02. Brave New World

Brayden ran into Caroline's hospital room, with his brothers right behind him.

"What the hell happened?" Damon asked, as Brayden ran right over to an unconscious Caroline.

"Katherine happened" Kaitlynn replied.

"Caroline" Brayden whispered, "Come on Caroline, wake up".

Damon looked at Kaitlynn, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the hospital room, Stefan and Fae following, while Brayden stayed with Caroline.

"Speak" Damon demanded.

"What exactly do you want me to say?" Kaitlynn asked, slightly confused.

"Start with how you and Fae knew about what Katherine did to Caroline" Damon replied.

"I've been trying to locate Katherine, we wanted to know where she is, so I used Kaitlynn's blood to do a locater spell on her, that's when we realised she was here, at the hospital" Fae revealed.

"We knew Caroline was admitted here, and if we knew it means Katherine knew as well" Kaitlynn said.

"And when we reached Caroline's room, it was too late, Katherine was gone, and Caroline was already dead" Fae said.

"But why Caroline?" Stefan asked confused, "Why did Katherine go after Caroline?".

Fae and Kaitlynn looked at each other, exchanging a knowing look.

"None of that" Damon snapped, "No silent conversation between each other, start talking, both of you".

Kaitlynn sighed, "We don't know for sure, but we have a slight idea".

"Go on" Damon urged.

"We think she wanted to make sure" Fae said.

"Make sure what?" Stefan asked.

"To make sure that Caroline and Brayden are the chosen soulmates" Fae replied.

"Excuse me?" Damon asked confused.

"We don't know much about soulmates, all we know is that every time two soulmates die, two more soulmates are born, and in this time, we think it's Brayden and Caroline" Kaitlynn replied.

"And why do you think that?" Stefan asked.

"Witches talk" Fae replied, "And the last time witches talked about soulmates, they said that the next soulmates were going to be a Salvatore and Forbes, and since neither of you fell in love with a Forbes, we kind of guessed it was Brayden and Caroline".

Damon looked at Kaitlynn, "Is that why you never came infront of Brayden?" he asked, "Because you knew he was supposed to be someone else?".

"I had my doubts" Kaitlynn said simply.

"But why does Katherine care?" Stefan asked, "What could she want with confirming whether Brayden and Caroline are soulmates or not?".

Fae sighed, "We don't know".

"You're her sister" Damon told Kaitlynn, "Surely you know".

"If I knew, I certainly don't remember it" Kaitlynn replied.

"What?" Damon asked confused.

"There's a huge chunk of my life that I'm missing" Kaitlynn replied.

"What do you mean it's missing?" Stefan asked confused.

"I don't remember it" Kaitlynn replied, "I don't remember how I turned into a vampire, or who turned me, I've somehow forgotten things that happened to me and Katherine since we left Bulgaria, I only remember things after I turned into a vampire, I don't remember how, when or why I turned".

"Does Katherine?" Damon asked.

Kaitlynn nodded, "But she will never tell me".

"And why's that?" Damon asked.

"Because she's Katherine" Kaitlynn replied simply.

***

Brayden sat by Caroline's hospital bed, waiting for Caroline to wake up, while his brothers stood outside talking to Fae and Kaitlynn.

Caroline suddenly gasped and sat up in shock.

"Princess" Brayden said, gaining Caroline's attention.

"Brayden" Caroline whispered, panic evident in her voice.

"It's okay" Brayden assured, "You're okay".

"She killed me" Caroline whispered, "Katherine killed me, how am I--Brayden, what's going on?".

"Caroline, listen to me carefully" Brayden said slowly, knowing right now Caroline was extremely confused, "Remember when you woke up after the accident, I told you, I gave you my blood?", Caroline nodded, "When Katherine killed you, my blood was still in your system, Caroline, you're in transition".

"I'm a vampire?" Caroline whispered shocked.

"Not yet" Damon replied, entering the room with Stefan, a blood bag in his hand, Kaitlynn and Fae gone, "You need to drink this to complete your transition".

"What happens if I don't?" Caroline asked.

"You'll die" Brayden replied, "If you don't complete the transition Caroline, you will die".

"You have time to think about it" Stefan assured, "At the end of the day, it's your choice whether you want to became a vampire or not, we won't force you".

Caroline looked at Brayden, who was looking down at the ground, "Brayden" she whispered, "Say something".

Brayden sighed, "If it was up to me, I would force you drink the blood, but the thing is, I can't have you hate me forever, and if you couldn't tell, forever for a vampire is literally forever", Brayden grabbed the blood bag from his twin, and placed it infront of Caroline, "I would like you to become a vampire, to spend forever with me, but I won't force you, it's your choice".

