Birthday fic for Luana, who happens to be one of my favorite people and who deserves everything good in life. I hope you like it!
Something was off, Caroline knew as much.
Otherwise, her grandmother wouldn't be visiting, wouldn't be staying at the house of the daughter who resented her, who resented the curse that ran through her veins… The curse that also ran through Caroline's veins.
Cecilia Forbes had only been to Mystic Falls once in her life, nearly five years ago. Before that, Caroline had never met her grandmother. After that, she'd always been the one to go visit.
Liz didn't like being involved with the supernatural, had fought her entire life to stay away from it – fought so hard that her own powers had never manifested… But her daughter's fate had been different.
Caroline had been thirteen and terrified of the feathery wings that were peeking over her shoulders, of how her irises turned yellow. Her mother had never taught her about the legacy of their family, hoping that if they didn't talk about it, the curse wouldn't touch her daughter like it hadn't touched her.
But Caroline, with all her love for fairy tales and magic, with the curiosity and dreams that filled her mind, had accepted the gifts, even when she did not fully understand them. She became a siren.
It was only then she met her grandmother.
And much to her mother's chagrin, they quickly bonded over their lessons. Cecilia was as fascinating to Caroline as her newfound powers; she had so many stories about so many different places and creatures. And she was the one who taught Caroline how to fly, how to make her wings appear and disappear at will, how to enchant others using nothing but her voice and how to be unafraid and unashamed of who she was.
As soon as she learned to control her powers better, though, Liz's patience worn off and her grandmother had said goodbye and hadn't come back.
Until now – when she decided to ruin Caroline's life by inviting a demon into it.
"Grandma, what are you doing here?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable. Her mother would come home soon and she wasn't particularly keen on seeing her reaction to having Cecilia there.
The older siren smiled, "And here I thought you'd be happy to see your grandmother, child."
"Of course I'm happy to see you!" Caroline quickly assured her, "But my mother…"
Cecilia waved with impatience, cutting her off. "Your mother will not know I came, Caroline. I am here because I need your help… Now, hush and listen to everything I have to say. It won't be long until he show up."
"He? Who is-"
Her grandmother raised her hand to stop her, giving her a sharp look that made Caroline fall into silence. "I am so sorry to be doing this to you, my sweet child. If there was any other way…" she sighed, "Many years ago, I found out that I could not bear children, but your grandfather and I… We wanted to have a baby so desperately. And it was my duty as matriarch of the Forbes to continue our line. You must understand, I was foolish, but I did not have another choice. The witches couldn't help us, human medicine couldn't help us…"
Cecilia trailed off, looking distressed. Caroline reached out and took her hand, searching her grandmother's gaze, "What is it, grandma? You can tell me."
"I made a bargain," she said slowly, like it was difficult for her to say the words. "I made a bargain with a demon, Caroline. And in return to being able to birth a child, I'd owe him a favour. And he's come to collect."
Caroline shuddered. Even with her limited knowledge of the supernatural world, she was well aware that owing a demon a favour was never a good deal… They were wicked, sordid creatures who delighted in other people's pain and misery. And her grandmother was indebted to one of them.
"I- Grandma, what can I do to help?" she asked. She couldn't take seeing her grandmother looking so defeated… She'd always seemed strong and wise. Now she just looked tired.
The older woman gave her a sad smile, "That is precisely the issue, Caroline. He's asking me to make you assist him on some task."
Caroline froze. Her? The demon wanted her help? She couldn't possibly offer him anything. Demons were stronger than any other magical creatures. Her powers should mean nothing to him.
"Me?" she shook her head, "I don't understand. Why would he want my help?"
Her grandmother shook her head, "I don't know, Caroline. But listen to me: demons are smart and cunning and dangerous. If you… If you accept to do this for me, you will have to be careful."'
"Of course I will do this for you!" she said, feeling offended that her grandmother could imply that she wouldn't help.
Cecilia smiled again, but this time there was nothing sad about it. She seemed relieved and thankful and proud, but she still said, "I wouldn't blame you if you refused to do it. You don't even know what he'll ask of you yet."
