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After being an immortal for centuries, Klaus was used to things changing and plans not working out, but he wasn't prepared to meet her. Caroline. The one person who managed to intrigue him when nothing and no one else had for the last thousand years. She wasn't the usual sort of girl he went for, preferring girls who were as manipulative as he was, but something about her soft blue eyes and fierce loyalty made him want to protect her.
He was just about to enter the school when he heard rustling and Caroline screamed. "This is like inhaling razor blades", Alaric said in a cruel tone. Klaus heard her flesh sizzle, smelled the vervain, and his fangs extended murderously. He burned to tear Alaric to pieces. He knew the touch of vervain was agonizing to vampires, having used it as a method of torture when an immortal was being stubborn about giving him information, but the idea of Caroline being hurt that way nearly made his control snap.
He had planned to go after that bastard, Alaric, with a cool head and the same savage ruthlessness he had used to hunt his enemies for as long as he could remember, but when Caroline was involved he wasn't capable of being rational. And worse, Alaric knew it, or he wouldn't have bothered with Caroline. She had become a weakness his enemy could exploit. Why can't I put her from my mind, he wondered, frustrated by her hold on him. He couldn't become involved with her. He knew that relationships didn't last, certainly not love. In every single marriage or relationship he had ever observed, one always betrayed the other or died before they could. His family was a prime example. His parents had once loved each other so deeply that everyone had believed that nothing could tear them apart, but one betrayal ruined everything they had. Love simply never lasted.
A sudden blur of movement rushed past him, and he yanked Caroline against him. Her eyes were wide and terrified, and he felt his chest tighten in response. She screamed as he grabbed her. "Shh, it's me, it's me,'' he whispered soothingly. "You're safe. We'll save Elena. Go straight home, lock your doors and stay inside," he ordered. She didn't say a word, still in shock, so he twisted her around to face him. "Do you understand?" She nodded, staring at him as if she couldn't believe what had happened, and he let her go. He realized two things after she was gone. One, if it had been anyone else, he would have kept them there as potential bait to trap his prey or as extra muscle; two, she had come to mean more to him than a passing amusement. He remembered the single piece of useful advice his father, Mikael, had given to him centuries ago. "In a single moment things can change beyond our control, he had said, "and we are left spinning. The key is to bounce back before anyone takes advantage of your weakness." Klaus could no longer control his feelings for Caroline, but needed to distance himself before anyone else figured that out. She was strong, yes, but not as strong as him or his family, and would always be vulnerable. She was his first true liability in a thousand years, and that scared him more than anything.