Shadows Within

TWENTY

Twenty

When Hope first came to the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted, she was feeling so much resentment and anger towards everyone. Why did they feel the need to send her away? Was it something she did? Was that it? It was her fault?

It was during such a day when her feelings were as conflicted and complicated as they came that she met one and only Caroline Forbes. With a brilliant, shining smile and a long, slick blond hair that fell down her shoulders gracefully and blue eyes that fell on her with a sense of familiarity in them, as if when the woman looked at Hope, she saw somebody else instead. "Alaric tells me you've gotten in an argument with Penelope." Her voice was soft and tender, motherly. They had told her she was Lizzie and Josie's mother. But it wasn't her beauty or the comforting way she spoke that stunned her speechless.

It was the fact that she had seen the woman before, had seen her every time she entered her dad's room in the portrait that hung proudly above the fireplace. She was the woman in the painting, the woman her father always stared at in an assistance, as if he expected the painting to start talking suddenly like one of those paintings in Harry Potter movies. But she never did. The painting stood still and silent for years, only her blue gaze serving to remind her dad of things Hope had no way of knowing.

Her father was a complicated man. She never quite knew what he was thinking. After a long while, Hope finally spoke, "You are the woman in my father's portrait."

The woman arched her eyebrows curiously at her, the corners of her mouth lifting up. "Oh, did he draw me again? That man. Honestly." She shook her head in a strangely affectionate way as she sat beside Hope. "I don't know if you already know who I am, but I am Caroline Forbes." She bit into her lip hard then, glancing at her somewhat bashfully. "Hope, I know you miss your dad awfully, any girl your age would when forced into a house with no father to speak of — I know I did when my father went away from our house — but getting in those senseless arguments and fights, that isn't the way to deal with this. There is another way."

Hope was thoughtful for a second before turning to Caroline, "I miss my dad." She fell into Caroline's arms, drops of tears falling on the woman's expensive looking dress.

Caroline patted her on the back in the reassurance. "I know you do, honey."

Hope sniffed, pulling apart from the woman. She lifted her head at the blonde and pleadingly, asked her, "Can you tell me about my dad?"

It was Caroline Forbes that was standing in front of her in a fancy, white one piece suit with her blond hair tied up elegantly as she turned towards Hope with a somewhat brilliant smile. "Hey there, little star." She began, "It seems to me you've been getting into lots of trouble lately. Want to talk to me about it? Maybe I know a way we can fix your little problem."

"Do you know a way I can deal with a somewhat villainous ex boyfriends?"

"Well, I do have a bit of experience on that front. Like, maybe not an ex boyfriend. More like, almost boyfriend someone who kept threatening all of my friends to complying to his wishes."

Hope arched her eyebrow. "Are you talking about my dad?"

"Who else would I be talking about? Stefan? Please." She chuckled. "You don't know the number of times I wished to deck your father because of his very much unneeded, villainous behavior. Actually, it's actually surprise I had not actually, tried to deck him. I really should have when I had the chance. Would've made me feel better about the whole liking Klaus thing."

Hope chuckled. "I missed you, Caroline."

"Come here." Hope fell into Caroline's arms and giggled quite happily at the contact. With her mother gone, Caroline was the only one close enough to be her mother. If Hope lost Caroline, she didn't quite know what she would've done. "I missed you, little star."