Caroline felt a spark of fear in her stomach. To help a demon on "some task" was pretty vague after all, and things could end up really bad for her. But this was her grandmother. The one who assured her she wasn't a freak, who calmed her down and taught her everything she knew… There was no way in hell she'd let her face the consequences of not completing her end of the bargain.
"I will help," she repeated again firmly.
Then suddenly, she could swear that she saw shadows moving strangely at the corner of the room, the entire house becoming darker for a moment, lights flickering as the hair at the back of her neck rose. A man stepped out of the shadows, the faint smell of sulphur spreading through the air.
He was extremely handsome – curly dirty blond hair, stubble covering his jaw, the bluest eyes she'd ever seen and a sinful smile on his lips. She couldn't help her eyes from wandering and admiring his lean, though muscled, body, how his dark clothes clung so deliciously to him.
Her siren most definitely enjoyed the view.
The demon had his eyes trained on her as well, appreciatively looking her up and down, dimples cutting onto his cheeks as his smile grew larger.
"I am very glad to hear that, love," he said, his voice low and full of satisfaction.
Dangerous, she had to remind herself, this man is dangerous.
She stood up, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under the piercing gaze of the demon. "What is it that you want from me?" she asked, making sure her voice came out cold, even with her magic heating up her blood.
He smirked at her words, taking a few lazy steps towards her. Calm and controlled… He was making sure she knew who was the predator in the room. The rational part of her knew she should be scared, but her siren disagreed: she wanted to play with him.
The demon only stopped when he was standing right in front of her. She could sense his power even if he wasn't touching her, could feel it humming against her skin, calling to her monster to come to the surface.
"I want so many things from you, Caroline." He reached out to tuck a curl behind her ear. The gesture was too intimate and his fingertips brushed against her cheek unexpectedly, making her gasp. The way he said her name didn't help either.
Terrified. She should be terrified of what his words were implying, of what his gaze seemed to say. But instead she was aroused – one of the perks and downsides of being a siren was the sexual appetite, after all.
She shook her head as he retreated his hand, trying to clear her mind. Her grandmother was in the room, damn it.
"Be specific," Caroline demanded, crossing her arms in front of her body even as she felt a pressure on her lower belly.
"Caroline," Cecilia reprehended quietly. A warning: be careful.
But the demon did not seem to mind, his eyes sparking with mischief. "So demanding… Very well, sweetheart. I will need you to break a few spells for me… Perhaps use your abilities to convince some people to do certain things…" his voice suggested that these "certain things" included violence, torture and death, but she decided to ignore that for the moment.
"I can't break spells," she said, frowning.
"You can absorb the energy from spells, which nullifies them or at the very least weakens them, no?" he countered. "That is what you'll need to do."
That seemed too easy.
She would enchant a few people and absorb some energy – he was basically offering her siren a feast. There had to be a catch.
"And… How many times will I have to do that for you?"
The demon seemed to be particularly delighted by that question, taking his eyes from her for the first time to look at her grandmother. "You didn't tell her," he said smiling.
"Tell me what?" she asked, panic rising within her.
"Starting tomorrow, you'll owe me a year of service."
A year.
She shook her head. She couldn't back off, not when it would mean that her grandmother had to suffer a horrible death, but a year was a long time to be bind to a demon.
Cecilia stood up, taking her hand. "You will keep your life," she assured her. "You'll keep going to school and doing whatever you want. He'll just… He will have the right to request your assistance whenever he has the need for it."
Caroline could tell how sorry her grandmother was, could see the regret in her eyes. But she truly wanted to help. Her grandma had come and helped her deal with her powers even when she didn't know her, didn't owe her anything… She wanted to repay that somehow.
"Fine," she sighed, looking at the demon. "But if this thing messes up with my GPA, you're going to seriously regret it."
His smile was feline as he said, "We will have so much fun, little siren."
After the demon disappeared, her grandmother pulled her into her arms and apologized and thanked her over and over until Caroline told her to stop.
"I want to help you," she said. "You don't need to thank for me it."
