No one could help her.
No matter how hard her friends had tried to be there for her, no one could suffice. No one could break through the thick barriers of her grief and hold out a hand to her to help her stand up. She had built a fortress around her. She had fallen so hard deep in the center of it and couldn't find the strength to go back up. She can't find it in her to let anyone help.
Not her oldest friends in the world, Elena and Bonnie. Not from the guy who had been nothing but a sweetheart to her, Matt. Not from someone who is grieving just like her, who has also lost his dear friend and constant ally, Damon. Not even from the guy who is always on her side, has her back no matter what, Stefan. Or her greatest love yet, Tyler.
She has people in her life but the most important person to her is now gone. Taken from her. Died. Helplessly killed. Her mom.
Marcos killed Liz Forbes.
Caroline was so near to her mother's aid, just a second too late. She'd seen it happen right before her eyes: Marcos' hands on the side of Liz's head and then snapping her neck. It happened just a second. But it was the longest damn second of Caroline's life.
It's the single second that her life had fallen apart. It's the second that she had a sudden shift in her ways, thoughts and attitude.
It's the second that changed everything.
•••
Caroline throws her arm up high as her body moves in sync with the music and with another body against hers. Her other hand holds on to the guy's shoulder and she grinds her hips against his.
The guy is hot enough that Caroline had brief dirty thoughts of him with her. But not enough for her to listen to him when he said his name. His hot breath hits her ear and she could feel the heat radiating from his body, his response to her subtle actions like gripping him or grinding on him hard but brief.
The bass thumps in the club, the neon lights, the heat due to the number of people bumping against each other and the vodka and tequila that swirls in her stomach does wonders for Caroline but the one thing that stands above the rest is the sight of the guy's neck right in front of her. His throat is bare and ready for her and she could feel her mouth watering at the mere thought of blood.
She grinds her hips against his and presses a kiss on his neck. She could feel him being so ready for her. If only he knows what he's readying himself up for. Without much holding back, she bares her fangs and buries them in his skin. The blood starts rushing in her mouth and she savors every drop of it.
The thing about being in a club is that it's so loud and dark that people barely notice what is happening in their surroundings, outside their personal bubbles.
The guy's screams are muffled by the pumping speakers but it echoes in Caroline's ears. Along with the blood, she savors the sound also. The scream. The struggle as the guy tries to pry her away by the neck with his hands, which are flimsy compared to her own. At the start of the night, the body of this boy is god-like, with its planes of muscle and well-built structure. He's the sexiest man she could find. That body is now limping in Caroline's strong arms.
She pulls her head up, her fangs bared, veins protruded under her eyes and stains of blood down her lips. She sighs in content, no matter how temporary it is. Her hand on his chest feels his slowing heart rate. He's still conscious, because of his ragged breathing. She whispers in his ear, "Thanks for the drink, dear." She smirks at how fitting her words are. The guy bought her numerous cocktails earlier, liquored her up—which she not at all minded because it saved her from the burden of having to compel the bartender—but what really satiated her is his blood. She feels no remorse for him. He's a poster child for the classic college male conformity: the asshole frat boy who thinks he owns the world. That much she knows with the way he treated her that night.
She licks the dripping blood from his wound, dragging her tongue on his skin before she snaps his neck and flashes out of the club. She's gone before the body falls on the floor and people start noticing him.
•••
Klaus moves his glass up to his lips but stops midair when he senses rather familiar presences in the crowded French Quarter bar. He smirks at the recognition and sets his glass down on the smooth mahogany table.
"Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett." He greets them as they enter the bar. "As I live and breathe."
Elena raises her eyebrow at him. "A glass of scotch in a bar. How predictable. And to think that we're in New Orleans for barely half an hour and we found you already."
"I find it endearing that you know me so well, love." He comments back. He gestures on the bench on the other side of his booth. "Would you two like to join me? A drink is exactly what you need after a grueling trip from that sad excuse of a town of yours."
Bonnie's stoic expression doesn't relent. "We're not here to play catch-up."
