The Vampire Diaries: Trinity

Chapter Twenty Four: Brave New World

At the hospital, Caroline wakes up with a start. She gets out of bed and walks into the hallway. She sees a nurse and walks towards her. "Excuse me? Where is everyone?"

"It's the middle of the night honey."

"It is? Oh, uh...have you seen my mom?"

"She left after dinner with your boyfriend and then your friend Elena stepped by."

"She did? Yeah, she did but she said her name was Katherine. Can I just get something to eat?"

"Breakfast comes around seven."

"But I'm hungry."

"You should go back to sleep."

Caroline begins to walk back to her room but stops. She turns back around. "What is that smell?"

"Back to bed." The nurse leaves but Caroline stays in the hallway. She looks everywhere and sees a blood pouch in a patient's room. She goes toward the pouch and touches it but the nurse arrives. "What are you doing in here?"

"I don't know."

"You need to go back to bed." She takes Caroline to her room and leaves.

Caroline sits down on her bed and takes the blood pouch from her pocket. She drinks but she doesn't like it and, disgusted, throws the pouch on the floor. She looks down at the pouch on the floor, climbs down from her bed and picks it up. She starts drinking again and her fangs appear.

Trinity groans as she wakes up, trying to block the sun from her eyes. She blearily blinks and her eyes snap open when she notices she's outside. She looks at surroundings and sees shredded clothes scattered around the yard. She looks down and clutches the blanket to her naked body. She reaches for a piece of fabric, smelling a bitter ginger scent on it. Realization sets in her eyes and her face fills with horror. "Oh god no." She whispers.

She rushes into the house and up the stairs. Dropping the blanket away she hurries into the bathroom and turns on the shower, stepping in before the water has time to adjust. She lets the water run over her skin. "No, no, no, no, no."

At the high school, everyone is preparing the carnival. Bonnie and Elena are taking care of everything.

"Katherine looked just like you, it was freakish." Bonnie tells her.

"She is my ancestor." Elena says. "Hey, I moved the student booth into the cafeteria."

"Your vampire ancestor and she didn't just resemble you like a family member would. She was you."

"I don't know, I can't explain it. It's creepy, that's all I got."

"How do you know she's not still out there pretending to be you?"

"I don't but I could sit here and be tortured by the not-knowing or I could get these prizes to the ring toss."

"Have you talked to Trinity?" She asks.

"Not really, why?"

"At the Lockwood's, I found her knocked out on the bathroom floor."

"What?!"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No. Did she run into Katherine?"

Bonnie shakes her head. "I don't know, she must have. She hasn't been willing to talk to me, or look at me really since Founder's Day."

Elena sighs. "It's gonna take her some time. She's been going through a lot. Putting her life or someone's that she cares about in danger isn't safe."