Two Lost Souls

True To Myself

Still reeling from everything that just happened, Caroline takes a minute to process Klaus' departure before releasing a shaky breath, one hand running through her hair in an unusually helpless gesture. Even with everything that's been thrown at her lately, she's rarely been so thoroughly robbed of the control she always struggles so hard to hold onto, and it's hard to wrap her head around the fact that there's nothing she can do right now. Elijah is on his Davina mission, something she can't help him with yet. Klaus is gone – who knows for how long. Stefan and Rebekah are together – and that's a can of worms she doesn't feel like opening at the moment, though she sure hopes her best friend is prepared for the merciless teasing that is coming his way sooner rather than later.

It's only then that the eerie silence registers in her mind.

Stefan and Rebekah are together, she repeats to herself, the implications of this weird quietness slowly settling in. In spite of her distress, she did hear them when they came back, and it wasn't that long ago. Knowing them, it's unlikely that they're both already asleep, so there should be some noise in the mansion. Nothing major, but at least the few telltale sounds of two people talking, getting ready for bed, or engaging in other activities.

But there's nothing. The only things she can hear are her own breathing and her racing pulse.

Without warning, her exhaustion, sadness and fear are all wiped away to be replaced by a foreboding feeling she wishes she could ignore.

Stifling an alarmed gasp, she vamp-speeds to Rebekah's room and doesn't bother with knocking before she throws the door open, unsurprised to find the bedroom as well as the adjoining bathroom empty. She repeats the process with Stefan's room even though she knows what she will find, and when her suspicions are confirmed, she pauses long enough to gather her wits, the picture already clear in her mind. Too clear, if you ask her.

She runs down the stairs at human speed, trying to hold onto her denial for a little longer, but eventually she makes it through the empty study and library and ends up in the kitchen, where she finds what she was really hoping she wouldn't find.

Stefan is sitting at the table, his head resting on his crossed arms, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. The only comfort she finds in the picture is the healthy color of his skin. He'll be cranky when he wakes up, but he will wake up.

Now that her fears have officially come to pass, she feels her panic begin to overtake her.

"Crap. Crap crap crap crap crap!"

Before her brain can catch up with her body, her hand is already digging her cell phone out of the back pocket of her jeans, finding Elijah's number in her contacts, dialing it, and bringing the phone to her ear. Her other hand presses against her forehead as if trying to keep her thoughts from running away from her before she places it on Stefan's shoulder, needing the contact to remind herself that he's going to be okay.

Elijah picks up after a couple of rings.

"Caroline, I really can't..."

"Rebekah's gone." Silence greets her blunt statement. It's soon followed by a few indistinct noises, which she assumes is him getting out of earshot of whoever he was with, and Caroline wonders if he looks as shocked as she imagines before going on, "I... I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry, I was..." Reminding herself that this is not the most pressing matter right now, she gets a hold of herself and swallows back the rising guilt in order to try and be more articulate. Her voice is surprisingly controlled when she explains, "She must have heard me tell Klaus about Davina."

"That's bad."

The hysterical tear-laced laugh that has been building up since she found Stefan breaks out at Elijah's matter-of-fact and rather obvious comment, but once again, she manages to breathe through her emotions and to pull herself together.