Timeless

Chapter 14

Klaus had given Caroline about two seconds to bandage her arm and change clothes before taking her straight to Gretchen. The witch had already set up house in the forest once again. It was slow going getting Caroline there. She was human again and slow and stumbled constantly across rocks and logs and everything else that was in their way. She wasn't accustomed to her human body anymore. Klaus kept a firm grip on her hand, dragging her along until the reached the tiny cottage.

"Gretchen!" Klaus called out. The witch opened her front door.

"Klaus. Caroline. To what do I owe this early morning visit?"

Klaus grabbed Caroline by the shoulders, shoving her in front of the witch.

"She's human," he said.

Gretchen's brow furrowed. She grabbed Caroline's wrist, checking for a pulse, and Klaus watched as surprised flickered into the witch's hazel eyes.

"By the mother..." she breathed, her mouth dropping open, "bring her inside."

Gretchen opened the door and let them in. The house looked exactly the same as the old one; after all it had been created by magic. Gretchen pulled out a chair and motioned for Klaus to sit Caroline down in it. He watched her kneel down in front of Caroline and examine her, murmuring to herself the entire time.

"Well," Klaus urged, "what is the matter?"

"Nothing is the matter, she's just human."

Klaus chuckled sardonically. "Nothing is the matter? NOTHING IS THE MATTER? She is fucking human? She wasn't human eight hours ago!"

"That's enough Niklaus. You're scaring the girl."

Gretchen nodded her head to Caroline and Klaus glanced over at her. The witch was right, Caroline sat there, trembling in the chair, her eyes crinkled and worried.

"I'm fine," Caroline insisted, "it isn't as if I've never been human before."

"How do you feel Caroline?"

Caroline shook her head to sort her thoughts. "Strange. Tired. Warm."

Gretchen smiled. "You probably need food, and drink. Here."

She stood up and walked over to her tiny kitchen area, grabbing a loaf of bread and some water. She brought it back to Caroline, who accepted it gratefully.

"I assume that when you went to bed last night, you were still a vampire," Gretchen said.

Caroline nodded. "I woke up this morning and I was...alive."

"Did anything strange happen? Anything at all?"

"No. Nothing. I just went upstairs, changed, and went to sleep," she said, "I guess the only thing weird was the dream I had last night?"

Gretchen's eyes narrowed. "What dream?"

"It was just so real," Caroline said, "it felt like more of a memory than a dream."

"What was the dream Caroline," Klaus urged her on. She looked up at him again, her eyes still holding on to some of the fear.

"I was back home. It was morning and I got up and went down to have breakfast and get ready for school. But my mom was still around, usually she'd already be at work. She stayed home to tell me that one of my friends had died in an accident with her parents the night before."

"And this isn't something that occurred in your current time?"

Caroline shook her head. "No. I mean, there was an accident and Elena's parents died, but not Elena. She was rescued. By another vampire. She survived," Caroline paused, squeezing her eyes shut. Gretchen reached out and squeezed her shoulder.