Caroline was walking down a dark hallway filled with what looked like medieval horror paintings some looked like burnings and tortures of the inquisition also maiming, killings, and beheadings of the french revolution there were so many historical archetypes of paintings and there was one noticeable connection that she found in each one of them and that was Klaus either he was in the for front or center of the masterpiece or he was the behind the scenes planning the raid, He truly was the monster that made nightmares;the one that sent chills up the spine, that made the hair stand on the back of your head.
As caroline passed each Painting they seemed to change some what as she studied one and passed to the next, out of the corner of her eyes she noticed that they changed slightly a little less gore, little less blood shed, and quite a few less victims she wondered what had happened to make it change? what was happening now that wasn't happening then? Caroline walked further down the hall she saw a sliver of light that seemed to dispel some of the darkness and caroline followed the light as she got closer and closer the light got just a bit bigger the pictures seemed to follow that theme; when she started at the beginning of the hall it had been as black as night only the illumination of the paintings were there to give her any sense of depth to the place she was in, but now she could have a greater idea of the space she was in and the length of the hall in the beginning it seemed to be endless dark but now she could see the length of the room its dimensions the hall was still long and narrow barley enough to have three people standing side by side each other but at least she saw an ending to it.
Caroline suddenly felt her self being tugged backwards from the dream like she always did as she was studying a landscape a picturesque sunset full of orange and pink colors and hill that seemed to just meet the horizon covered in wild sunflowers and in the distance it looked to be two people standing under a willow embracing in an intimate way she had wondered to her self if they were secret lovers at a planed meeting or if they were there on purpose to share in the beauty of the setting sun, Caroline was a hopeless romantic at heart, and in her heart she hoped that the couple under the willow didn't have to sneak around that they were free to love each other uninhibited but may be she was projecting her own desires onto the painted couple since she was holding her own feelings toward a certain person the she has secretly desired at arms length and not letting the outside look at her innermost feeling for him, Klaus... and just like always when she admitted those particular feelings she was being pulled away from the gallery of displayed life and emotional experiences and yes they were emotional experiences because you can't look at any kind of art and not have an emotional response, and then with a last glace she awoke and was in her room at home alone in her upstairs bed. this had been going on for weeks since after Klaus had broke the curse that his his wolf side from him, always the same never changing she could never quit get to the end where the light would be able to just shine all around her, she chuckled at the metaphor that even though she was within the reach of being surrounded by the light she was still standing in the darkness and with caroline being a good person strong,beautiful and full of light at least that is how Klaus had described her, how ironic that she was a Vampire and by nature and design to be also stuck in the proverbial shadows of death and also the lust for blood, being aware and capable of doing horrible things if she were to give into her most basic needs and at times she was loathed to admit it, even her most basic desire to feed on the blood of man.
Caroline sighed contemplatively, got up out of bed and walked to her window she looked out at the sky, it was a beautiful day the sun was shining, the sky was a bright cheery blue, it was the kind of day that put an extra bounce in her step Caroline was always happy but today was going to be especially bright and lovely, she walked to her bathroom showered and ran the blow dryer through her hair and fixing up her naturally curly hair so she wouldn't be bothered with the frizz that comes with it, next she went to her closet and picked out a cute sun dress and some wedged shoes, fixed her make up which she decided to go with a natural look peach lip gloss and a lite rose color on her cheeks, she then headed down stairs to grab some toast and orange juice grabbed her bag by the door and headed out to start her day and meet her friends at the grill just as she got to her car her phone singled to indicate her received text message she took out her phone and looked at it
Elena "Care can you meet us at the guys place so we can discuss the plan we have for the originals?"
Caroline " sure I guess I will see you in thirty mins"
Elena " sounds good, thanks care I know you are against this but I think this is going to work this time"
Caroline" I am sure you thinks so but like I have said before now that Klaus is a hybrid I think its smarter to just let him be..."
Elena " I know you think that but if we don't do anything we are giving him free rein on our lives and I certainly to want to pander to him all my life especially since i am the one that he needs to make his hybrids and he doesn't care about anything else besides that !"