The older woman shook her head, "I'll give you an advice, then: be careful, child. He may seem charming, but he's not a good man - he is not a man at all, Caroline. Don't forget that. And most importantly, don't let your siren forget that. They are… volatile around creatures of power, but you must always stay sharp around him. Don't give in to your impulses."
It was awkward to have with her grandmother basically telling her not to have sex with the demon, but she nodded anyway.
Cecilia sighed, "I wouldn't have pulled you into this if he had threatened only me… But demons are known for their cruelty and I couldn't bear him harming you or your mother."
"It's ok, grandma. I promise."
"You are very brave, sweet child. I have no doubt you can take care of yourself, but be careful… I must go now, before your mother gets home. Call me if you need me, will you?"
She nodded, "Yes, grandma."
A few minutes later, she was all alone, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was now to service a demon. For a year.
He had said what he expected of her, but that wasn't necessarily all, was it? He could change his mind and make her do other things if he so wished. For all she knew, he'd been lying to her and her grandmother and he would ask horrible things of her.
Caroline really wished that she could've had more time to prepare for it… To prepare her siren for it.
She could feel it even now the effect he'd had on her monster, how close she'd come to spreading her wings, her eyes glowing yellow… But worst, how close she'd come to feeding from him.
Her siren wanted to devour him.
Caroline usually had a great control over her beast, always feeding it nicely so that it wouldn't feel tempted to steal anyone's vital energy. But today she'd been fed and she still wanted more, still wanted him.
"I think we are in trouble," she muttered to herself.
"Wake up, sweetheart," someone kept saying, shaking her shoulder.
"Five minutes," she mumbled, burying her head in her pillow. The person who was trying to wake her up laughed. She felt irritated at that, pushing the hand that was still on her shoulder away, her mind still too hazy to figure out something was wrong.
But then her blanket started to slip away from her, no matter how hard she tried to grab them. "Seriously?!" Caroline complained, lifting her head from her pillow, "Okay, fine. I'll wake-"
She stopped talking when she saw the shape of a man sitting on her bed… On instinct, she had him pressed against the wall before he had the chance to say a word, her eyes glowing menacingly.
The man laughed once more, the hair of her arms stood at the sound. "You are a fierce thing, aren't you?"
The voice, the accent…
She looked at the alarm clock on her bedside table.
"Are you serious right now? It's 4am!" Caroline complained, still not releasing her hold on him, her eyes still glowing in annoyance.
She still couldn't make out his face in the dark, but she was certain that he was smirking at her. "Which means that you've been in my services for four hours already. Besides, love, it's 9am in London."
The lights of her room suddenly turned on, no doubt courtesy of his magic, and she was left momentarily blind. "What does that have to do with anything?" she asked annoyed, knowing very well that she didn't look at all threatening when she kept blinking to adjust her vision, her eyes still burning.
The demon carefully removed her hands from his shoulders, but made no move to walk past her. "I need you to nullify a spell for me over there," he clarified.
Her vision finally focused and she could see his blue eyes staring into hers. He seemed completely serious about taking her to London, but all she could say was, "I have school."
That made him grin. "Then we have no time to lose."
Before she could ask what he meant, he grabbed her by the arm. Then everything became extremely dark for a few long moments, before light slowly returned. When she looked around, she realized she was no longer in her bedroom.
"Holy shit."
They were on top of a building, thin rain falling on them. She could see the London Eye from where she stood.
"I take it you've never been."
Caroline shook her head, turning to look at him. "Why did you just… You should've at least let me change!"
The demon looked at her, appreciatively taking in her tank top and cotton shorts that were slowly getting soaked by the rain. Her siren enjoyed his darkened gaze... She was begging to play with this man. Caroline wouldn't let that happen.
"I rather like you like this," he said, smirking. "Besides, you were the one who said you had school, sweetheart. I assumed you wanted me to take you back before your class starts."
"Fine. What do you want me to do?"
He looked at her as if to say that there many indecent thoughts in his mind about what he wanted her to do – she felt her body heat up despite the cold.
"I told you. I need you to nullify a spell for me. Come," he said, jerking his head to indicate that she should follow him as he led her inside.
"Couldn't you have brought us inside?" she complained.