Caroline stared at Brayden for a moment, she then grabbed the blood bag.

"Caroline, are you sure about this?" Stefan asked.

Caroline looked at Brayden, who was already looking at her, "I'm sure" she replied.

And without wasting another second, Caroline drank from the blood bag, officially completing her transition, from a human to a vampire.

***

After spending the whole night with Caroline, Stefan and Damon finally left the hospital room, Stefan because Elena called him for the school carnival, while Damon left to talk to Carol Lockwood about something, leaving Brayden and Caroline to themselves.

Caroline slowly put her hand near the sunlight, she hissed when the sunlight burnt her.

"Stop doing that" Brayden said, closing the curtains fully and making sure no sunlight was peaking in the room.

"So what?" Caroline asked, "I can't feel the sun, ever now?".

"Not forever" Brayden assured, "Just for a little bit, once you get a daylight ring, you will be able to feel the sun once again".

"Bonnie's not going to make me a daylight ring" Caroline said, slightly upset, "She hates vampires, she will never accept me as a vampire".

"Forget Bonnie" Brayden said, "She's not the only witch I know, as it turns out, there's currently another Bennett in town".

"Fae?" Caroline asked, Brayden nodded, "You think she will make me a daylight ring?".

"Well, if she didn't mean well, she wouldn't have told me about you, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt, for now at least" Brayden replied.

"And what about Kaitlynn?" Caroline asked, "Are you giving her the benefit of the doubt as well?".

Brayden sighed, he sat on Caroline's bed, "As long she doesn't try anything stupid, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, since it seems like it she had no idea what Katherine was going to do to you".

"Why did Katherine do this?" Caroline asked.

Brayden sighed, "I wish I knew princess, but she's Katherine Pierce, she is always up to something, but don't worry, next time I see her, I'm ripping her heart out and shoving it down her throat".

Caroline sighed, she laid back down on to the bed, "I'm already thinking about living forever, and I'm kind of panicking, I don't know what I'm going to do, forever".

"Scoot over" Brayden said, removing his shoes and laying next Caroline, who placed her head on Brayden's chest, "You know princess, we live in a huge world, there's much more to this world then Mystic Falls, and you have forever to discover this beautiful world, as time goes on you will discover things about yourself that human you would have never known".

"What did you discover about yourself?" Caroline asked curiously, playing with Brayden's fingers.

"You really want to know?" Brayden asked.

"Yeap" Caroline replied.

"After I turned and got out of this miserable town, I went on to discover what this world has to offer, and while doing that, I came across a lot of women, and a lot of men" Brayden said, "And I realised that I didn't care about a person's gender, if I found someone attracted enough to sleep with, then I didn't care if it was a men or a women, I would sleep with them".

"So you're bisexual?" Caroline asked.

"I don't usually put a label on it" Brayden replied.

"Fair enough" Caroline said, "So, you didn't know that you liked men and women when you were a human?".

"I guess deep down, I always knew" Brayden replied, "But if my father had found out, then hell would have been unleased on me, so I guess that fear always made me keep that fact to myself, but when I turned into a vampire, I was free, I didn't have to follow what the society wanted me to follow, I could be me, without any judgement".

"So being a vampire, means being your true self, without any judgement?" Caroline asked.

"For some vampires, yeah" Brayden replied, "But there's a lot of vampires who don't want to be vampires".

"Like Stefan" Caroline realised.

"Exactly" Brayden said, "For him and vampires like him, they never really reach their full potential, they never find the real them, because they're too busy fighting their true nature, and then there's vampires who love being vampires".

"Like you and Damon" Caroline stated.

"Yeap" Brayden said, "It's amazing being strong, being able to run as fast as the wind, being able to make everyone do what you want, and honestly, if you learn how to control it, then the bloodlust won't be a problem either".

"I want to be like that" Caroline said, "I want to be strong, fast, and I want control over my bloodlust".

"And you will" Brayden promised.

"How are you so sure?" Caroline asked, slightly scared.

"Because I'm going to make sure" Brayden replied, "I'm going to be with you, every step of the way Caroline, I promise you".

"Thank you" Caroline whispered.

"Always here" Brayden said, kissing the top of Caroline's head.

***

"I brought you someone" Brayden said, entering Caroline's hospital room, with a compelled nurse by his side.

"Why did you bring her here?" Caroline asked confused.

"You're a vampire" Brayden reminded, closing the door behind him, "You need to learn snatch, eat, and erase".

"Do I have to learn it now?" Caroline asked.