Caroline let out a sigh she knew that Elena was the key to the army klaus wanted, she also couldn't shake the feeling that by giving him a little of her attention that he hadn't been solely focused on building the army like he said that he was going to do, she had noticed that he would soften himself a bit especially around her and stefan knew him in the Twenties and he had said that he could be kind and caring when he deemed someone worthy of it and he had done so many things for caroline to show his humanity even though he had tyler through the sire bond bite caroline threatening her life but he had also shown compassion when he didn't have to he hardly knew caroline and he knew that her affections certainly were not turned toward him he had come to her house o her eighteenth birthday and offered her the choice of being healed or to die if she thought her life was nothing more than small town life if she thought she couldn't escape the world she was forced to live in, he had told her that there was art, music and genuine beauty and that the world was big and vast that she being a Vampire that the time to discover it and seek out that beauty and adventure to the very corners of the earth, he had known her friends thought that he was attentive toward her for nefarious reasons but Caroline brought something out from deep inside him that was light and replaced the heaviness that he had lived with since even before his parents turned him and his siblings into vampires a sense of attraction, wonder and even a bit of the unknown Klaus had prided him self on always knowing his enemies and their weaknesses but caroline even though she had been the distraction many a times for her friends to try and enact a plan to get rid of him he had know caroline's motives she wanted him to go away and leave tyler and her alone but she had never truly desired his demise so he knew she had more love and compassion for even those who were all together irredeemable. he had in his own way given Caroline compassion by giving tyler the option to run for his life even though it meant leaving her instead of exacting his revenge and then again letting him come home she recognized that she had asked a lot from him knowing that he wasn't usually one to give so much even to a newbie vampire surly wouldn't have given her enough merit to have him give his grace to even such as her but he did he felt a compassion and a kindness even to say so much as affection for her she was timeless ageless and full of strength and light, all of these thoughts ran through her mind and her humanity had won out in the tug of war between helping her friends rid themselves of the hybrid vampire and showing the same compassion he had shown her and not kill him she knew that her friends were going to be angry she could almost feel the disappointment that would roll off Elena in waves and could see the disgust that would coat damon and Bonnie's face she knew that they wouldn't understand why she wanted to leave him be and go about living their lives she had always believed that the fire would die out if you didn't add fuel to it and that's what her friends were doing was adding fuel to a thousand year old burning fire and she thought it was about time to put an end to it.
Caroline had just drove up the drive to the Salvatore boarding house and she wished she could just turn around and drive away not wanting to face the disappointment and disgust that would surely awaited her inside but she pulled down her vanity mirror on her visor wiped her lip gloss and checked her eye make up taking a minute to brace her self and set her determination to have her friends see things her way she was caroline Forbes and she was not going to back down from what she knew would keep her friends safe and alive even if they hated her for it she was determined to get everyone though this alive. she got out of the car and walked up to the door and used the knocker everyone usually just walked in knowing that the Salvatore's didn't get visitors that were unknown to them there was an open door policy but caroline thought of herself as a southern bell with training, culture, and most of all manners so she didn't just let herself into their house as she waited she tried to organize her thoughts for her " lets leave him alone already" argument when the door swung open to damon standing on the other side of the thresh hold of the door
"I always know it's you barbie you have to be the most polite Vampire in the world to knock on the door of a house of vampires, but I guess you have to be careful because you never know what kind of mood I am going to be in today may be the day I decide its too much trouble to keep you out of trouble and just end you."
damon smirked, Caroline rolled her eyes knowing that his statement was at least partly true he had only ever tolerated her more so at the times when he thought she was useful and less so when he and stefan had to rescue her or prevent her from dyeing which for her has been more often then she thought it should have been other then Elena, she was the one that had been caught and tortured and almost killed. she walked past him to the sitting room where she saw her friends gathered Bonnie, Elena and Jeremy one one of the couches and across from them was tyler and Matt while stefan was standing in front of the fire place with his back towards them all arms crossed over his chest she could feel the tension in the room like it was thick enough to part with a knife nobody looked up when she entered the room which was friends speak for Caroline we want you to risk your life again to distract Klaus so we can kill him. Caroline mustered all the confidence she had and walked down the steps to face her friends.
"So what idiotic plan have you guys concocted to get me potentially killed now?"
she said in a derisive tone, Elena was the first to look at her with her wide walnut brown eyes her expression incredulous
" is that what you think we do caroline use your life for our own gain?"
