The One You Once Were

This cannot be happening!

Heather stayed true to her word and kept all of us busy for the next days. Whatever task there was, she made sure we did it perfectly. I didn't blame her, she seemed more nervous about the growing being inside her than the tasks themselves. She just wanted to make sure everything would be perfect before she received and who was I to not grant her that wish. It would just be a few more weeks until we would get to see the child, Kilian wasn't able to hide his excitement at all and in all honesty, who could blame him for that? I actually looked forward to meeting the little one as well since I'd never seen a newborn right after birth. A part of me was also just curious about the entire situation. Back in my human days, I had thought about having children of my own once or twice but now it didn't matter anyways. My undead nature had destroyed any kid wish I had ever had. But that was okay. I didn't need kids to be happy. Perhaps Klaus' daughter would see me as some kind of step mom next to Hayley. Hopefully she'd accept me as a family member. It would suck if my boyfriend's child disapproved of me. It still seemed almost impossible that nature had found the loophole to give him the opportunity to procreate. How many loopholes were out there? How many undiscovered ones, never used before and perhaps never again in the future? Noone could know exactly.  Maybe I would someday find one myself and bring everything back in order. One could only hope.
Evening drew closer and somehow my gut started to give me a weird feeling. How long had it been since the last full moon? It felt like it was about time the next one arose. I risked a look out the window. The moon wasn't entirely up yet but I could see it wouldn't be long until it was. And my gut didn't deceive me, it really was a full moon. Which meant I would stay inside the entire night and hope for no werewolves in the area.
We already had dinner and I heard a door open a second later. It was Heather who went outside to check on the corn. Why she so badly wanted to do this at night was a mistery to me but I carefully watched her from the window to secure her safety. And then it happened. A wolf emerged from the forest, heading her way. My heart stopped and I felt my feet move on their own. With incredible speed I threw open the door and started to run. The wolf growled and positioned itself to jump. Heather looked up, her mouth open in shock and her hand rushing to cover her belly that carried the unborn baby.
"Watch out!", I yelled. The werewolf didn't grant me as much as a look, it was too focused on attacking my friend. My brain seemed to stop functioning and my body went into defence mode. I could feel myself moving forward and pushing the wolf back. Then I felt a pain in my arm and pulled it back in surprise while the werewolf vanished into the night. I turned around to see if Heather was okay, she seemed fine, just a bit shocked.
"Is the baby okay?", I asked panicked, worried like I'd never been before.
"I'm fine, the baby's fine. Thanks to you.", she forced herself to say, still visually shaking. "But what about you?"
Confused, I looked down at my arm to see what she was talking about. What I saw made me tear up so sudden I couldn't hide it.
"No! This can't be!", I cried. "It's not fair!"
By defending Heather and the child, I'd been so careless that the wolf had given me a bad bite. It already looked infected and the skin around it had taken on an unhealthy colour.
"Oh god.", I sobbed. "All this and now I'm going to die."
I was done for. I would die without my friends or my boyfriend around. But that couldn't be it! No way! I still had so much to do!
I sank to the ground, crying without even breathing, just letting go of all the feelings inside me.
"What are you talking about? It s just a bite, we can heal that.", Heather tried calming me. She'd sat down next to me on the ground. I could still hear her heart beating at almost unnatural speed, she was just as freaked out as I was. That didn't change the fact I was facing my doom though.
"Caroline?", she tried reaching me and I forced the tears away. This wasn't the time for crying. I had to be strong and first of all explain the situation to my friends. But how? I'd need to tell them about vampires. Would they even care about me after they'd know the truth? My simple being went against basic laws of nature. Maybe they would decide me dying was for the best anyways. Not that they could change my fate either way.
"Help me inside, please.", I begged and Heather quickly grabbed me underneath the arms and dragged me towards the house.
"Kilian!", she yelled. "Kilian, come help!"
In a matter of seconds he came to our aid and together they pulled me inside the house. Kind as they were, they helped secure my sitting position and brought me some water. What I really needed was blood but they couldn't know that.
"What happened? Why does Caroline look like she's just seen a ghost?", he asked confused. I gasped for air as I held my hand to my wound.
"Not a ghost, a werewolf.", I corrected while Heather hurried to get something to stop my bleeding. The werewolf venom already spread and I felt my body tingling as it was reaction to the poisonous effects.
"A werewolf?", Kilian repeated. "We can-"
"Heal that? No, you can't.", I shook my head.
"Why?", Heather demanded to know. "Caroline, tell us why."
I let out a painfilled yelp as she pressed and adjusted the fabric onto the bite.
"Because in the future there are creatures who drink human blood because they're dead but not really and they fully die when inflicted with werewolf venom.", I admitted. Slowly, I was getting a headache.
"And you're one of those creatures?", Kilian drew the conclusion. I nodded.
"Isn't there any way to help you?"
Surprised, I looked Heather in the eye. She was going to overlook what I just told her? She still wanted to help?
"Don't give me that look, you just saved my and my baby's life. Do you really think I'd care about what you are at this point?", she lifted an eyebrow.
A smile crossed my lips.
"Thank you so much!", I said. "But unfortunately, there isn't any way to save me."
Kilian's shoulders sank. "Why?"
"In my time, Klaus, my boyfriend, his blood could heal any vampire with such a bite but in this century, the cure does not yet exist. Which means I'm done for.", I explained. Oh, how I wished to see Klaus again. But I would die without getting the chance to.
"Is there at least anything we can do to make it better?", Kilian tried to make it sound conforting.
"There is actually.", I said. "I need blood. My cravings won't be controllable as the venom spreads and the hunger will increase."
"Sure, blood, we can get that somehow.", Heather nodded.
"Also, I will start having lucid dreams and visions when I get worse. Just so you know.", I warned them. "And could you perhaps bring me the shirt that's on the floor of my sleeping spot?"