"Yes" Brayden replied, "You're the one who wanted to have control over your bloodlust" he reminded, "Here's how", Brayden faced the nurse and compelled her, "Don't scream", and without wasting another second, he bit into the nurse's neck, he then separated from the nurse and looked at Caroline, who was struggling to control her bloodlust, "Come on princess, you want to go to the school carnival, right? Then you need to get your hunger in check".

"I-I can't Brayden" Caroline whispered, veins appearing under her eyes.

"Yes you can" Brayden assured, grabbing Caroline's hand and making her stand, "I'm right here" he promised, "You won't hurt her, I'll even heal her afterwards".

"I'm starving" Caroline admitted, her fangs coming out.

"I know" Brayden said, "Go on then, what are you waiting for?".

After sparing Brayden one last glance, Caroline attacked the nurse, while Brayden watched with a smirk.

***

"The doctor said I'm good as new, he signed me out" Caroline said, leaving her mother a voicemail, while Brayden packed her bag, "He said I didn't have to wait till morning, and don't worry Brayden is here with me, so call me when you get this".

"Alright" Brayden said, "Rule number one of being a vampire, always make sure after you leave your victim doesn't remember you, and that they have a story ready for their injury".

"Right" Caroline whispered, she walked over to the compelled nurse, "Um, I am so sorry about that" she said, gesturing wound on the nurse's neck, which Brayden had put a bandage over, "Okay, now what's the story?".

"My husband likes to get kinky" The compelled nurse replied, making Brayden chuckle.

"Yes, good" Caroline said, ignoring Brayden's amused face, "And forget that I bit you, that would be great because I'm going to".

"Forget what?" The nurse asked confused.

Caroline looked at Brayden in excitement, "Compulsion is brilliant".

Brayden chuckled, "Trust me I know, anyways now that this is done" he said, grabbing Caroline's bag, "Let's go to the high school carnival, you so want to go to".

"I need to make sure they didn't make a huge disaster out of it" Caroline defended.

"Right, because Mystic Falls High School can't survive one day without Caroline Forbes" Brayden teased, lacing his fingers with Caroline's.

"They can't" Caroline said, as her and Brayden walked out the hospital room.

***

"Ring toss?" Brayden asked, as him and Caroline arrived at the school carnival, "You want to play ring toss?".

"Yes" Caroline replied, "I know we're going through major changes, but before these changes happened, I wrote on our list that you will win me a prize at the carnival, so, win me a prize Brayden Salvatore".

Brayden looked at Caroline in amusement, "What else did you write on that list without telling me?".

"A lot" Caroline replied, "And no delaying Brayden, win me a stuff toy".

"Fine" Brayden said, grabbing some rings from the person in charge, he then tossed the ring and very easily slid it on a bottle, "I think I'm good at everything".

"Show off" Caroline teased.

"I only speak the truth, princess" Brayden said, kissing Caroline's cheek, "Your turn".

Caroline threw the ring, and instead of it sliding on to a bottle, she end up shattering a few bottles, causing Caroline to look at Brayden in panic.

"It's okay" Brayden assured, seeing the panic on Caroline's face, "You don't know your own strength right now, but you will eventually, to learn you're going to have to mess up a bit".

"That's not how that works" Caroline mumbled.

"It does when it comes to us" Brayden said, handing Caroline the stuffed penguin he won, "For you, my princess".

Caroline smiled, "Thank you".

Brayden kissed Caroline's nose, "Anytime" he said, just as his phone started ringing, taking it out he realised Damon was calling him, he looked at Caroline, "It's Damon, stay here, I'll be right back".

Caroline nodded, "Hurry".

"I'll be back soon" Brayden said, walking to the side where there was less noise, "Hello?".

"The Lockwoods are hiding something" Damon said, as soon as Brayden answered the phone.

"What?" Brayden asked.

"Remember, the Gilbert device affected the mayor and his son, but the vervain didn't effect the mayor" Damon replied.

"So did you figure out what they are?" Brayden asked.

"No" Damon replied, "But I did compel a guy to pick a fight with Tyler, and his uncle Mason jumped in and you won't guess what happened".

"Something tells me you're about to tell me" Brayden said.

"His eyes glowed yellow" Damon revealed.

"Yellow?" Brayden asked, "What the hell are they?".

"I don't know, that's what I want to figure out" Damon replied, "Where are you by the way?".

"At the carnival with Caroline" Brayden replied.

"You bought Caroline here?" Damon asked shocked.

"Relax Damon, she's been--", Brayden turned around to check on Caroline, but to his shock, Caroline wasn't where he left her, "Dammit!".

