Don't Hold This War Inside

1 Year, 3 Months Later...

The war has not ended.

It sickened every part of Caroline to know that men were still losing their lives over a pointless battle that would only worsen the country's state.

Caroline and her mother had been writing back and forth since her arrival in London.

Caroline's father died from pneumonia two months ago.

She would've liked to say that she was deeply saddened, but her feelings of sadness were only slight.

Caroline and her father were close, and though his death hurt, it didn't hurt as much as Jasper's did.

All her tears and heartache had been concentrated on him. When her father died, there was nothing left in her for him.

She was prepared for death now.

Charles Newman was becoming a close friend of Caroline's despite the dreams she'd been having that someone was going to get close to her just to destroy her. I had come to terms with these dreams.

They didn't scare me anymore.

"Caroline?"

A voice shook her from her thoughts. "Yes?" she replied, blinking rapidly.

Charles sat in the armchair across from her in Carlisle's library. He had been talking to her about something and Caroline had wandered off a bit in her mind.

"Is something troubling you?" he asked.

What an idiotic question, Caroline thought, to ask if something troubles me when my husband and father are dead.

"Nothing. I was only thinking of my father." Caroline replied with a smile.

"Of course. You know, my father passed when I was only three. It was a foreign disease, something my village was not familiar with." Charles said, his eyes glistening with the thoughts of his past.

"Village? Why, Charles. I thought you were from Darby, Louisiana. I understand that town is small but I wouldn't go so far as to compare it to a village." Caroline replied, laughing to herself.

Charles shook his head and blinked, an unreadable expression on his face. "Yes, of course. But in my town we were so close to each other, we referred to Darby as a village." he said, almost as if he were saying as he thought it.

"Well, Charles, you probably wouldn't have cared much for Houston. It was most definitely a lot bigger than Darby. There was so much to do. That is one thing I miss about the States." Caroline shot back moments later.

Charles looked pulled his watch fob from his pocket and frowned.

"So terribly sorry, Caroline, but I must be going. I have business to attend to. I have been putting it off for quite some time now." he said.

Caroline marked her page and stood. "I'll walk you to the door."

Moments later, Charles was gone and the apartment was quiet once more.

Carlisle was not due home from the hospital for another hour. Caroline decided it best to get started with dinner.

"Dammit!" a man yelled as he kicked a waste bin aside. He was very angry. It was the kind of anger that made anyone in its presence shrink in fear.

His voice was accented from somewhere in East Europe.

All that could be seen of the man was his silhouette. He paced back and forth across the floor, cursing to himself. He stopped again and slammed his head into his palm.

How could he have slipped up like that? She was bound to question him now.

"No matter," he said to himself after a few moments. "It is only a minor setback. I can still get her to trust me. Everything will go as planned"

Caroline snapped out of her dream, or vision as she liked to call it, with a deep breath. She looked down and saw that her vision had not deterred her from stirring the pot on the stove in front of her.

"You've made dinner?" a voice asked from the doorway of the kitchen.

Caroline snapped out of her trance and turned to see Carlisle leaning against the doorway to the kitchen.

"Well, I just thought you would like to have dinner right when you came home. And you are certainly in a right state, Carlisle. You are absolutely soaked to the bone! It must be storming outside!" Caroline said in greeting.

Carlisle laughed.

"It certainly is. I hurried home as quickly as I could. How was your day?" he asked, taking off his jacket and placing it on the chair.

"Just wonderful. Charles called on me today and we talked in the library for a few hours." Caroline explained.

"Well, it sounds like you have a wonderful day today. Anymore...dreams?" Carlisle asked, concern lacing his voice at the end of his sentence.

"Just the usual ones, Carlisle."

"Please, be careful with Charles. I understand you feel some semblance of a bond to him but if what your dreams are saying is true, you must tread with caution." Carlisle explained.

Caroline smiles. "Of course. Though, I do believe I'll retire to my room for the evening. I am feeling more tired than usual. My apologies, Carlisle."

Carlisle nodded in understanding as Caroline made her way up the stairs to her room. She closed the door behind her and lay across her bed, her mind only on Jasper.

So much of her had gone toward grieving for him, loving him. She wondered how much of herself was still left. She was more than certain the amount of her original self was depleted.

Caroline sighed and closed her eyes, thinking of the many memories she'd had with Jasper and that's when she realized something.

He was her whole life.

There hadn't been a single time in her life he hadn't been there. Every memory Caroline could recall, Jasper was there in one way or another.

It was hard for her to accept that he was dead and gone, never to hold her again.

Her dreams of him had ceased in the last eleven months and had been replaced with the ones of a man who was looking to destroy Caroline.

She knew there was a good chance her life was in danger, but there was a part of her that didn't care.

What else would she possibly have left to live for? If this person was going to kill her, she thought it was as good a time as any.

Caroline's hands came to her head and she realized she had a headache. She opened her eyes and the room seemed to spin slightly.

She tried to sit up but that only made it worse. There was a numb pain building in her chest that she was vaguely aware of.

She tried to steady herself but found it was impossible.

Caroline fell to the floor with a thud, her eyes falling shut and her mind shaking hands with darkness.

Something cool splashed on Caroline's face. She blinked a few times and sat up. The room didn't spin this time and the pain she had felt in her chest earlier had subsided. The headache was almost nonexistent now.

She could hear a scribbling noise and Caroline noticed that Carlisle was standing over her, writing something in a journal. She tried to talk but found that her throat was dry.

Carlisle handed her a glass of water which she drank down greedily before she felt almost right again.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice slightly raspy.

"You fainted." Carlisle replied absently as he scribble furiously.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Caroline asked.

Carlisle stopped writing and looked down at Caroline. "You have been poisoned."

Words vanished in Caroline's throat as Carlisle said this. She felt a huge sinking feeling in her stomach that made her want to vomit. "How long?" she asked.

"It was not a lethal poison. But you have been mentally paralyzed. Whoever gave you this knows about your dreams and wants them to be stopped." Carlisle explained.

"But you're the only one who knows! How could you do this to me, Carlisle?" Caroline shrieked.

"I have never told a soul, Caroline. I swear it. I would never poison you." Carlisle said gently.

Caroline sighed, believing him. "Will my dreams be the only thing affected by this?" she asked.

Carlisle nodded.

Caroline didn't say another word, but instead turned to the window, wondering who would've done something like this to her.