts herself off, but it's too late. He's already staring at her expectantly.
"You were here for?"
"I'm... looking for someone," she admits reluctantly. She's trapped. If she plays nice, maybe he'll let her leave without this becoming a bloodbath. She's painfully aware of all the eyes of his followers spread out around the room watching her with dark, wrathful eyes, daring her to make a bad move so they can swoop in for the kill.
He purses full lips, tilting his head to the side. "And who might that be, love? Perhaps I can help you find them?"
"No one," Caroline says, then sees a darkness flash in his eyes, not liking the answer as it seems like she's brushing him off. She quickly elaborates, "I'm not looking for anyone in specific, I mean. I'm just looking for someone. Someone to help me for tonight."
He stares back at her, watching her closely. "Looking for someone to chain you up tonight?"
Now that was a loaded question if she's ever heard one. And judging by the look he was sending her, he knew it too. It was a double entendre. At least to her.
Caroline feels a tug on the corner of her lips, finding amusement in his wordplay but still acutely aware that her life is still in real danger. She can't let her guard down around this old vampire. It's too dangerous. She has to be careful.
"In a manner of speaking," Caroline admits. She tucks a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear. He stares back at her, waiting for her elaborate. She sighs, scratching at the smooth skin in front of her ear. "I have a routine that I follow that helps me through my transformation. Or at least, I've fooled myself into thinking that it does. I just want to go through the motions and find my place tonight. That's all."
The man's expression is amused and curious again, twisting so his entire body is facing her with his right elbow propped up on the bar and his fingers pressed into the side of his head as he stares at her. "And what is this routine, if you don't mind me asking?"
Caroline forces her hands down onto her lap as she studies the handsome face of the vampire next to her. "Why do you want to know so bad? Are you going to kill me or something?"
"You haven't done anything wrong," he says, an innocent lilt to his voice. "Why would I want to hurt you?"
"Vampires and werewolves hate each other?" Caroline guesses, not sure why this stranger was being so elusive. He should just tell her what he wants or just let her go.
His eyebrows raise toward his dusty blond hair as he finishes the last of his drink and nods for the bartender to fill it up again. "I suppose that could be misunderstood. But I'm not here to harm you either, love. Simply curious as to why a little wolf would go snooping around here of all places. I'm starting to suspect that you are simply a little wanderess without a place to lay your head."
It's the truth. She couldn't deny it, yet somehow it hurt hearing him say that. That she didn't have anywhere to go. Her aunt up and vanished without a trace, her mom treats her like a dirty little secret and her dad was smart enough to pick up that his daughter goes out every full moon so she couldn't go home for fear of him realizing the truth about her. It may take him time to realize what exactly is going on, but once he does...
Caroline doesn't want to think about it. Her father loves her, she knows he does, and maybe she will be able to explain it to him one day but not now. He wouldn't understand while she doesn't have the words to explain it. Werewolves are rare, she's come to learn. There isn't a lot left in the world. This strange old vampire knows this, which is probably why he's grilling her. But she just doesn't understand why he's not afraid, especially tonight. Or at least cautious. He's as cool as a cucumber. And there is a strange twinkle in his blue eyes.
"I don't think it's necessary to call me out like that," Caroline mumbles, swirling strands of hair around her finger. She catches his eyes following her movements with this infuriatingly amused look on his face. His smile is like a purse of the lips which makes his dimples pop out.
He laughs, flashing straight white teeth, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in his throat. "I apologize, darling." He waits for a moment, watching her with interest. "You are the first werewolf that I have come across in some time, love. So I have to be honest, I am intrigued and want to know more about you."
Caroline's eyebrows pull together, turning slowly to face him. He seems like he isn't going to kill her. If he's just looking for a chat, she could do that.
"I'll tell you," Caroline says slowly, twisting enough so that her knees brush against his. "But please..." She brings her eyes to meet his, kneading her hands on her lap as her awareness of the rising moon grows more apparent. "Please let me go. I don't want to hurt anyone or anything, really. But if you want to have a long-winded chat, can we have it tomorrow? Or at least go for a run or something while we do it?"
He raises an eyebrow. "May I ask why the need to be heart healthy? Werewolves don't get sick easily or have things like heart problems. Why do you need to do all of that?"
