03. Welcome To Paradise

Caroline sat on her former bed at her former dorm room, looking down at a picture frame of her and Brayden, she let out a sigh before standing up and walking over to her suitcase that was placed on Fae's old bed.

Kaitlynn entered their shared dorm room with two cups of takeaway coffee in her hand, "So my classes finish at two, after that I can pick you up and we can go to the party that's happening at the swimming hole", Kaitlynn placed the takeaway coffees on her bed, she then looked at Caroline and a look of confusion appeared on her face seeing Caroline zip up her suitcase, "Just so you know, when moving back in, you're supposed to take your things out of your suitcase, not put them back in".

"I'm not staying" Caroline stated, "Last night was just a momentary moment of weakness".

"Only you would say momentary moment" an amused Kaitlynn said, "And are you hundred precent sure you don't want to come back? Being here will distract you from the pain".

"Nothing can distract me from the pain" Caroline whispered.

Kaitlynn let out a sigh, "I get that, trust me, no one gets that better then me, look Care, right now, all of us are going through some really hard times, we should stick together as friends, as a family, instead of going our separate ways, that's not going to help us".

"Tell that to Stefan, who clearly needs no one" Caroline retorted, still very furious with the youngest Salvatore.

"He's doing the same thing you and I are doing" Kaitlynn defended.

"Which is what?" Caroline asked.

"Distracting ourselves with useless things so we don't think about the people we've lost" Kaitlynn said, "Because being in denial is easier then accepting the fact that all three of us lost the loves of our lives".

An emotional Caroline looked at Kaitlynn before she shook her head, she didn't want to think about Brayden right now, she feared if she did she would lose it, "Look, I gotta go, I've got breakfast with Enzo".

"Enzo?" a slightly shocked Kaitlynn asked.

"Mm-hm" Caroline confirmed.

"Is this a date?" Kaitlynn wondered.

"Eww no" a disgusted Caroline said, "He's helping me with the anti magic barrier around Mystic Falls and also helping me find a way to bring Brayden back, ironically, he's recently become one of the more stable people in my life".

"That's great" a smiling Kaitlynn said, "Bring him along to the party".

Caroline let out an annoyed groan, "Kaitlynn".

"Please, Care" Kaitlynn pleaded, "It will be fun, we need a little fun in our lives right now Caroline otherwise we're gonna drown in the sorrow, so please just come, even if it's just for a few minutes".

"Okay fine" Caroline said, finally giving in, "I'll go to the party".

"Thank you" Kaitlynn said, handing Caroline her coffee.

Caroline took her coffee from Kaitlynn's hand, "But I'm not moving back in".

"Yet!" Kaitlynn called out as Caroline walked out their dorm room.

***

Brayden and Fae walked down the aisle at the the grocery store, with Damon behind them with the trolley, "Okay, we need strawberries, eggs, milk and candles" Fae informed, reading out the shopping list in her hand.

Brayden grabbed a candle from the shelf next to him and threw it at Fae who easily caught it and placed it in the trolley.

"I know it's been a while, but you couldn't do magic as an anchor" Damon reminded Fae, "So I'm curious what momentary lapse of reason makes you think you can do it now?".

"She's not an anchor anymore" Brayden reminded, while Damon had no hope in Fae, Brayden was putting all his hope in her.

"Exactly" Fae said, giving Brayden a small smile, she then looked at the oldest Salvatore, "When we first got here, you sucked at making pancakes, but now all these months later, I can finally swallow a bite of your pancakes, Brayden milk", Brayden opened the refrigerator they were passing by, he took out a bottle of milk and placed it in the shopping trolley, "I think it's finally time you stop being a negative nancy, especially since now we have proof that we're not alone in here".

Brayden grabbed two pair of sunglasses from the stand next to him, he wore one while passing the other to Fae who gladly wore it.

"First of all, don't nickname, that's my thing" Damon said, "And this proof, this mysteriously filled-in crossword could have very easily been either of you".

"I didn't fill it" Fae defended.

"No, you don't know you filed it in" Damon retorted, "Maybe Brayden filled it?".

"The four months we've been here when have you seen me touch the newspaper?" Brayden asked.

"Eggs" Fae told Brayden, who opened the fridge and took out the eggs and placed it in the trolley, while Fae looked at Damon, "I know what you're doing here".

"What am I doing?" Damon asked.

"You're refusing to have hope" Fae said, "You're scared of getting your hopes up of seeing Kaitlynn again and then being disappointed".

"I refuse to have hope, nothing to hope for" Damon retorted.

"There's always something to hope for" Brayden said.

"Pork rinds" Fae suddenly blurted again, making the two brothers look at her.