"What?" Damon asked, "What happened?".

"Caroline's gone" Brayden replied, "We need to find her, now!".

"On it" Damon assured, "I'll tell Stefan to be on the lookout as well".

Brayden hanged up on Damon and rushed to find Caroline before she ended up hurting someone.

***

While Brayden was talking to Damon, Caroline had smelled blood, unable to stop herself, Caroline ended up following the smell, which led her right towards Carter, the guy who Damon had compelled to pick a fight with Tyler. also the guy who Bonnie had a crush on.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Carter asked, seeing Caroline staring at him, while breathing heavily.

"No" Caroline cried, feeling her hunger take over, "I'm so sorry".

"What?" Carter asked confused.

Caroline speeded over to Carter and bit into his neck.

***

"Caroline" Damon called out, running over to a hysterical Caroline.

"He's dead" Caroline cried, "I killed him", Caroline started sobbing, "What's wrong with me?".

"Hey, hey, it's okay" Damon assured, "Brayden and I are going to help you".

"Really?" Caroline asked.

"Of course" Damon replied, "Look Caroline, every vampire kills, it's in our nature, and you didn't kill that guy on purpose, it was an accident".

"I couldn't control myself" Caroline cried.

"It's cause you're new" Damon said, "But don't worry, soon you will get used to the hunger, it will get easier".

"Promise?" Caroline asked.

"I promise" Damon replied.

"Princess" Brayden said, running over to the duo, with Stefan and Elena right behind him.

"Brayden" Caroline cried, running over to the middle Salvatore and hugging him, "I killed him, I didn't mean to, the blood, it was just too much".

"It's okay" Brayden whispered, running his hand through Caroline's hair, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up".

Brayden and Caroline turned to leave, but their way was blocked by Bonnie.

"Caroline?" Bonnie said, shocked seeing Caroline's face full of blood.

"Not now Bonnie" Brayden warned.

"No" Bonnie whispered, "You're not, you can't, you can't be".

Bonnie walked over to Caroline and touched her arm, but before she could say anything, Brayden held her arm, and shoved her on to the ground.

"Brayden!" Elena yelled, running over to Bonnie.

"She's already going through a lot, she doesn't need fake friends like you to make things worse for her" Brayden snapped, glaring at the two girls, he then grabbed Caroline's hand, and took her towards the bathroom, while Stefan followed, and Damon stayed back to take care of the body.

***

Brayden and Stefan led a hysterical Caroline into the toilet, Stefan quickly grabbed some tissues, after wetting them, he handed it over to Brayden.

"Hey, look at me" Brayden said, wiping the blood from Caroline's face.

"She hates me" Caroline cried, "Bonnie hates me".

"Then that's her loss" Brayden said, "If she hates an amazing person like you, then screw her".

"And what about my mom?" Caroline cried, "She hates vampires, she's going to hate me".

"She will never hate you Caroline, you're her daughter" Brayden said, "And right now, let's not worry about that, right now let's just clean the blood off".

Caroline nodded and started taking the blood off of her hand, while Stefan handed Brayden more tissues.

"I'm a murderer, I'm a monster" Caroline mumbled.

"Princess, you need to relax" Brayden said, "Your emotions are everywhere right now, I should have never brought you here, I am so sorry".

"No" Caroline cried, "You thought I could handle it, I'm so sorry for letting you down".

"Hey, you didn't let me down" Brayden assured, "You're new, and the lack of control is normal, it's okay, we're going to get through this, together".

Caroline looked at her face in the mirror and noticed the veins under her eyes, "God, why does this keep happening to my face?", Caroline covered her face with her hands, "I'm hideous".

Brayden removed Caroline's hands from her face, "You're not hideous Caroline, look at my face", Caroline looked at Brayden and saw the veins appearing under his eyes, "You see that, right?", Caroline nodded, "This is normal, and I know sometimes controlling your hunger can be difficult, but you're Caroline Forbes, you are going to get through this, you are strong enough Caroline, you just have to believe in yourself, take it from someone who knows how good it feels to give in to the hunger, you're strong enough to fight it, one day at a time, now, breath in and breath out, clam yourself down".

Caroline followed Brayden's instructions and slowly, the veins under her eyes disappeared.

"See?" Brayden said, "You can do this Caroline, you're going to get through this".

Caroline didn't say anything, just hugged Brayden.

"Why did Katherine do this to me?" Caroline whispered.

Brayden looked at Stefan, "We don't know" Stefan replied, deciding it was better to tell Brayden about Kaitlynn and Fae's theory before telling Caroline, "We wish we did".

