Chapter Text
CHAPTER 1 of Reborn in Blood: A Tale of Unforeseen Bond
If there was one thing Caroline had learned ever since the Salvatore brothers had come to Mystic Falls, it was that being used as a pawn in someone else’s games pissed her off.
Now, she wasn’t kidnapped by Logan Fell or used as a means to an end in a game between the Salvatore Brothers. No, this time Tyler Lockwood’s pesky werewolf friends had thought she meant more to the Salvatores then she actually did.After all who was she if not just the simple human best friend for the centre of their universe, Elena Gilbert. She wasn’t a doppelganger like Elena, she wasn’t a super witch like Bonnie. Right now, being tortured by that Brady guy who was shooting her with little wooden bullets (she wasn’t a vampire, but those things hurt her, a simple human even more so and couldn’t they find something meant for torturing humans), she’d do anything she could to be even a regular kind of a witch or a vampire or anything supernatural that could help her in that situation. If she was at least a vampire, for instance, she could stay alive until they decided to end her for good shooting a bullet in her heart, but now she had four places that were bleeding heavily and she knew she would never make it to the hospital. That was it for her, unless Stefan or Damon got there and healed her, she had no chance whatsoever.
She heard Jules come in and say to Stefan on the phone, “You want proof, Stefan. You’ll get it.”
And putting the phone near her cage, Brady shot her in the only limb she didn’t have a bleeding hole in and that did it. She screamed in agony and threats were screamed on the phone. “Do that again and you are dead.” She heard Stefan say and that warmed her heart. They had had no real one on one interactions up until now, but there he was trying to protect her from afar.
“We do that again, and she’s dead.”
Jules was right, she was as good as dead and she felt her eyelids grow heavier and she wanted to fall asleep but that wouldn’t sit well with Brady and he’d shoot her again and--- her train of thought was interrupted with a lot of yelling outside and Brady also went to look, what was happening, leaving her alone in the trailer. Only a few seconds later, did the door open and like the wind, someone flashed in. A vampire.
Please let it be, Stefan or Damon, she thought to herself. Then she rethought it and mumbled, “Please, let it be you, Stefan.”
“I believe he's coming for you but he won’t be here soon enough. You’ll have to settle for me healing you, Miss Forbes.” Came a stranger’s voice. A male voice.
“Who are you?” She asked before sucking the blood from the opened wrist of the stranger who had offered it to her after opening the cage’s door.
“Oh, where’s my manners. Here we are being so intimate and I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Elijah Mikaelson and it’s really nice to be sucked dry by you, Miss Forbes.”
Elijah Mikaelson? Million thoughts ran through her mind. Why was the Original Vampire here? What did he want with her? Was it some ploy to get to the Salvatores or Elena?
Caroline laughed at his last words and as she pushed his wrist out of her mouth, ”I think it’s enough, you can have your hand and your blood back. I already feel much better, Mr Mikaelson.”
“Call me Elijah. And looking at the color getting back to your cheeks, I’d say you are in perfect health, Miss Forbes.”
Caroline smiled and then said, “If I’m gonna call you Elijah, you must call me Caroline.” That seemed only fair to Caroline. She definitely didn’t want to be “Miss Forbes”, like some kindergarten teacher.
Elijah laughed, “Fair enough.” And now more seriously and worriedly he gave her a hand to help her out of that cage. “Now let’s get you out of here.”
“Not so fast.” Damon said as he and Stefan appeared at the open doorway.
Caroline saw that Elijah disliked having to deal with them right now, but remained polite as ever, “Mr. Salvatores. What can I do for you tonight?”
“For starters, you could step away from our friend.” Damon said, “And step out there where we can have a manly chat.”
Elijah looked bored all of a sudden. “Boys, really, I’m not moving a muscle until Caroline tells me to.” Elijah looked at her with kind eyes and not hearing a complaint, he turned towards the Salvatores, “As for that manly chat, I can promise you that it won’t end like our last encounter did.”
“And why is that?” The younger Salvatore brother asked him.
“Because this time I know what I’m dealing with,” Elijah said stepping out of the trailer and turning toward Caroline again, giving her the hand to help her get out of that cage and that trailer so she could gracefully or as gracefully as it was possible to step out in the fragile human state she was in.
Then it happened so fast for her slow human eyes. Damon tried to use that to his advantage and flashed toward Elijah and tried to attack him with a tree branch, which he successfully grabbed, broke and threw it far way and grabbing Damon by the throat and throwing him against the trailer, he roared, “What kind of an imbecile attacks a man in the middle of him helping a lady in an unfortunate situation?”
“Takes one to know one.”
“What did you just say to me?” Elijah asked, taking a step towards the older brother all the while not releasing Caroline hand that he was still holding in one hand.
Caroline wanted to diffuse the situation and gripped Elijah’s hand in a silent plea to stop and leave Damon alone.
Reluctantly, Elijah took a step back again and said, “Excuse me, but if you are quite done, I would like to take Caroline home now. She has had a quite an ordeal, not that you could take a minute to think of anyone but yourself Mr Salvatore.” He said “Mr Salvatore” in a mocking way and then Caroline found herself in his sleek Mercedes and already they were on the move.
Damon and Stefan didn’t appear to follow them and if they had, Elijah didn’t mention it to her.
**
“Is your mother, the sherif, home?” Elijah asked her when they reached her porch.
“No she’s at work tonight.” Caroline said in her fragile voice.
Reaching the front door, Caroline turned around to face Elijah who just nodded at that. Somehow Caroline noticed that wasn’t what he had want to ask.
Then she realised.
“You can c---”
“No!” Elijah raised his voice suddenly, making Caroline stop cold.
“No, don’t invite me in, not tonight, it wouldn’t be appropriate right now. We’ll talk tomorrow and when I’ll come by, you can ask me anything you want to know. Because I’m sure you have questions.”
“A few,” Caroline smiled and was so impressed with him. There she was in a vulnerable state and he didn’t even want to come in, so he could stay away from her and not take advantage of her. Because she knew herself…hot guy like that, sure she would have had sex with him If the opportunity presented itself. And regret it in the morning.
And there was a small smile tugging at his lips, like he knew exactly what she had just thought about. Her reddening face must have totally given her away, because he then leaned in and whispered seductively in her ear, “It would have been glorious.”
Then he quickly pulled away and turned to leave. When he turned to face her again off the porch, he was completely serious again, “Good night, Caroline.”
“Until tomorrow, Elijah.” Caroline reminded him and she could swear the Original smiled a little again as he said,
“Right.”
Then he disappeared again and Caroline turned to unlock the door when she heard a loud bang and then everything went black.