Damon grabbed the shopping list and started reading it, "Not on the list, and ew".

"No you idiot, there were pork rinds on this shelf" Fae clarified.

Brayden looked at the shelf Fae was pointing at, "She's right" he told his brother, "For the past four months we've been coming here and seeing pork rinds, but there's nothing here today".

Before Damon could say anything the three vampires heard the music of a merry go round, "Please tell me I'm not starting to hear things" Fae said.

"No you're not" Brayden said, walking towards the music, Damon and Fae quickly following after him.

The three vampires existed the grocery store and came across an activated merry go round, Fae looked at Damon, a smug smile on her face, "And ladies and gentleman, my point has been proven".

Brayden looked at his brother, "We are definitely not alone in here".

***

"It's gotta be a short, faulty writing or something" Damon said, checking the wires of the merry go round.

"Or someone turned it on by putting a quarter in it" Fae said.

"Okay stop" Brayden told Fae, "Something is happening here, I'm not denying that, but let's not come to a certain conclusion without concrete proof, otherwise if we're wrong, all three of us are gonna have our hope shattered, again".

"Let's just say there's someone here" Damon said, "How do you know we're gonna get out?".

"Well according to you and Brayden this is your shared hell, right?" Fae asked.

"Correction, this is Damon's hell and I get to share it with him because what happens to one twin, happens to the other twin" Brayden clarified.

"Regardless, if there is someone else here, that means this isn't either of your hell" Fae stated, "And if it's not hell, that means my theory was right all along about my mother placing me in here so I can eventually find my way out of here and into the real world".

"That's a hell of a logic knot you've tied for yourself" Damon said.

"I know" Fae teased, "So now that we all have hope, should we play a game?".

"No" Brayden said, "We should find out if should have hope or not".

"Come on Brayden, it's a fun game" Fae insisted, "When the three of us get out, what is the first thing you two are going to say to Kaitlynn and Caroline?".

"Sorry I killed Fae, but she was the most annoying person in the world, even more annoying then Brayden" Damon said, walking away from the merry go round, "She wouldn't shut up, she just kept talking, I mean it's a wonder I made it as long as I did, but here's the thing I think it's better this way, she didn't have magic, and she was pretty much useless".

"Uh Damon" Brayden called, his eyes wide once he spotted a familiar car in the parking lot.

"What?" an annoyed Damon asked, turning to face his brother.

"Isn't that your car?" Brayden pointed.

Damon looked towards where Brayden was pointing and immediately a shocked look appeared on his face when his eyes landed on his car, "That's my car", Damon rushed towards his car, joy shown clearly on his face, "That's my car!".

***

Damon sat in his car, mimicking an engine revving sound with his mouth while Brayden and Fae stood to the side, looking visibly annoyed at the antics of the oldest Salvatore.

"How many longer are you gonna continue this?" a fed up Fae asked.

"Shh, shh" Damon said, "This sound is the opposite sound of both your voices, and I so enjoy it".

"How did your car get here, Damon?" Fae asked.

"I doubt you came to the grocery store especially not on this date" Brayden stated, "You had other plans".

"I don't know Brayden, it was eighteen years ago, like you said, had a lot going on that day" Damon said.

"So you admit that it's highly unlikely you left your car here" an excited Fae pointed out.

"Very unlikely" Damon admitted.

"Which means Fae is right and you're wrong" Brayden told his brother, "Someone filled out Fae's crossword, turned on that merry go round and then placed your car here, but the question is, who did this?".

Damon glanced at his passenger seat, he remembered the moment Kaitlynn sat there and was ready to die along with him, "I'm gonna tell Kaitlynn how much I love her" he admitted, making a smile form on Fae's face, "And then I'm gonna apologise for killing you".

Fae gave Damon a mock smile before her eyes landed on something, "Did any of you see that?".

Damon and Brayden looked in the direction Fae was looking at and both the brothers saw a figure rush past, "I definitely saw that" Brayden said.

"Let's go meet our little friend" Damon said, finally getting out of his car.

***

At the swimming hole Kaitlynn met up with Caroline and informed her about Stefan showing up, but to her annoyance when she called him, it went straight to voicemail.

"Hey, it's Stefan, leave a message".

"Yeah, not answering is one of his new things" Caroline informed a disappointed Kaitlynn.

"He told me he was here to apologise to you" Kaitlynn said, taking a seat next to Caroline.

"Lying, also one of his new things" Caroline said, "Stefan has a lot of new things".

"Hey" Kaitlynn greeted, seeing Matt and Tyler walking over to them, "Have any of you seen Stefan anywhere?".