He only gave her a sly smile that indicated that yes, he could have.
Caroline sighed as she walked with him inside, rubbing her arms to try and rid herself of the cold, doing her best to ignore how messed her hair probably was.
They seemed to be in a hotel, the corridors filled with numbered doors, though he didn't pay attention to any of them, walking purposefully towards a dead end. He stopped when they reached the blank wall, resting his hand on it and closing his eyes before smiling.
"What are you-"
"Here, feel it," he said, grabbing her wrist to place her hand over the wall. She ignored the sparks she felt on her skin where he touched her and focused on the power she felt beneath her palm. She could sense the magic there. "Drain it," he ordered.
Caroline rolled her eyes, not at all surprised by his lack of manners. "Let go of me, then," she requested, knowing that it was most likely not a good idea to feed her siren while he was touching her, knowing very well what source of food her monster would prefer.
The demon let go of her wrist and took a step back, his eyes trained on her as she closed hers, allowing her hunger to surface as she focused on the power on that wall, as it began to transfer to her.
She gasped as magic began to run through her veins, electrify her body. She loved how it felt when she fed, how powerful and extraordinary she knew she became when her monster came to play.
Her siren took everything she could from the spell on that wall, revelling herself on the nice meal, since she was used to small snacks from enchanted objects every now and then. It'd been awhile since she'd had been properly fed.
When there was no more magic to suck, Caroline took a step back and opened her eyes, knowing that her irises were golden and feeling how her wings were just beneath her skin, begging to come out. She ignored that.
The demon was standing too close to her again, admiring her unashamedly, though his focus changed to the wall in front of them – now no longer a wall, but a door like all the others in the corridor.
"Good job, sweetheart," he said, moving past her to use his own powers to blast the door open, but not before his praise made her feel warm and she had to bite her tongue to stop what would no doubt be a lewd comment coming out from her mouth.
She didn't usually have much of a filter when her siren was in control and her monster did enjoy playing, testing to see what would get a person to fall victim of her charms.
He walked in first and she followed him cautiously, keeping her magic at surface in case she needed it. The room was like a regular cheap hotel room, nothing especial about it. Except for the golden box lying on top of the bed. Caroline could feel the power in it from where she stood.
"What's that?" she asked curiously, taking a step towards it. The demon grabbed her by the arm to stop her. Her eyes flashed yellow at the contact.
"Nothing you should concern yourself with," he said as he left her side to go to it, taking it into his hands. She waited anxiously for him to open it, but it simply disappeared.
Caroline looked at him, waiting for some sort of explanation, but he didn't comment. "Are you seriously not going to tell me what's going on?"
He raised his brows at her, "Why should I?"
"Because I'd like to know what exactly I'm helping you do! You can't expect me to be ok with you waking me up at 4am and dragging me to other side of the world to find you a door so you can get to a mysterious box and then give me no explanation whatsoever."
"Of course I can. We have a deal," he reminded her. "Now, I supposed I said I'd get you back to your house in time for school."
She just stared at him. She hated not knowing what was happening, hated being left out and kept on the dark… If she was going to work for a demon then she'd need as much information about what was going on as possible. They were dangerous and she was determined to be alive by the time her year of service was through.
So she did what she rarely allowed herself to even consider – she let her siren come fully to surface.
Her skin had a faint glow to it, her irises were golden and wings were peeking over her back. And when she spoke, her voice was pure magic, "Let's start easy. What is your name?"
She knew that names carried power – especially when it came to a demon — and she felt it was unfair that he knew hers, but she didn't know his. Perhaps it was wrong of her to compel it out of him, but she couldn't really feel sorry about it.
The demon took a few steps towards her. It was normal for people to be entranced by her when she had her powers on display, so she thought nothing about it until he was too close and she saw that his eyes weren't glazed with desire. He had her pressed against the wall before she could say a word.
"You dare use your powers against me?" he asked, pinning her arms above her head as she tried to accommodate her wings the best she could with the little space she was being offered. "Your magic does not work on me, siren."
Her monster could only focus on how good it felt to have him this close, how wonderful the hard lines of his body felt against her, how amazing he smelled. It was always hard to tuck her in after she'd been allowed to come out.
