Dissipating Darkness [Klaroline]

Chapter 13: Love Guru

"Contrary to popular belief, the first people who established Mystic Falls in 1721 were not actually the first people to reside here. There were a group of wanderers who decided to build their lives here. Those wanderers were werewolves. They settled here many, many years ago because of the open, vast land, which meant they were free to roam where ever and whenever they chose. Well, until my family showed up."

"We came here from Europe to escape disease."

"Influenza?"

I smirk down at Caroline as she excitedly interrupts me. It's then that I realize that she is not thinking about how this story must end. She is only thinking of it as a story.

"Not exactly, Caroline. You know, this telling of tales would go by much faster if you didn't interrupt me."

I see her bring her hand up to her mouth in a zipper fashion. Her eyes read pure sarcasm.

"My family and I migrated to North America to escape the Plague. The Plague I am mentioning occurred almost four hundred years before the Plague you are taught about in your high school History class, and it was much, much worse. The events of that Plague aren't as successfully recorded because, well, not many people lived to tell about it."

I can hear Caroline suck in a low breath. I'm sure she's trying to add up the years in her head.

"Once we arrived, we found refuge in what is now your Mystic Falls. My mother, Esther, had brought along her friend, Ayana, to the New World. During my years growing up, something was always a little off when it came to Ayana, but I thought it was just myself being an ignorant, little kid.

"All that soon changed when one night, my siblings and I heard it; the howling of a wolf. It sounded different, though. Almost human in a way. Rebekah and my youngest brother, Kol, were still very small children, so along with my older brothers, Elijah, Finn, and Henrik, I decided to investigate.

"That night was a pretty windy one, and the fire in the village had been blown out hours before. It was complete darkness. None of us could see anything. That didn't make us turn around, though. We trekked on into the darkness; into the direction where the howl came from."

I could see it in my head just like it was yesterday.

"We were a little ways out from the village; just passed the big White Oak tree. That's when it happened. All I remember seeing were giant, oval-shaped yellow eyes on this gargantuan figure. They were racing toward us. We all screamed, but Henrik's scream became low and gargled. Before I knew what was happening, my mother and father's voices came yelling in our direction, and I was being swept off of my feet.

"Everyone made me stay inside until morning. Elijah and Finn were ordered to stay in their room, too. It was almost like as soon as daylight broke through the night, all Hell broke loose. Elijah was the first one to sneak outside that morning, and not five minutes later he came back; sobbing. Henrik was dead. Whatever we had seen that night had killed him.

"A few years later, everything was as normal as it could have been. In the years that had passed, we learned of the existence of the werewolves and that they were the ones that had killed my brother. It was decided that no one was at fault because, in a way, both groups of people were in the wrong. We had invaded their home, and they had been acting on instinct. The werewolves left peacefully, and my family was finally all right. Or so I thought.

"I had started hearing odd conversations between mother and Ayana, but thought nothing of them. Soon, I became an adult and more, uneventful years passed. Finally, a few months after I had turned twenty-six, my mother and father called all of their children together for a dinner. Rebekah had just turned eighteen a few weeks prior, and we had not yet gathered together for that celebration.