"I didn't even know he was back" Matt admitted, making Caroline give Kaitlynn a told you so look.

"So you want to fill us in on what we're doing here?" a curious Tyler asked Kaitlynn.

"We're here to have some fun" Kaitlynn stated, grabbing some jello shots, she then stood up and walked over to Matt and Tyler and forwarded it towards them.

"Actually, I can't" Tyler said, "I'm working on my rage issues, and this wouldn't help".

"My buddy's wasted, and I've gotta train in the morning so" Matt said, also rejecting the shots.

"So no one's going to do a shot with me?" an upset Kaitlynn asked.

"I will" Caroline said, putting her hand up in the air.

Kaitlynn smiled at her friend and handed her the shot, "Bottoms up, Care Bear" she said, as the two girls downed their shots in one go.

"Mm, well, here we are, having fun" Caroline said, the sarcastic tone evident in her voice, she looked at her friends, "I'm having fun, aren't we having fun? This is really fun".

"Alright no need to rub it in my face" Kaitlynn said, sitting back next to Caroline, "Clearly this was a horrible idea, I guess I just wanted to pretend for one day that everyone's not falling apart".

"That's the problem Kaitlynn, no one of us know how to really pretend" Caroline said.

"I think we should go" Tyler realised, realising both Kaitlynn and Caroline were starting to go down an emotional route and something told him right now they only needed each other, no one else.

"Yeah" Matt agreed, before following Tyler out of the woods.

Kaitlynn looked at Caroline, "Lonely?".

"Extremely" Caroline admitted, "Fae's gone, Damon's gone, Stefan's gone, Enzo, shocker, terrible, murderous friend".

"But most of all Brayden's gone" Kaitlynn finished Caroline's unfinished sentence.

"Yeah" a teary eyed Caroline whispered, "I don't know how long I can keep going, Kait".

"Me too" Kaitlynn admitted, wrapping her arm around Caroline's neck and pulling her into a side hug.

***

"Whoever it was, they were behind this pickup truck" Fae stated, as the trio ran over to the pickup truck.

"I swear I saw something in the front" Brayden said.

"Are you sure?" a slightly skeptical Fae asked.

"I know what I saw and where I saw it, Fae" Brayden said, "It was right over there".

Just as Brayden said that, the trap behind the pickup truck started flying because of the wind, "It was a tarp, we saw a tarp" a dejected Damon realised.

The trio's attention then went towards the merry go round that had suddenly started moving again, "And that thing is on a timer" an equally dejected Brayden realised, "No one put a coin in it to start it".

"But what Damon's car?" Fae asked, refusing to give up on hope.

"I left it here in '94" Damon stated.

"And what's your excuse for the crossword?" Fae asked.

"You filled it out, Fae" Damon said, as an angry Brayden punched the window on the pickup truck, causing the glass to shatter and his fist to bleed.

"There's no one here" a furious Brayden said, "We're all alone, with no escape plan, we're never getting out of this hell".

Fae glared at the two brothers, "Fine, if you two really believe that then hand me your rings".

"What?" a confused Damon asked, wondering why did Fae want their rings.

"If you two really have no hope left in you, then take your rings off and let the sun burn you" a furious Fae said, "If this is really hell for you guys, then why not just end it all? Hope is the one thing that's keeping me going in this dreadful place, I'm not going to give up on that because if I do, then I'll fall apart, but by all means, you two can end it all now, I'm done asking you two to have hope when clearly you have none".

Fae turned around and walked away from the brothers, without saying anything to his brother, Brayden walked in the opposite direction of Fae.

***

After walking away from his brother, Brayden found himself at the Salvatore's crypt, he sat on the stone bench, staring down at the wooden stake in his heart.

"I didn't know Brayden Salvatore was a quitter".

Brayden looked to his side and immediately a smile formed on his face when he saw Caroline, but that smile went away as fast as it came when he realised Caroline couldn't actually be here, "So it's come to this?" he asked, "Me dreaming about you with my eyes open?".

"The real Caroline would say the same thing as me, you're not a quitter Brayden, you don't quit, no matter how hard things get, you keep fighting" dream Caroline told Brayden.

Brayden let out a sigh, "How can I fight when I don't even know what I'm fighting for?".

"You're fighting to come back home to me" Caroline said, "You know that without you I'm miserable, I need you as much as you need me, don't give up, you can't give up, you have to come back to me".

"How?!" a frustrated Brayden, "How do I do that Caroline?! Every time I think I've found a way, it turns out to be nothing".

"Maybe cause you're looking in the wrong section" Caroline said, making Brayden look at her in confusion, "Maybe the answer has been infront of you this whole time Brayden, you just have to work a little bit harder to find it".

