Chapter Text
Chapter 1
At first, she thought it was just dreams. His voice coming from behind her, whispering forgotten moments, his breath warm in her ear- but dreaming didn’t leave runes burned into her mirror, and certainly didn’t stain the cloth red when she tried to wipe them away.
It had been at least a year since she last dreamt of him.
In the first few months after his death, his steel blue eyes haunted her, not only in nightmares, but between the spaces between sleeping and waking. She’d see them if she turned too quickly, or down the dark halls of the Salvatore Boarding School. Of course, it never helped to stare into Hopes eyes, the same as her father’s.
But it wasn’t only dreams. She’d would feel his presence when the wind stirred without reason, when candles flickered in room with no draft, a brush of warmth on her back, or a heartbeat out of sync with her own.
It had finally stopped after his funeral.
She had stood beside Hope, letting the painstakingly gathered ashes slip through her trembling fingers and whispered a goodbye into the wind. Whatever lingering magic had clung to her, whatever echo was left of his enchanting lilt that chased her through
her dreams had gone still. She believed for a while that it was peace.
That was until last week, when she woke, not in her bed, but with her palms pressed upon her mirror, breath fogging up the glass as a golden rune appeared before her. Something ancient and old, like a symbol that she had seen on cave drawings in history books.
Next, the whispers returned, not like before, so faint, almost like her mind playing tricks on her. No, this time they echoed clear. Caroline.
Her name. His voice. No longer just a faint memory, but as clear as if he was standing beside her. It made her feel like something was pulling on her, taut from somewhere she didn’t understand.
She tried to shake it off, chalk it up to the impending anniversary, stress or the residual ache she felt in her heart from time to time. Grief was not linear, she reminded herself. But each day when she woke, there was the rune glowing brighter than the day before screaming at her to acknowledge it
She had texted Bonnie a photo.
Caroline: do you see it? The symbol in the bottom right corner?
A few minutes passed.
Bonnie: That’s a very nice mirror you have there Care.
Caroline frowned. She zoomed in, the rune still glowing faintly, gold threaded. She took another photo, this time from another angle, the sigil unmistakable and sent it again.
Caroline: look closer it’s not the mirror.
Bonnie’s reply took longer.
Bonnie: Everything okay Caroline? That’s twice now you’ve sent me a photo of your mirror. Am I missing something?
A chill crept up her spine. Was she the only one who could see it?
And then came the dreams again.
Only this time she wasn’t watching from a distance, only hearing him behind her. No, this time she was in the forests near New Orleans, in a clearing thick with fog, the only light coming from the full moon above. She walked in bare feet, towards the shadowy figure near the forest opening. It was Klaus, disheveled and with a look of fear on his face.
“You weren’t supposed to follow me.” He said. “It’s not safe.”
Caroline tried to speak, but the words caught in her mouth. The fog wrapped around her ankles, preventing her from stepping closer to him.
“Klaus ?” She choked out. The words fell flat, caught in the branches of the trees surrounding, and left to hang precariously.
He looked at her, eyes glowing too bright for a dream, and stepped back. Not from her, but from something else. Someone else approaching.
“They’ll see you,” he warned, voice low and panicked. “You have to wake up, love.”
The forest ground began to break up around her, as the fog crept further up her legs starting to consume her. A rune formed on the ground in front of her, like the ones she had seen on her mirror.
And then suddenly, hands reached out from the forest, dark and skeletal grabbing Klaus by the shoulders, but he didn’t fight. He just looked at her like he had many times before, like she was a sacred prayer for his damned soul, and mouthed the words: find me.
She woke up with a gasp, sitting upright, her throat raw as if she had been screaming. She got out of bed and looked down at her feet. They were covered with dirt.
It wasn’t just grief anymore. It wasn’t guilt, or stress or simple magic that had just gone sideways. It was something else, and she feared it was pulling her somewhere she swore she’d never go again.
—
The feeling stayed with her the whole day. An unexplainable itch on her skin, a thrum flowing through her blood, something speaking, no screaming at her, telling her to move.
After the classes of the day, she snuck away to her bathroom, the rune still there glowing. Frustrated she scrubbed at the rune again, blood smearing across the glass. The rune stayed, with blood etched in its lines.
“What does this mean Klaus?” She whispered. As his name left her mouth, the rune glowed brighter than before vanishing.
She didn’t sleep. Instead she found herself pacing the hallways of the Salvatore school, until her feet led her to somewhere she hadn’t been in years - the room near her old office, where her personal effects from the years had been stored before the rebuild.
She hesitated at the door. Her fingers trembling as she slowly unlocked the door and stepped inside.
A thick dust coating covered every surface. Some student files, other supernatural relics that needed safeguarding were there. What she was drawn to was the boxes in the back, labeled C. Forbes-Salvatore.
She pulled one down, her heart drumming an erratic rhythm and lifted the lid.
Inside were items she hadn’t thought about in years. Photos of Elena and Bonnie in the beginning of high school, a pamphlet for miss mystic falls, a locket with her mother’s initials on it.
Beneath all that, safety tucked away was a black velvet box, with a letter addressed in his unmistakable hand.
Caroline.
The ink looked as fresh as the day he wrote it.
He had left this to her, along with another sizeable cheque for the school. The letter had been left with a note, saying to only read in emergencies.
Now, every cell in her body was thrumming, screaming at to open it.
She owned it delicately and slowly, the scent of aged parchment and something else faintly familiar - sandalwood and blood and ancient forests rising up to meet her senses.
Dearest Caroline,
If you’re reading this, it began, then I’ve failed to stay away from you - even in death. I had hoped you’d forget about me and move on, but clearly that is not the case.
Her breath caught.
I’ve never believed in peace, not truly, not for me. I know we spoke of alternatives, alternatives we didn’t have time for. But, even if there’s a small chance that part of me could reach you… I left something behind.
If I could leave you my heart, I would. But this will have to suffice.
Truth be told, I’m not sure I’m ready for our however long it takes to be finished.
She reached behind the letter.
There, nestled in silk, was a small crystal vile. The blood inside gleamed gold-red, and in the low light it looked unnaturally vibrant, like it had been awoken. Like it was alive.
Klaus Mikealsons blood.
Her hand closed around it before she even could hesitate, and held it to her heart.
Something had begun.
And now it was no longer just calling for her.
It was waiting.