Wicked Schemes

Chapter 4

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Come into focus
Step out of the Shadow
It's a losing battle
There's no need to be ashamed
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Getting back to Mystic Falls was supposed to have been a relief, Caroline felt as though she was suffocating by just being home. Before the trip she had held on tightly to everything about her life BV-Before Vampirism. The cheerleading trophies, the friendships, keeping up her good grades, going about all the other daily routines that she had done as a human. The only difference had been that she had needed blood to survive. That and she refused to let anyone ever make her feel as small and insignificant as she had remembered feeling once all the compulsion was wiped clean. She'd succeeded in some ways with that and failed in others, but she was stronger than she ever had been, fearless, brave. She'd thought she had been that when she was human, and she had been to a degree, but she in some ways she felt like becoming a vampire had really helped her grow into her own.

Just had to die to make it happen.

Was there some irony in that, considering what she had become? She'd looked the word up on the internet, and aside from random Google searches about someone from some science fiction show, she hadn't found anything that made even a little sense. Her mother had said she'd look into what she could find about it from any books the Founder's Council might have, but considering her mother had also never heard of harbingers, neither of them were hopeful she'd find out much.

So Caroline had tried to go about her normal routine: start a load of laundry, drop off the bags of new clothes for her mother in her own room and then had proceeded to start putting away her own new clothes, but the task had her anxious and needing to leave the house within minutes. She headed straight to her car, dialing Elena's number as she unlocked it. "Elena," she greeted, barely giving the other girl a chance to speak. "I am coming over and we are hanging out. So tell Damon to stop stuffing his tongue down your throat because I am calling in you and me time."

They hadn't had any in months it seemed. Not since Elena had turned her emotions off and the whole nasty business of trying to kill her had happened. There had been hanging out here and there for a little while, but nothing substantial. Not like they had used to hand out.

"Care," Elena started, and Caroline deflated a little. Was her friend seriously going to deny some best friend time? Where the hell was Bonnie? Bonnie wouldn't do this to her! Of course, Bonnie was also MIA so apparently maybe Bonnie would.

"He can have you back after an hour," she pleaded, backing out of her driveway. She slammed on the breaks as she noticed the young man walking behind her car. "Seriously?" Caroline yelled, throwing her hands up in the air as he got out of the way and she proceeded out of the driveway and towards Elena's house. She glanced back in her rearview mirror, making sure the guy was okay, but didn't see anyone. Maybe she'd imagined it. Wouldn't surprise her with how overwhelmed she was feeling if she did start seeing things. "Elena, don't make me beg. We both know I don't beg. And I'll just come over there and annoy Damon and everyone will be miserable."

"No, it's fine. You can come. It's just...there's something you need to know and I need you to not freak out." She could hear the worry in Elena's voice and Caroline wondered what could be causing her friend to feel that way.

"Is it Bonnie? Is it Stefan?" Because neither of them were answering their calls. Did something happen to one of them? Oh god oh god oh god.