Brayden stared at the stake in his hand for a moment and thought about dream Caroline's words, the crossword, the pork rinds, the car, one's an incident, two's a coincidence, but three, three's a pattern.

Brayden immediately stood up from his seat and rushed back to the supermarket, he realised Fae was right and him and Damon were wrong, there were too many things happening in this town for it to be just them here, someone else was here, someone who was playing a game with them.

***

At the party, Caroline walked over where all the drinks were, she grabbed a cup and opened the cooler, only to realise there was no ice in it, "I thought I told Enzo to go get more ice".

"Did you do it in that tone?" the girl standing next to her asked, "Because I think I know why he didn't".

"Congratulations, now it's your job" an annoyed Caroline told the girl as she started compelling her, "Go get ice".

"Aren't we supposed to having fun?" a shirtless Jeremy asked, walking over to Caroline after seeing her compel the girl.

"Go away Jeremy, go have fun with your many filings that you don't really care about and who don't really care about you" a frustrated Caroline said.

"For a second I thought Brayden's talking to me" Jeremy teased.

Caroline glared at Jeremy, however before she could say anything to him, her phone beeping caught her attention, she took it out of her back pocket and realised it was a message from Enzo.

We have a problem.

***

"Right" Enzo said, standing in the woods with Stefan while a dead hunter laid on the ground, "Cavalry's on their way, so why don't we put a pin in our little spat till this all gets sorted, eh?".

Stefan bent down and grabbed the hunter's gun that was full of wooden bullets, he pointed the gun at Enzo, "No, thanks".

"You've got to be bloody kidding me, I just saved your life" Enzo reminded.

"So you can give me a lifetime full of misery" Stefan retorted, "Well, that's fine, I'm just gonna shorten the lifetime".

Before Stefan could shoot at Enzo, Caroline speeded between the two vampires, "Stefan" she warned.

"Good news, Caroline" Enzo said, "I thwarted a vampire hunter, bad news, Stefan has become a vampire hunter".

"What are you doing?" a confused Caroline asked Stefan.

"Why don't you ask him?" Stefan retorted, before walking from the duo.

Caroline turned to Enzo, "What did you do?" she asked, immediately causing a sheepish look to form on Enzo's face.

***

Both Brayden and Fae ended up reaching the supermarket at the same time, before they could say anything to each other, they heard Damon's painful scream coming from inside the supermarket, the two vampires immediately exchanged a confused look between them before rushing in the direction they heard Damon, the moment they arrived at the aisle Damon was at, they were shocked seeing a vervained Damon lying on the ground while an unknown person stood above him.

"I didn't know which bottle you'd take so I vervained them all" the unknown man said, he then lifted the wooden umbrella up in the air, about to stake Damon in the heart.

"Don't touch him!" Fae yelled, announcing her and Brayden's presence.

"The two useless ones are here, thank god", the unknown guy looked at Fae, "I've watched you try to do magic for months now, what are you gonna do, fail at me? It's embarrassing, I'm embarrassed for you".

Brayden looked at Fae, "Now would be the perfect time for your magic to come back".

"Yes it would" Fae agreed, just as the unknown guy was about to stake Damon, Fae concentrated her energy on a candle near her that suddenly lit up, immediately causing smiles to appear on both Damon and Brayden's faces.

"Uh-oh".

"Yeah, you're screwed now" Brayden told the guy.

"Move" Fae told Damon, who immediately used his speed to move out of Fae's way, Fae then turned to the guy, she muttered a spell that caused a circle of to appear around the guy.

"Giving up this easily?" Brayden teased, seeing the guy quickly put his hands up, "Now that's embarrassing".

Before the guy could say or do anything, Brayden jumped over the fire, he speeded over to him and smashed his head on to the shelves, rendering him unconscious.

"I'm sorry I called you the most annoying person in the world" Damon told Brayden, as he stood behind Fae, "I hadn't met him yet".

***

"Stefan!" Caroline called out, rushing after Stefan, but Stefan didn't listen to her and kept walking, but Caroline quickly speeded infront of him, blocking his path and stopping him from walking any further, "Stop, okay? I am sorry, I did not know about Ivy, but--".

"But what?" Stefan asked, "What? I was fooling myself? I was using her to forget Fae? Yeah I know what you think Caroline".

"Well, actually, I was gonna say, but killing Enzo won't bring her back" Caroline clarified.

"No, but it'll stop him from reminding me of my brothers and Fae" Stefan snapped, "I kill him, I can leave this place and I can start over again".