"I use exercise to help curve the strength of my wolf side," Caroline says, leaning in close. It's not really a secret, but it's not something that she just wants to tell everyone. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but she's still just a sixteen-year-old girl talking about using sex to keep herself from killing indiscriminately while she's a wolf.
He looks a mixture of amused and interested. "And that works?"
Caroline shrugs. "For me, it does. At least I think that it does."
He leans in a little bit closer, red lips pursed a bit. "And why are you here? Looking for other early evening runners?" His eyebrows quirk up.
"Not for running," Caroline says slowly, staring into his eyes. "Running is good for you and all, but I'm interested in something a little bit more... fun." She stares into his eyes, hoping that he would understand without her having to just say it. It takes all of her self control not to blush like crazy. It makes sense in her head, wearing herself out, and also satiating her sexual desires, but saying it aloud to someone, especially a very attractive old vampire, makes it sound... well, dirtier than anything else.
He stares back at her without any shift in his emotions before he starts to smile slyly, his blue eyes darkening in understanding. "Ah, I see. Naughty little wolf playing a very adult game." He shakes his head slowly, studying her face closely. "You are interesting, little wolf." A half-smile crosses his lips. "So, you've come here to find a dashing young man with low inhibitions so that you can use and throw him away to fulfill the ache and temper your wolf... my, what an interesting take."
Caroline shrugs her shoulders, squirming a bit in her stool. "I'm sure others have thought of it. But listen, I only have a limited amount of time. I need to find somewhere to hold out for the night, so can I go now?"
"If you need to find it, then that means that you still have to find something," he says, resting his other arm across the back of his chair. "I could help you out."
Caroline twists her head to the side, staring at him. "You're going to offer me a place to turn? Why? You're a vampire. Werewolf bites kill vampires."
He smiles, dimples popping out on his cheeks. "I am not so worried, love. You should take me up on my offer." His eyes lock onto her and she is captivated by the power and assuredness in his gaze. He's so strong, so in control. He appears larger than life. "I think this is going to be a mutually beneficial transaction."
Caroline feels the smile tug at the corner of her lips. "You're offering me more than just a place to turn, aren't you?"
He downs the drink placed next to him before standing up and offering his hand for her to take. "Come, little wolf, let me look after you."
Caroline turns to look out the window, judging the waning daylight and feel for the moon. She turns back toward the strange old vampire, sees his confident, sultry smile, reaches out and takes his hand. "Are you sure you aren't worried about me biting you?" Caroline asks, rising slowly.
His smile widens a bit. "No, sweetheart. I'm not." He pulls her hand until she's pressed up against him. He leans down, picks up her backpack, her only worldly possession and leads her to the door.
That night is a blur. Most of the time, Caroline enjoys it in the moment, but the pain of the turn usually makes her forget most of it. She becomes so hyper-focused on the feeling of turning that she forgets the bit of enjoyment she had in the hours leading up to it.
But that night was different. Needless to say, she barely made it through the front door to his huge mansion before their lips were locked into place against one another. And for the hours that followed Caroline remembers throwing this beautiful, alluring stranger around his own house, ripping off his clothes and indulging in his beautiful body.
A small part of Caroline was afraid that he would kill her. She knew he was a vampire and that if he wanted to, even on the night of a full moon where she is so much stronger, she worried that he would be able to easily overpower her, but as soon as they walked into that house, he was kissing her lips and her body as if he was a fervent believer and her body was an altar to be worshipped. And she felt it. She's had good partners and bad ones over the last few months, and she usually forgot most of it from both of them.
But she remembered him. They had sex for hours until she had to tear herself away from his slightly cold body, red lips, and thirst for sex as strong as her own. It was like the two of them held the same primal need. Caroline hasn't been with a vampire before, so she doesn't have anything to compare to in that regard, but he definitely beat out all her other partners. And she couldn't help but notice that his body would warm up until it was as hot as her own just by being pressed up against it for hours on end.
Along with continuous, rigorous movement.
But at first, it was a touch weird, in the back of her mind, to notice that his body was noticeably colder than her own. But it warmed up so quickly she forgot about it soon after.