"Women on a mission. How predictable." Klaus' smirk widens as he mocks Elena. He sips his drink before continuing, "To what do I owe the pleasure this time? I presume one of you has been idiotic enough to get bitten by a werewolf and because I single-handedly made your lives hell for a year, you figured I have some sort of debt to settle?"
"We don't give a crap about your debt to us." Elena slides into the booth, facing Klaus. "We're here for Caroline."
Klaus' expression changes from aloof and amused to pure concerned. He couldn't control it. This is the first he'd heard of her since his last encounter with her in the forest back in Mystic Falls, the day he had promised he wouldn't return ever again. He had thought of her a lot. Never a day has gone by without he is reminded of the deep ache in chest, aching out of wonder on how is she doing, is she well, is she in trouble, is she happy. He needs reassurance that she is happy but he couldn't retrieve that. He had lost the right.
His voice lowers, all serious now. "What about her?" He tries to hide the sudden overwhelming emotions rushing through him but the two girls seem to see through him.
"Her mom died." Bonnie, who has seated beside Elena, whispers.
Klaus' lips part in shock. He knows that Caroline has a deep and close relationship with her mother, despite their obvious differences. She adored her mother, loved her so much. His heart pains for her because he more than knows what it's like to lose someone as important as family. He asks, "Where is she?"
"That's the thing." Bonnie replies. "We don't know."
His eyes flashes with anger at the two. "So you're saying that you dimwitted lot in Mystic Falls managed to lose a mourning vampire." He takes a deep breath out of frustration. "She could be anywhere in the globe right now." He downs his drink and slams the glass on the table, a thin line of crack starting to form. "Need I remind you that an angry and miserable vampire can lead to all sorts of trouble? You're looking at the living proof of that. Caroline may be ageless but she sure as hell a mere wooden stake away from death, unlike me. This could lead to her demise because you people let her slip from your fingertips."
"Don't you think we know that already?" Elena snaps. "We get that she's off the rails that this could lead to her dropping off the face of the earth. And it isn't like we did our damn best to be there for her."
"You didn't try harder." Klaus growls.
"We tried our hardest. But she didn't let us." Bonnie says. "She didn't let any of us."
Klaus' shoulders slack as he dawns on what Elena and Bonnie are getting at. "And by some unknown logic, you think she'll let me."
Elena sighs. "We know you two have close-to-nonexistent history. But it's there."
Klaus raises an eyebrow. "Caroline and I had sex, Elena. No need to be coy about it. We're all adults here."
Bonnie shudders in the subtlest way possible but Klaus catches it with his peripheral vision. She says, "And after that, she said she screwed up. Made a mistake. She couldn't believe she did it. She even went through that cleaning marathon, which we all know that a person with deep issues only does—"
"What is your point, Miss Bennett?" Klaus says, clearly angry. He had considered that possibility that Caroline may not reciprocate his feelings of utter happiness towards that day, even if she was the one who initiated it. But hearing the proof of it is not as a fun as a walk in the park.
"She never said she regretted it." Bonnie continues and she watches Klaus' hard expression softens. "She may be hellbent on trying to...get rid of feelings for you but she never said she regretted it."
"That's why we thought, along with your resources, that you could help her." Elena says. "Maybe she'll let you."
Despite his own problems here in New Orleans, with his baby on the way, his ongoing war with Marcel and his attempt of getting along with his siblings, he couldn't bring himself to refuse of help. He couldn't turn away in Caroline's time of need. "I'll find her, patch her right up and bring her back to her controlling, perfectionist old self." He says with a slight smile on the memory of her like that. He has deep feelings for that girl. He fell for that girl.
Bonnie shows a feeling of elation but her friend still looks wary.
Elena says, "By the way, before we lost our last chance of a lead, there had been a number of mysterious murders. Blood loss, decapitations—the works. She might as well be the female Ripper of the 21st century."
Bonnie continues, "It was in an underground club in Miami. Blood loss followed by a snap in the neck. But it's been weeks since that incident."
Klaus purses his lips as his mind wraps around that information. Finally, he says, "You think she turned her humanity off." He watches the girls' expressions of helplessness.