A Persistent Lover

Off to London

Caroline was sitting in her window seat, staring outside the window as the plane slowly prepared for liftoff. She swore she could hear her dead heart begin to quicken as she felt the plane straighten out on the runway. She looked around her to see if anyone else seemed as nervous as herself. Her neighbor was reading a People Magazine and some people had even laid back for a snooze. Even with her butterflies, she had to smirk at the situation. Her she was, Miss Vampire Caroline, who could easily kill off every human on this plane if she wanted to. Yet she was the only apparent one here who looked like she was going to hurl from something as normal as a plane ride.

Her smirk fell as the plane picked up speed. Her hands gripped onto the handles and her breath quickened. Her eyes shut tight and what felt like an eternity, she felt the plane lift off from the ground. Gathering enough courage to open her eyes, she turned to look out. She gasped as she saw how far up she was. The cars had turned to ants. Clouds were now below her, covering parts of the landscape.

"Miss?" a British-accented voice stirred her away from the window. "Miss, are you alright?"

She turned to face her neighbor, a woman who looked to be in her 40s. Caroline realized her hands were still gripping the handles of her seat.

She relaxed them as she replied, "I'm..I'm fine. I've just never been on a plane before, that's all".

The woman gave her a reassuring smile. "Oh, how courageous of you! So I'm taking it that this will be your first time into London then?"

"Yes. I want to explore Europe and thought that London would make the most sense, seeing that English is the language".

The woman chuckled at this and replied, "A very excellent choice. And as London is my home, I will say that you will not be disappointed. The city has much to offer. May I ask what inspired you to take on this trip of yours?"

Caroline hesitated for the briefest moment before saying, "Just needed to get away. Life back home is complicated, if you know what I mean."

The woman nodded. "Darling, I know exactly what you mean. My name's Chloe by the way," she said giving Caroline a hand.

"Caroline," Caroline took the hand and shook it.

As Chloe began to chat with Caroline, Caroline couldn't help but let her mind drift back to Mystic Falls. She hadn't lied; life back home was too complicated for Caroline.

In the end, everything had failed. Klaus turned out to be Rose's maker, meaning that his death would result in the deaths of herself, Damon, Stefan, and Tyler. Operation Kill Klaus was over and Tyler returned to Mystic Falls, still a sired hybrid.

Elena's love life chaos, Bonnie's mother chaos, and of course her own chaos with the hybrids' attentions had finally driven Caroline to the line of insanity. She had to get out. She concluded the Salvatores and Elena wouldn't miss her, but she worried about her mother, Bonnie, and Tyler. She had felt each of them a note, explaining her actions and hoping they'd understand. She could care less about Klaus and his pack.

So that morning, after laying out her notes on her bed and packing up, Caroline had left Mystic Falls. She knew she'd return some day, but as soon as she passed the sign welcoming her to the next town over, it felt as if it was a final goodbye.

The streets of London were flowing. Caroline had never been a part of such a huge gathering of people. She held her purse tightly as people hustled by her. In her other hand, she held the address of Chloe's apartment. After landing in London, Chloe had invited Caroline to sometime stop by and visit before she moved on to her next destination. After that, Caroline reluctantly compelled herself a taxi to the finest hotel in the city and got herself the penthouse for free.

After a long sleep and slightly adjusting to the time change, Caroline had decided to reward herself with a shopping spree. She smiled at the thought of walking in the Mystic Falls High School, the only girl wearing a dress from the shops of London. Her phone was loaded with texts and voicemails from back home, but she cruelly ignored them, figuring she'd deal with them when the time was right.

Caroline spent more than was necessary at her first stop. There were simply too many sundresses that she knew she'd look stunning in, and she even threw on a blue colored dress before leaving the store. Any dress that brought out the blue of her eyes was a must.

A month passed and Caroline Forbes could not have been happier. She was a free single woman living the life of the wealthy in London, England. The only person she would speak to in Mystic Falls was her mother, who had first freaked out at her daughter's escape. But after much persuasion, Sheriff Forbes had finally seen that this was what Caroline had needed. How could life possibly get better?

She was seated outside of a coffee shop when the trouble began.

"Miss Forbes?"

She looked up at the face of her waiter, a dazed look in his eyes. He stuck out a sealed letter towards her.

"This letter has just arrived for you. You are to read it and do as it says."

He dropped the letter and walked away before Caroline could ask any questions. An eerie feeling had settled in her stomach. The waiter had clearly been compelled and Caroline was in no mood for vampires.

Opening the letter, her eyes gazed down on the font before freezing as she pin pointed whose it was. No. Oh no no no.

So London was your first choice of a destination, love? I had hoped you had gone to Rome as I once suggested, but I am sure you are going to go there at some point. As you must know, I was rather saddened at your sudden departure from Mystic Falls. You being my only real fun and entertainment there, it was only a matter of a few days before I set it upon myself to find you out. Your friends had grown quite anxious at your disappearance; their assurance that I had had something to do with it was also rather vexing to handle with. I will not bore you with my tale of how I have come to find you, but after seeing your glorious face just an hour ago, I assure you it was worth the effort.

I have missed you Caroline. Tomorrow I would like to meet me at the exact place you are sitting in right now, 2pm. Come at this appropriate time and do not be late, sweetheart, it would be awfully bothersome to go out looking and finding you again if you do not arrive.

Fondly, Klaus

And may I add on how ravishing you look in that dress.

Caroline spun her head out into the street, looking in every which way. She could see no sign of the blond haired hybrid. Grabbing her purse, she made a huge deal of ripping up the letter and throwing it away. There was no way in hell she was going to spend any of her time with the monster who ruined her friends' lives. And damn it, this was her vacation, and she meant to spend it alone.

Smoothing out her dress and throwing on her sunglasses, she strolled out onto the street.

Back in the coffee shop, Klaus smirked as he took a sip from his cup. "See you soon, sweetheart".