"Is that what you're going to do to me and Kaitlynn?" Caroline asked, "Are you gonna kill us because we remind you of your brothers and the love of your life? You know what Stefan, you can pretend not to care about them anymore but I don't believe you, I know that a part of you misses them, it will always miss them, I know that being back here reminds you how much you need them, how much we need them, how much we need each other, but if I'm wrong, then go ahead, just go, start over, but, god, if I'm right, if just a little part of you came back to check on the people that remind you the most of the three people you've lost, if even just a small, little part of you came back to fulfil your promise to your brothers of taking care of me and Kaitlynn when they're not here, then stay, help me and Kaitlynn bring them back".

Stefan looked at Caroline for a moment before walking away from her, the moment Stefan walked away, Caroline's eyes landed on a teary eyed Kaitlynn who heard everything, Kaitlynn stepped forward and pulled a now sobbing Caroline into a tight hug, "We don't need him Care" she whispered, "We've got each other".

"Promise not to leave me?" Caroline sobbed.

"I can't leave you Caroline, you're the only family I've got" Kaitlynn cried, as the two girls tightened their hug and sobbed.

***

"Have you guys seen Sarah?" a panicked Jeremy asked Caroline and Kaitlynn as he rushed over to them once the two girls had joined the party.

"Nope, why?" a curious Kaitlynn.

Jeremy looked at Caroline, "There's no ice".

"You can live without ice, Jeremy" Kaitlynn teased.

"Caroline compelled that girl to go get ice, she didn't" Jeremy clarified.

"Well why not?" a confused Caroline asked, "Is she on vervain?".

"No, she had to go into Mystic Falls to get it" Jeremy informed, "She had to cross the border".

Realization suddenly drew on Caroline, "Compulsion is magic".

"Which means every memory you compelled away came back so Sarah, the girl Kaitlynn attacked and you Caroline compelled--".

"Knows what we we are" a panicked Kaitlynn finished.

***

"You're awake, good" Damon said, realising Kai, the person who attacked him was now awake, "Now for the Q and A portion of the evening".

"Let me guess, I answer right, I get a pork rind, wrong, I get a poker", Kai glanced at Brayden who was heating up the poker at the fireplace of the Salvatore library.

"What? No, no, no, these are for me" Damon clarified, looking at the pork rinds in his hand.

"But yes, you do get the poker" Brayden stated, standing up and walking over to a tied up Kai.

"Yeah, you don't have to do that" Kai assured.

"No?" Damon asked.

"We're on the same team" Kai stated.

"Really?" Fae asked, entering the room, "I didn't know people on the same team try to kill each other".

"The important thing is that you have your magic back" Kai said, he shrugged his shoulders, "It worked", Fae, Damon and Brayden looked at each other in confusion, "What, you--? You didn't really think I'd kill Damon, did you?", Kai let out a laugh, "In what universe does that make sense? I wouldn't kill one fourth of our population, I'm not a monster, I knew Fae would show up, her and Brayden always come back, all thirteen times, and I knew with the right motivation, she'd be able to access her magic, I was originally going to use Brayden because I figured they were closer but then I lost patience and decided to attack the next person I see, which happened to be you Damon".

"So all of this was ploy to help me get my magic back?" a suspicious Fae asked, "Why?".

"Because your magic is the key to getting the hell out of here" Kai revealed.

***

"I checked every room, Sarah is gone and it looks like she trashed the place" Jeremy informed Kaitlynn through the phone.

"Shit" Kaitlynn mumbled, as she stood in her dorm room, "Alright, me and Caroline will check the borders".

"I'll keep looking in town, I'll call you if I find anything" Jeremy assured, hanging up on Kaitlynn.

After changing her clothes, Caroline stepped out of the bathroom, "So I was just gonna leave my clothes here while we look, if that's okay".

"Of course it's okay, why wouldn't it be okay?" Kaitlynn asked.

"I also was thinking that if there are vampire hunters on the loose then living alone right by their home base is probably not a good idea" Caroline said.

"Oh my god, are you moving back in?" an excited Kaitlynn asked.

Caroline smiled, "Yes, I'm moving back in, this is an official unpack", Caroline looked at Kaitlynn, "I guess the only reason I've putting this off is because I didn't want to come here without Fae, I miss her, I miss Mystic Falls, I miss our old life, I miss--".

"Brayden?" Kaitlynn finished.

"Yeah, I miss Brayden" Caroline whispered.

"I miss Damon as well" Kaitlynn whispered.

Caroline took a deep breath, she quickly composed herself after realising her and Kaitlynn would break down any second now, "Well, we should go ahead and find that girl before she outs us".

***

Presenting 6x03 of They Don't Know About Us!

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