Before Caroline could say anything, she started screaming in pain, falling to the floor.

"Caroline!" Brayden yelled, but before he could help her, a burning sensation went through his right wrist, causing him fall on the floor as well.

"Brayden! Caroline!" Stefan yelled, bending down and helping Caroline, not knowing what was happening to the two.

"Ahh!" Caroline yelled, looking at her right wrist, where three small black stars started to appear.

Stefan looked at Brayden's wrist, to see a small sun appearing.

"What the hell just happened?" Brayden asked after the pain stopped, looking at his and Caroline's wrist in confusion.

"You need to talk to Fae" Stefan replied, "You both do".

Caroline's Mark

Brayden's Mark

***

"I can't believe this is happening" Bonnie cried.

"Come on, don't pout about it, you got a body to bury" Damon said, walking over to the Carter's dead body with a shovel in hand, "Sucks to be you buddy".

Before Damon could bury the body, Bonnie started using her magic on him, causing him to hold his head and scream in pain, while falling to the floor, using her magic, she made the gasoline pipe make it's way towards Damon.

"I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt" Bonnie told Damon.

"I didn't do this!" Damon yelled, still in immense pain.

"Bonnie, it wasn't his fault" Elena said.

"Everything that happens in his and Brayden's fault, Elena" Bonnie said.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" Elena asked confused.

Bonnie lit a fire with her mind, but before the fire could get out of hand or reach Damon, Kaitlynn speeded behind Bonnie and held her neck in a headlock, causing Bonnie to stop her magic.

"Now, now Bonnie, let's not do anything rash" Kaitlynn said, slightly choking Bonnie.

Bonnie tried to use her magic but nothing happened to Kaitlynn, confusing her and Elena, while Kaitlynn simply smirked, she let go of Bonnie and shoved her into Elena, causing both of them to stumble on to the ground.

"I'm a lot older then Damon, Bonnie, those petty tricks don't work on me" Kaitlynn said, "Also, your ancestor, Fae Bennett, she's done a protection spell on me, you can't harm me".

"My ancestor?" Bonnie asked shocked.

Kaitlynn looked at Damon, who had now recovered, "Did I say too much?" she asked, a smirk on her face.

"Yes" Damon replied.

"Opps" Kaitlynn said simply, "That will be my bad, but here's the thing Bonnie, don't try to harm any of the Salvatore brothers again, because next time I will actually snap your neck in half, not just threaten you", Kaitlynn turned to a shocked Damon, "You're welcome Salvatore, I saved you in my five inches heels, you better be grateful".

Before Damon could say anything to Kaitlynn, she speeded away.

"Who was that?" Elena asked confused.

"None of your business" Damon snapped, causing Elena to frown.

Damon looked in the direction Kaitlynn had left in, shocked that she actually came to her rescue.

***

The carnival had now ended, and everyone had gone home, everyone except for Brayden and Caroline.

"Brayden, what are we doing here?" Caroline asked, "Shouldn't we be talking to Fae about these mysterious marks?".

"We can do that tomorrow" Brayden replied, "Tonight, I'm going to cross another thing on our list, by kissing my amazing girlfriend on top of the Ferris wheel", just as Brayden said that, the Ferris wheel lit up.

"But what if we get caught?" Caroline asked.

"We won't" Brayden assured, "I compelled the guard to go on break", Brayden wrapped his arm around Caroline's waist, "Life is always going to be hectic princess, and sometimes we need to just stop for a second and take these small moments with each other, what Katherine did to you, could just be the beginning of something even bigger, and then Tyler's family is something we don't know or understand, but you know what I do understand, what I do know, is that I love you, and right now, I want to kiss you on top of that Ferris wheel, just like you wished for".

Caroline smiled at Brayden, "Fine, but how are we gonna get to the top?".

Brayden smirked, "We are vampires princess, we can do whatever we want to do", Brayden tightened his grip on Caroline's waist, "Hold on".

While holding on to Caroline, Brayden took a huge leap, and both him and Caroline ended up on top of the Ferris wheel, both Brayden and Caroline started laughing after reaching the top.

"That was awesome" Caroline laughed.

"I know" Brayden said, starting to lean forward.

Caroline smiled and smashed her lips on to Brayden's, officially cross a thing from their wish list.

***

Presenting 2x02 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Kaitlynn revealing that she's missing certain parts of her life? I wonder why?👀

Thoughts on Brayden helping Caroline through her transition?

Thoughts on the mysterious marks appearing on Brayden and Caroline's wrists? Thank you unikam for giving me an epic idea for this season!

Thoughts on Kaitlynn saving Damon from Bonnie's spell?