Painting Flowers *Caroline Forbes*

Chapter 13

The ride to New Orleans was a long one. It was almost a day trip, fortunately for them, vampires didn't need to sleep. Caroline and Willow were gonna take turns driving. Willow reached over from where she was sitting in the driver's seat to turn the radio a little bit down, it currently had enchanted by Taylor swift playing.  They have been driving for hours now.

"I didn't know you liked Taylor swift?" Jasmine asked as she glanced at her for a second with a smile before she quickly looked back at the road.

"I love that song! It's my favorite from her. I've been a fan of hers for a couple of years now. Her music is amazing" Caroline told her as she reached behind her in the back seat grabbing the plastic bag that she packed from them, She sat it on her lap before pulling out some sandwiches.

"Here, I packed you a sandwich" Caroline said as she handed the sandwich to Jasmine. Jasmine grabbed it before taking a bite and sat it down in the middle console. "New Orleans is almost a day's trip, wouldn't it be easier to just catch a plane?" Caroline continued as she took a bit of her sandwich. She grabbed her water before taking a sip.

"It would be. But I'm trying to drag this out. I'm in no rush to get home to my father. He's pissed" Jasmine laughed out but deep down she knew that wasn't the only reason. She wanted to spend more time with Caroline. She enjoyed the blonde girl's company.

"Yeah, he sounded mad over the phone." Caroline pursed her lips looking outside the window before turning to Jasmine. "You said you would tell me everything. So tell me who the real Jasmine is. Do you even prefer Jasmine?"

"Not till recently." Willow never liked her middle name that much, not until she first heard it come out of Caroline's mouth. "You can call me Jasmine or Willow, I'm both." Jasmine said as she tightened her hand on the wheel before loosening her grip.

"Okay, Jasmine it is." Caroline paused before continuing. "Klaus is your dad. Marcel adopted you, what happened to your mom?"

Jasmine tensed up but continued staring straight ahead at the road. It was silent for a minute. Caroline was about to speak up but Jasmine beat her to it. "She gave me up. She thought Marcel would kill me because, in her words, I'm a freak of nature and shouldn't exist. He obviously didn't, and My dad cursed her and her entire pack for wanting to go through it."

Caroline reached over grabbing her free hand and giving it a light squeeze. She looked over at Jasmine with a sad smile. "You aren't a freak of nature. You're extraordinary. I'm sorry she couldn't see that."

Jasmine glanced at her with a smile. "Thank you, Caroline."

"You're welcome."

A comfortable silence loomed over them before Caroline broke it.

"So what was your childhood like?" Caroline asked her. She wanted to know more about Jasmine, she knew a lot already but nothing too deep. Probably because Jasmine had to keep up with the façade.

"My childhood was good. My dad runs New Orleans. So I guess you can say I'm the princess of New Orleans. People either fear me because I'm tribrid or because I'm the king's daughter."

"Princess of New Orleans? So the vampires run the city?"

"We run the whole state. The witches and werewolves know better than to step out of line. The humans look the other way as long as we keep the money flowing to the city."

"Do I have to be worry that your dad will try and kill me? How is he with new vampires coming into the city?"

"I won't let him hurt you." Jasmine fiercely said as she looked over at Caroline. Their eyes locked for a second as Jasmine went back to looking at the road. "He will probably make you one of the guys. They throw these big parties, it's basically an excuse for an all-you-can-eat vampire buffet."