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[VD] Ch 13: Telling Caroline
🕑 Added 2025-09-25 19:34:45 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
"Seriously, can you not wear the one-piece? I've seen you in it. Trust me, this year you need to do something totally different if you want to be a proper stripper."
"I want the sexiest thing ever to be seen."
"Maybe we should slow down the whole car-wash act, like dropping the soap and—"
Jack had snuck up behind Caroline while she was chatting with the others about tomorrow's sexy car-wash fundraiser and wrapped his arms around her. Luckily for him, she was on the phone, so his hands were free to wander.
"Sorry, gotta go, see you tomorrow!" Caroline squealed, startled, and hurriedly hung up on her friend.
"Hey! Let go. I haven't forgiven you yet." She swatted at Jack's mischievous hands.
"Don't act like that, you've been ignoring me for days." Jack just clung on, shameless.
"I'm mad, okay? I came here tonight to sort this out." Caroline's tone hardened and she gave him a little shove to pry his big hands off.
"Alright." Seeing she was actually upset, Jack released her and flopped backwards onto the bed.
"Stop messing around. What else are you hiding from me? If you really don't trust me enough to tell me, then maybe we're not right for each other. I don't want half my life to be off-limits." Caroline kicked him lightly and said it seriously.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you. This… you won't believe me. I'm afraid you won't accept it." Jack looked helpless. He wasn't a vampire, but he did have strange powers—there was no simple lie that would fool Caroline.
"What's with you and Sarah, Stefan and Damon? You made up so many excuses before. And where's Sarah? I haven't seen her in days." Caroline glared at him.
When Jack just lay there looking half-dead on the bed, she gave him another irritated kick.
"Do you really want to know? No regrets?" Jack sat up, either giving up or deciding to be honest.
"Obviously. Why else would I be here?" Caroline shot back, folding herself onto the bed beside him.
"You have to promise you won't tell anyone. No one. Not a soul." Jack's face went serious.
"Fine, fine—just spit it out." Caroline was impatient.
"I'm… a superpowered person. I can do magic." Jack said in a super serious tone.
"Pfft—"
Caroline laughed, then snorted. "Even if you didn't want to tell me, you couldn't pick a more ridiculous excuse."
"Drink some water first. I'll tell you slowly." Jack used a little rabbit charm and went downstairs to fetch a glass, then handed it to her.
"Aaah—mmf!" Caroline started to cry out and he quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Shh. See? That's why I didn't tell you. This is only part of what I can do." He gestured for her to calm down.
When she got her wits back she rolled her big, expressive eyes and thought, Well, boyfriend's secretly superhuman, not a monster. No big deal.
"So Stefan and the others, are they superpowered too?" she asked, pushing his hand away.
"They're different. Stefan and his brother are vampires." Jack decided to go all in and stopped holding back.
"V-Vampires?" Caroline froze for a beat, then her surprise turned toward a scream. Jack's reflexes covered her mouth again just in time.
"Okay, okay—don't freak. Vampires can be good or bad." He tried to soothe her. "Well, maybe. I'm not sure yet."
After that, Jack walked her through everything—his story, Bonnie maybe being a witch, Stefan who was drying Damon out, Sarah being under Damon's control and expected back in a few days. He didn't leave anything out.
After half an hour
"...I see."
"So you're super fast, right? But didn't you say you could do magic?" Caroline asked once she'd processed everything.
"I can heal injuries and I can't die. There might be other abilities, but they haven't surfaced yet." Jack told her everything he knew about his powers.
"Immortal? So if I grow old, you'll stay the same?" Caroline asked, voice small.
"Probably. Once I hit eighteen or so I might stop aging. I only know I can't die." Jack wasn't entirely sure how the talisman worked. Aside from Shendu, no one else knew its true secrets, and Shendu looked different depending on the dragon's age—nobody could really say for sure.
"Jack… maybe we're not right for each other." Caroline said suddenly, quietly.
"Hey, hey. Don't scare me like that." Jack's calm snapped; he cupped her face with both hands.
"It's just... I love you, but I'm only sixteen now; we don't seem that far apart. But what about the future? I'll die. We'll grow further and further apart." Caroline looked directly into his eyes.
"I'll find a way. There are people like me in this world, vampires too, and your best friend Bonnie might be a witch. I'll figure out how for us to be together." Jack hugged her tight.
"Jack, let me go home and think, okay? This is a lot to take in." Caroline returned the hug, patted his back, then sat back and smiled, sweet but uncertain.
"Okay." He reluctantly let go.
"Tonight I'm going home. I'll think it through and give you an answer." She stood.
"Whatever you decide, I'll respect it. But please don't tell anyone about tonight."
Jack rose as he said. "Come on, I'll walk you home."
"Okay." Caroline flashed him a warm smile.
---
After he walked her home, Jack drove back to his place and lay on his bed, eyes wide open. He had no idea how to remove the seal on the twelve talismans, and now he had to find a way for Caroline to live forever with him. If he didn't, being immortal might mean a lifetime alone. He would be another Ban.
"Sigh..."
The easiest option would be to turn Caroline into a vampire. But both of them rejected that idea straight away. Seeing Stefan struggle with blood cravings made Jack realize how imperfect vampires were. Becoming one would change her species—would their children be human or something else?
Jack lay there thinking deep into the night until exhaustion finally dragged him to sleep.
.
.
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