His hands sliding across her hips and thighs, teasing her with every touch, those sinful lips kissing his way up and down her body. This was definitely not his first time, she knows, but it's proven with how much he teases her without that dark, dangerous glint having never left his eyes as she practically forced herself on him, snarling that he had better stop teasing her or he was going to regret it.
Not the smartest thing to do, order around a haughty, old ass vampire who seems like he's used to getting his way. But instead of drawing out his anger, she watches, hovering over him with her hips grinding into his jeans that he was somehow able to keep on despite having lost his shirt about ten seconds into walking into the house and stripping her completely bare, through long, sweat-drenched blond hair and lusty eyes as the veins of hunger wash up his cheekbones to his eyes. The sclera darkens dangerously as the blue of his eyes becomes enhanced in the dim light of the fire next to them.
Somehow, one of them found the control inside themselves to light the fireplace somewhere in the middle of their almost coitus while in the large living room of the vampire's mansion.
There is a zing of fear that slices through her at the look, wondering if he was going to bite her and rip her head off but after a slow second of him just admiring her with those starved, blackened eyes, he flips them around, kicking off his pants and giving her exactly what she asked for with a desire laced rumble in his throat, "Whatever you ask, love."
Caroline lost track of how many times they came. She wanted to stay in this moment forever, so much adrenaline and all those good hormones filled her brain and made her forget, if only for a few hours, what that night meant.
They rode out the last of their most recent high when the change started. Caroline was sitting on his lap, arms and legs wrapped tightly around him as he lovingly, gently kissed her shoulder and neck, pushing her sweaty blond hair out of the way so he could kiss back and forth from her jaw to her arm while her face was buried into his neck, breathing in his delicious scent. It was faint, even as he worked up a sweat, but if she breathed in deep enough, she could smell something faintly that smelled so good.
She didn't remember him smelling this good in the pub. And she was mighty distracted the rest of the night. But no matter how hard she tried, she could barely smell whatever that nice smell was.
That's when the change started. Her back cracking first, so hard and so sudden that she threw herself off of him to writhe on the floor in pain. The scream that ripped through her wasn't human. Having been a werewolf for about seven years now made her change come very fast. He must have been able to tell because he easily scoops her up in his arms as she twists and contorts as her bones break, and brings her down the hall and into another room where he lays her onto the floor and walks out without so much as a touch of enhanced speed. He really wasn't concerned.
Caroline has come to find a sick sense of relief in the swiftness of her turn as she grew older. She would prefer the swift, painful snap across every bone in her body as opposed to the long drawn out one crack at a time. Being a wolf is strange. Strange in the way that she remembers what happened, but as if it was happening to someone else. The wolf is in control and if she focuses hard enough, she can direct some of its attention but it's hard to do and she's never really had anything to focus on.
She remembers, briefly, tearing the room apart as there were no windows and the one door leading out seemed impossible to break, but then the exhaustion of the night was too much for her body and the wolf curled to sleep amongst torn pillows from the couch and strewn papers from the desk and relinquished control back to Caroline within about thirty minutes. A record for her wolf.
Caroline becomes semi-conscious again feeling the man run his hand through her hair slowly. The long night of sex coupled with changing into a werewolf and back so quickly has left her body both aching and weak. If the old vampire wanted to kill her, now would definitely be when she was weakest. But instead, he gently cooed something she doesn't remember, scooping her back into his arms and carries her out of the room. She remembers being placed onto something soft and his gentle warmth wrapping around her.
She could barely move but used what minute bit of strength that remained to bury her nose into his neck, hoping to breathe in that sweet smell one more time before sleep consumed her.
She doesn't remember if she did.
After sleeping for two days straight, Caroline snuck out while he was meeting with someone in another room. She found her bag in the foyer, her flip flops which were next to it and ran out the front door. Someone, at some point, dressed her while she was sleeping. She was in a large, loose t-shirt that was probably the old vampire's as it had a very faint smell to it, and a pair of leggings from her bag seeing as her only shirt left was ripped to shreds. He ruined her shirt so she stole his. Equal trade. It was gray, long-sleeved and soft.
She kind of loved it.
Caroline got to the bus stop and waited for the next bus to take her anywhere. As fun as it was, and how tired she was, it was time for her to move on. She was a runner after all, and running is what she did.
