When Caroline suddenly barges inside the living room of the Boarding House, her face is covered in tears, and the rest of her body is covered in blood.
She looks like a fierce herald of Death, her guilt a weakness still shining brightly in her frenzied eyes.
"Oh my God, Caroline!" Elena cries out, immediately running to her friend and bringing her arms around her, eyes surveying the blonde's clothes with fear. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
Stefan and Damon watch the scene unfold from a few meters away, sharing a worried look that says more than any amount of words could right now.
"I–I don't know," Caroline gasps, barely able to talk, tears continuously filling her eyes and then streaming down her cheeks, clogging her throat. "I don't know what came over me," her voice breaks, and she tries to cover her tears and blood stained face with trembling hands.
"Hey. It's fine, Caroline, look at me," Elena pleads, trying to get her friend's attention by prying away her hands.
"Come," she says, gently leading her to the couch and sitting down at her side, one reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Tell me what happened."
Caroline just keeps on shaking her head, tears freely running down her face and onto her hands, resting on her knees.
"No. No, I–I can't. Elena," she whimpers, turning to the side to hide her face against her friend's shoulder, almost unconsciously looking for all the comfort that the brunette can currently offer.
Elena brings a hand up to Caroline's hair, soothingly caressing her messy locks.
"Sssh, it's okay. It's going to be okay, Caroline," she promises, not quite believing it herself as she turns to look towards Stefan and Damon with worried, helpless eyes.
Stefan moves a little closer to the two girls, crouching down on his knees to get to Caroline's level.
He briefly shares a meaningful look with Elena, before sighing.
"Caroline, what happened?" he's the one to ask now, his tone low and gentle.
Caroline sniffs, leaving a dreadful silence to encompass the room around them for a few moments.
Finally, with a gulp, she raises her head up from Elena's shoulder and starts talking.
"I'm... I'm not sure. I was just walking down the road, I was–I was coming here," her voice breaks again, her bottom lip trembling, "And I saw this guy, he–his car had broken down and I wanted to help him or, I don't know, but, uh–" she stops, taking a deep breath while looking down at her hands, fidgeting on her lap.
The sudden sight of all the blood that she is covered with makes her heart rate increase immediately, panic and guilt surging through her veins.
Noticing her friend's distress growing by the second, Elena takes one of her hands in between both of hers, squeezing it in support and giving Caroline the most reassuring look that she can muster at the moment.
With a sigh, Caroline finally goes on.
"Suddenly I smelled–I smelled blood," she grinds her teeth together, closing her eyes as more tears fall down her cheeks. She can distinctively smell it right now, too, the blood; it's all around her—all over her—making it impossible for her to concentrate on anything else. It's blocking all of her senses, making her dizzy and desperate for one more taste.
What is happening to her?
"It's fine, go on," Elena encourages her with a small nod, misunderstanding her silence for a different kind of hesitance.
YOU ARE READING
Red Passion
Fanfiction"It was supposed to be a one-time thing, a mistake. But, when you're a vampire, life is blood and blood binds." Red flags! Rate M. Delicious M. Klaus and Caroline are just way too perfect to resist, so here I am at last with my first and proper mu...
