The Times We Loved

This Is Not Heaven

Caroline gradually awoke to the sound of humming and the smell of stew being made. Among other things like wood burning, lavender, and horse manure...

'Wait is heaven meant to smell like this?'  Caroline thought turned over so she was no longer facing the wall. She saw a big cauldron like pot over a fire in front of her. To the right was five makeshift beds, they were basically blankets covering straw. There was lavender hung from every wall. Maybe to mask the smell of manure... It didn't work well... On her right was a door that lead elsewhere. At the foot of the bed she was on was a door that let in a small draft. The exit, her escape.

She was about to start to get up from her lying position, when the door at the foot of her bed flung open a women and a girl walked in. The woman had dirty blonde hair and the girl had light blonde hair. The girl was holding a basket filled with vegetables for the woman who had gone to stir the pot on the fire.

The girl placed the basket on the floor near the woman's feet who sat on a small stool and began to chop the veg. The girl helped as much a s she could but cut her finger. She licked the blood and went to put a rag on it.

The woman had finished chopping the vegetables and scooped them into the pot. She stood up and stirred the stew. Caroline shut her eyes again as the girl skipped up to the other woman and held up her strangely bandaged index finger.

"Oh Rebekah, you're so silly!" The woman chuckled making the makeshift bandage more covering of the cut.

"Mother, who is that lady?" Asked Rebekah. Caroline felt a twist in her belly like a knot was beginning to form.

"That is a woman your brothers found near the lake," the girl looked confused at her mother, "she was sleeping and looked hurt so they brought her back here so I could help her" the child's mother continued. The woman waddled over to Caroline who kept her eyes closed.

"She's very pretty, is she a princesses?" Rebekah asked curiously. She slid closer to Carolines bed fidgeting constantly.

The door flung open again and in entered the two boys from before.

Elijah and Kol.

"Mother, has she awoken yet?" Asked the eldest of the two. Both boys stood in front of the fire and smiled at their pregnant mother.

"Not yet but she will soon my boys," She replied. "Have you seen Finn or Mikaelson?" She wondered.

Elijah shook his head and looked at Kol "We haven't seen them both all day, maybe they are hunting or something..." Kol confirmed.

"We shall come back later mother for now you should also rest" Elijah advised. His mother nodded and watched as her sons took her only daughter outside to watch them train.

"Okay young lady, everyone else is gone now, you can stop pretending to be asleep" Said the woman sat next to Caroline.

Caroline opened one eye and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt or anything..." Caroline giggled opening the other eye and sitting up holding the blanket to her body.

"So, why did my second eldest and youngest son find you naked near the lake under a willow tree?" The blonde hair woman asked Caroline politely.

Caroline recognised the woman's face but she was too out of it to remember anything more.

"I don't remember... I think I... I..." Caroline stuttered.

"I wonder if you were hit on the head and robbed" the woman suggested. Caroline had no idea if that was the truth but it sounded right. "You have a very strange accent are you from across the sea?" This also sounded plausible to Caroline. " Do you know your name?" Was her final question. Caroline nodded her head

"My name is..." At that moment another person came into the house. He was young and had dirty blonde hair. He smiled at the woman the saw the young woman holding the blanket to her chest and looked away out of respect.

"I'm sorry mother I didn't know we had guests" he apologised wanting to turn back round to talk with his mum. His mother looked at Caroline who nodded meaning he was allowed to look.

Then something spectacular happened. Caroline saw the boys blue eyes. It made Caroline remember something very important, "Klaus" She said breathlessly and passed out.

The boy looked panicked and his mother was shocked. "Nicklaus please fetch sone water, I think she has fainted again"

Young Klaus ran to the nearest water source with the bucket his mother gave him and filled it to the top. He ran home spilling little as he went. When he arrived home his mother used a cloth to soak up some water and placed it on Carolines head. Klaus stood away from the bed and waited for his mother to tell him what to do next.

An hour later the door shot open again. In burst a tall boy and a man with three rabbits draped over his shoulder. The man looked at the pregnant woman tending Caroline and then eyed up Klaus.

"What did you do boy?" The man growled. Klaus looked away from the man and backed up away further from the bed. The tall boy took the dead rabbits off the man and placed then on the floor near the fire.

"Put them on the table Finn" the mother scolded. The man had fury in his eyes which made the pregnant woman confess, "Elijah and Kol found this poor young lady stripped bare and unconscious next to the lake. They brought her here"

The man's eyes softened and he kissed the woman on the head. "Heal her well then wife. As long as Klaus didn't do it it's fine" he chuckled evilly.

"Mikael, could you skin the rabbits and chop them up while I help her, then I'll finish making dinner in time for sunset" the mother asked Mikael.

"Finn will do it Esther, I have to go reset all the traps" Mikael told his wife. He took one last look at Klaus and the naked blonde girl and left.