"I just wanted to know what name to moan," she said sweetly. Her eyes were promising all sorts of sins even as she offered him an innocent smile.
He groaned at that and leaned down just an inch, brushing his lips against hers in a punishing kiss that she eagerly accepted.
Caroline forget all of her worries and restrictions as his tongue explored the back of her teeth, as his hands let go of her arms only to grab the back of her thighs, helping her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
So maybe he wasn't completely unaffected by her, she thought with wicked delight. Good.
But then his mouth ventured south and his teeth teased a sensitive patch of skin on her neck… Suddenly she lost control. Her siren wanted him, wanted to devour him.
Her hands grabbed his biceps tight, nails digging into his skin. Her golden irises shone brighter… Her brain focused solely on the dark aura around him, her monster began to channel it.
The demon pulled back when he realized what she was doing, but she was in too deep, completely immersed in the sensation of feeding from him, on how delicious he felt running through her veins, to even care. But if she had been able to pay attention to his reaction, she would've noticed that he hadn't been angered or eager to push her away. Instead, he'd smiled.
"That's it, sweetheart. Have at it," he whispered, his nose brushing against her earlobe. He went back to kissing her neck, enjoying how he could feel her quickened pulse beneath his lips, his tongue.
Her breasts were pressed against his chest, her wet tank top making the thin barrier feel nearly non-existent. Caroline was becoming more and more aware of her stiffened nipples brushing against his Henley, of how she was grinding her core against him, her cotton shorts soaked not only from the rain.
As her beast was fed, it began to crave the satisfaction of its other urges and she had a feeling the demon would be able to give her everything she needed.
It was by sheer luck that a rational thought cross her mind and she managed to hold onto it. She pulled back.
"Oh, my God," Caroline said, shocked. "I'm sorry."
He pulled back too, his eyes as golden as hers. "What could you possibly be sorry for?" he asked.
"I fed from you," she blurted out.
It was intimate, feeding from another person. And it was dangerous. If a siren took more than her partner could give, things could end up badly. But if they managed to control themselves… It was quite literally magical.
Caroline felt it now, the buzzing all over her skin, the heat that ran through her every cell. She was trying desperately to fight down the effects it was having on her, mortified that she had fed on him without even meaning to.
The demon, however, only smirked. "It was divine," he said in a low tone. "You can have more if you want to, sweet Caroline."
She shook her head, trying to focus to keep her siren under control. "No. I should've never… This will never happen again," she affirmed, pushing him away. Even as her body screamed for more.
He gently put her on the ground, looking at her with curiosity as her eyes returned to their normal colour and her wings disappeared, though he stepped back to give her some space, however small. "You have an excellent control," he said. "Most sirens would have jumped at the chance to feed from me, would have wanted me to fuck them afterwards."
Caroline scoffed at his arrogance, crossing her arms in front of her body. "Maybe you're simply not as appealing as you think you are."
The demon smirked at her, delight clear in his eyes. "We'll see."
Without any warning, he pulled her flush against him, holding her hips tight. In the blink of an eye they were back in her room in Mystic Falls.
Caroline groaned, pushing him away again even as she felt a little dizzy. "A little warning next time?"
He shrugged, but was looking at her intently. She could almost see the gears turning behind his eyes. His face gave nothing away and she began to feel a little out of her game… She couldn't control him, couldn't predict his next move. She didn't understand what he wanted from her. And Caroline hated not knowing things. Almost as much as she hated losing control the way she had today.
He was powerful and he was dangerous and the fact that she'd have to spend a year in his service meant she was so screwed.
She kept looking at him, waiting to see what he was going to do, worried that he would kiss her again, because she wasn't sure she'd be able to bring herself to stop a second time.
Instead, he decided to surprise her.
"Klaus," he breathed. "That's the name you should moan when you touch yourself today, my sweet siren," the demon said cheekily.
He disappeared before she could come up with a clever response.
Please let me know what you think! Did you like their interactions? Do you have any favorite moments or lines? Is nullifying spells really everything Klaus will ask of her? I can't wait to hear your thoughts!