This is just something that popped into my head. Just for fun. It's unbeta'd, so excuse my mistakes. Big thanks to Kharizzmatik for introducing me to Klaus and for all our writing sessions.

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

She fell back against the side of the truck bed. The duct tape around her wrists cut into her skin as she tried to tug her arms apart. Her head throbbed and black spots kept spreading through her vision.

It all happened so fast. One minute she was flirting with the guy manning the prom queen voting station and the next she was here. This was supposed to be the happiest night of her young life. Prom. The one damn night she could just be young and dance with her friends.

Gasoline fumes stung her nose and she felt rather than saw more people fall into the back of the pickup truck with her. There were moans and muffled cries, telling her that her truck-bed-fellows were also tied up. There was no way to count how many of them had survived, all crammed together in the dark, but then, there was no guarantee that ending up here meant any of them were going to live either.

The tailgate slammed into place a second before they were thrown into motion. Glancing up, she noticed that they were driving through the forest. Trees intermittently blocked the view of the clear night sky, making it impossible for her to determine exactly where they were. The forest was a good ten miles out of town, which was nearly twenty miles from the hotel where Prom was held.

How could anything move that far that fast?

Pain swelled in her head, forcing consciousness under a lick layer of heaviness. She shook it off, trying to stay lucid as long as she could. Any clues that she could get about their surroundings would help if they somehow escaped.

Only a handful of minutes later the truck stopped and forceful hands grabbed her. The distinct sound of lace tearing made her groan. She'd saved up for months to afford this damn dress. Roughy McHandsy could at least take it easy on the couture. It was pitch-black as she moved away from the truck. The moon and stars were gone. If it wasn't for the sounds of snapping twigs and leaves rustling above she might think they had left the woods. Her freshly manicured toes sunk into mud and she knew her two-hundred dollar heels were toast too.

She could hear the sounds of her fellow students being dragged around her. No one struggled, or if they did it didn't make much difference. She wanted to fight, wanted to turn around and kick the asshole who was trying to yank her arms out of their sockets in the crotch so hard he'd sing soprano for the remainder of his miserable days, but she knew a thing or two about survival 101. Rule number one was to play it smart.

She grunted when they hit stairs, wondering if the lights had gone out or if she had simply gone blind. Her headache had evolved into a burning white brand of pain that she was surprisingly almost numb to now. Her stomach twisted and she tasted bile in the back of her mouth. Maybe she wasn't as numb to the pain as she thought. She stumbled up the stairs, taking a deep breath when she was shoved through a room. She could smell pine needles and kerosene. Her captor kicked her legs out from under her, forcing her to kneel on a cold wooden floor.

"Light the candles please Monroe," a very elegant sounding male voice requested.

Fear started to settle into her bones as the room slowly lit with the soft glow of candles. Everything was mostly cast in shadows but she could make out one man standing in front of the group.

He was dressed in a finely tailored suit complete with red and black striped tie. She was impressed with what little she could make out of his attire. No one in Mystic Falls bothered to dress with such classy taste.

Great, she thought, finally meet someone with fashion sense and they're a homicidal maniac.

"Welcome," the man said, drawing her focus to his face. The definition of his features were cloaked by the shadows but she make out a strong jaw and light colored eyes. His body language told her more about him than his face would have. He stood with confidence and comfort. He wasn't afraid of being found any time soon. "You are all now my guests. Please know that your lives will end soon, but do not worry. Your deaths will not be without meaning. You have been selected for a very worthy cause."

He nodded and the room was washed back into darkness.

Caroline stopped fighting to stay awake, closing her eyes and falling into whatever would happen next.