Gone (A Klaus and Caroline Fanfiction)

Obligatory Acquaintances

The first person was an accident; a small inconvenience I didn't mean to have happened.

I wasn't searching to kill, but no one was perfect. I guessed I'd pushed him too forcefully for his frail human body to recover from. Oops.

The second, however, was merely necessary. He was in my way, a basic invitation to be rid of. Then after him came a third, and a fourth. A fifth. I stopped trying to care around the eighth. I could do it without hesitation at the tenth.

A part of me didn't want to be a killer. It was a small voice locked behind some barrier in my mind saying this was wrong, but I didn't listen to it. I didn't face it. But for the purpose of not getting caught, I laid low. And put effort in being somewhat careful.

When Stefan finally found me three weeks later after I'd fled the hospital, I walked by him, and gave him no other acknowledgement. That did little to deter him, though and he followed after me, like a lost puppy or some mother hen trying to coax its chick back into place. He first tried to reason with me. Then guilt me. Then challenge me on why I was doing what I was, but my answer was simple enough.

Because I wanted to.

"This isn't you, Caroline." He said. But I just smirked sideways at him. Of course he would try and tell me who I was. Who I was before my mom died. I remembered it well enough and that girl . . . she was weak. And annoying. Full of far too much sunshine in a place of storms.

I shrugged as I walked, dipping down an alleyway and catching traces of car exhaust and barbecue on the air. "Yeah, well. People change."

"You are better than this," Stefan dragged on. I could tell by the desperation in his voice how hard he was trying to convince me. It would've been cute if it wasn't so irritating. "You're still Caroline. This person...you don't want to be this person."

I chuckled. "This person? Who do I want to be then, Stefan?" I asked, pausing long enough to face him. "The dutiful control-freak who kept worrying about everyone else? Who arranged events and tried to play the human? I think I'll pass."

"You'll have to turn it on eventually," he said. "Whether by your own volition...or not."

I smiled sweetly at him. "I have no intention of coming back, Stefan. There's nothing back there for me. Friends? I don't need them. Stupid, little boy crushes? I really don't need that. And I don't need you. For once, I'm actually happy. So just leave me alone." I resumed walking.

"You can't keep killing people," he hissed, blocking my path.

"Or what?" I snapped. "You'll kidnap me and torture me into turning it on? Fine." I took a step closer, dissolving the space until the smell of his detergent became cloying. "Go right ahead."

He ran a hand through his hair. I recognized it as something he did when he was trying to think, but I spoke before he could speak his thoughts out loud.

"You can't do anything I won't see coming," I said, speaking around a smile. I dusted off the shoulder of his jacket. "I know your tricks. I know your games. If you want to stop me, you'll have to kill me."

He caught my wrist in his. "I won't hurt you. But I won't allow innocent people to die just because it doesn't cost you anything to do it. You will come back, Caroline."

I felt my smile morph into a wolfish grin. "Then you'll be the first to know." I tore my wrist from his grip and sidestepped around him.

"One more person, Caroline," he said from behind me. "One more chance to do this your way. Or any promises I've made...I'll be forced to break."