As the night passed, I started to already feel the venom's effects more and more. Sometimes, I imagined sounds that weren't there, like my friends' or Klaus' voices, calling out for me. Heather and Kilian had actually gotten me blood which helped to keep me sane just a tad. Even my mother appeared to me once I'd fallen asleep, telling me how much she missed me and wanted for me to return home. I woke up crying and clinging to Klaus' t-shirt. His smell had entirely vanished by now but it still offered some sense of security which I found to be highly comforting. Heather and Kilian were resting right now and so, I was left alone with my thoughts. The sun was rising but that seemed more like a curse because I knew this could be my last. I guess the world really did hate me. Maybe it was because I had messed with the timeline so much. My only hope right now was that the world would somehow return back to normal, leading my friends not to hate me and my boyfriend to live. Who knew, without me, perhaps he would go on to fall in love with someone like Cami for example and lead a normal life. He wouldn't even need me by his side. But I needed him. More than ever.
Suddenly, something seemed to be in my eye, it started itching and I blinked. When I opened my eyes again Heather and Kilian's house was just gone. Instead, I sat on a couch in Elena's living room and had everyone look at me.
"Hey Care.", Bonnie chuckled. "You were asleep for long, were you dreaming?"
"What?", I asked. Why was I here? Or better, how was I here?
"You look pale.", Elena stated. "A bad dream then?"
"How am I-? Where are Heather and Kilian?", I wanted to know and Elena rolled her eyes at me.
"Are you starting with this stuff again?", she scoffed. "Really? First, you talk all crazy about that Klaus fella, then you don't care about Jenna's death and run away with a weird witch just to fall into a coma like state."
"Coma?", I shook my head. "But I was in the past, I know I was! With Heather and Kilian and they were working on a spell to save Klaus but then I had a fight with him and-" I couldn't bring myself to continue saying he wanted to forget me.
"Caroline, I want to believe you but you know how crazy this all sounds don't you?", Rebekah said calmly and put a soothing hand on my arm.
"I know but...", I stopped. This couldn't be real. They couldn't actually be here. I took Rebekah's hand off my arm and inspected my skin. The t-shirt I was wearing was the one I had taken from Klaus, not the dress I'd picked up centuries ago. Moreover though, there was no wound. No bitemark but still pain in the exact same spot.
"Oh.", I laughed. "I get it. You're not real. This is a hallucination."
My friends exchanged worried looks.
"Because of the werewolf venom, of course, that has to be it. Why else would you all be here?"
"Okay, Caroline, now calm down again. There is no Heather or Kilian. There is no werewolf bite and this isn't a hallucination.", Bonnie told me carefully. "I'm sorry but you're still here with us."
"Sentitive topic, Bonbon.", Damon warned with a smirk. "And we don't want to unleash Care-mare, do we now?"
"Care-mare?", I repeated annoyed."What the hell does that mean?"
"Nightmarish Carloline, nickname Care-mare.", he grinned. "Come on you must remember when I called you that with your humanity off!"
"I am not the same kind of weak Caroline version of your world. I can actually control my emotions. Which is why if you call me that stupid name again, I will very controlled rip out your heart and shove it down your throat. Are we clear?", I threatened angrily. The only thing I had to do was wake up and return to reality. But that seemed so hard. My mind seemed to be out of focus and my body was still in a lot of pain.
"See, there she is! That's the Care-mare I was talking about!", Damon clapped his hands sarcastically and laughed to hinself. Oh, that damn asshole. He was so done!
I wanted to stand up and fulfill my prophecy but was quickly held back by the girls surrounding me, pushing me back onto the sofa.
"I told you she's crazy.", Elena shook her head at me and gave the others a very clear facial expression. "We should lock her away so she doesn't hurt anyone."
"God, Elena!", I snapped. "Why is this version of you such a bitch? Don't you care about your friends at all?"
"Hey!", Stefan interviened  "Watch the language, please."
"I'm so sick of all if this!"
Upset I shook off the girls and sprung to my feet. Just in this second, we heard a knock at the door. Everyone turned around. In the back of my head, a few voices seemes to discuss something. It sounded like: "What is he doing?" "How did he even find us?" "Quiet, he needs to concentrate!"
Tyler went to open the door and the man who stepped in made me tear up.
"Oh my god.", Rebekah couldn't believe her own eyes.
"You... but how? I thought...", I couldn't speak. My mouth was too dry to say a word.
"What kind of weird house is this?", he asked, then turned to me. "Why would you think of such surroundings?"
Elena eyed him confused. "Who is he?"
Rebekah was visibly shaking but still forced herself to answer.
"Klaus. That's my long gone brother, Klaus."

Hello everyone!
Did that twist surprise you? If or if not, I'd love to know what you think of this chapter/ the story up to this point. Which aspects did you enjoy the most so far? Which didn't you like so much?
I always love reading your comments!
Anyways, we will see each other next week. Until then, as always have a great week!