Elena questioned, Caroline could answer in one of two ways (1) Now of course not, Elena! I know our plans just tend to end badly. or (2) yes Elena, instead of trying to just leave him alone and living our lives as normally as we can we just keep doing things that get me or anybody else hurt.
she chose to go with number (2) knowing that she was asking for a fight but as far as she was concerned she was done with the plans that called for her to be a distraction, that called for her to give up her moral compass, and to hate klaus more than she loved herself or her friends; just as she told tyler when he went after klaus she wanted tyler to love her more the he wanted revenge on klaus, but it didn't happen that is when her resolve was pushed, she would no longer hate him so much that it consumed her, as a vampire she knew that her emotions and the emotions of her friends would be heightened but hers were heightened with compassion. damon was in front of her in the blink of an eye and had backed her up against the wall with his hand tightly grasped around her throat snarling at her
"your life means nothing Caroline and we will use it how we see fit for and in the destruction that is the hybrid Klaus Michelson"
Damon bore his vampire eyes and fangs at her. she cringed at him turning her head away from him she was suddenly released from his grip by stefan as he pulled his brother off of her
"leave her alone damon she's right she is always the one to get hurt when we use her in our plan, she is the smartest one out of all of us, if we haven't learned by now that all of our plans to thwart Klaus have been epic failures then there isn't really a point to them, and I am not going to let you risk her life any more for a vengeance that we can't get."
Stefan pulled caroline along with him toward the chairs in front of the fire so she can recover her composure damon looked at stefan a hardened expression on his face
" and what happens when klaus comes to take Elena and wants to juice box her blood what do you suppose we do then huh?"
Damon demanded stefan looked caroline assessing her emotions she looked determined and angry she stood up abruptly and cooled her tone
" that's my exact point damon if we continue to go after him he is going to feel the need to create more of a barrier between himself and anybody else that thinks they can go up against him and that means he is definitely going to be coming back for Elena, now damon we can continue to expand our world on never ending vampire problems or we can take the high road and give him a reason to not come after Elena and possibly get her and everyone else killed along the way."
Caroline walked over to Elena and stood in front of her and spoke comfortingly to her,
"I know that its a horrible thing that Jenna Died and so much has been taken from you but I think that its better for us to live and let go instead of trading an eternity of living the rest of our lives for the ultimate out come of more tragedy and I know you don't want anyone to get hurt or to suffer but that will be the outcome if we don't stop trying to get rid of him and his family even they love him and loath him with equal measure at times he is their brother and they will always be on his side."
with that caroline walked out of the seating room with all of their eyes on her some confused and some determined to still fight, but stefan he looked at her with Awe and admiration because even he at one time couldn't let go the sins Klaus piled on himself with Stefan's name on them Klaus had taken a lot from Stefan too his humanity, his relationship with Elena, and his sum what tenuous relationship with damon but it was caroline that was always looking for the redeeming quality in everyone even Damon after every thing that he had done to her the compulsion the abuse to her mind and her body and nobody had said anything about it to her she just went on her merry way happy as she always was looking for the light in the sea of dark and he least of all people couldn't fault her for seeing the good in Klaus because she had seen the good in him after his ripper stage when Klaus had released him from his compulsion. Caroline walked back to her car just as she slipped the door key into the lock she heard her name being called
"hey Caroline wait up a second"
she turned to see stefan walking towards her she and chided herself for not vamping out to her car instead of taking the normal human pace she wasn't in the mood to be talked into complying with their plan and she knew that stefan was the one friend that could do it could convince her to be the bait or what ever they needed her to do, he was just so darn sincere in his convictions and he had been such a good friend to her that she would almost always succumb with his requests she didn't have the heart to turn him down when he had been hurt not only by Damon but Elena also.
"please don't ask me to change my mind stefan I really believe that I am right here ,that if we show him no harm he won't bother Elena to create more hybrids"
Caroline gave him a long suffering glance and she noticed the look on Stefan's face it was kind and gentle not condemning as she might have thought he would have been she knew that he might of been one along with Elena that should exact revenge on Klaus
" I wasn't going to Caroline I actually agree with you this time, the plan I had to get rid of Klaus didn't exactly end well It took threatening turning Elena into a Vampire for him to comply with any of my demands, and if I hadn't of done that he wouldn't have bothered us you were right he only acts upon us because we act upon him first we need to live and let live and I am with you on this ok."
Caroline looked at stefan with a mixture of surprise and gratitude that she wasn't just dismissing her opinion like Damon and Elena and the rest of her friends she felt gratitude that someone was on her side and thought what she had said was worth doing she leaped into his arms wrapping him up in a hug and kissed him on the cheek
"thank you stefan this means so much that you aren't just writing me off as the blond distraction that I have valid points that could save us a lot of grief you don't know how much this means to me."
Caroline let go of him and backed up looking at him with more glee then she previously ever had it made her happy that he was looking at her as the intelligent full of strength young woman that she had been previously described as by that certain Hybrid and stefan blushed a little bit it had been along time since anyone had seen him as more than the loner,brooding, ripper vampire someone trusted him and he was extremely grateful that it was caroline he knew that he needed to do a lot to over come the sins he had piled on her in his name like not stopping Damon from using his compulsion on her for Katherine for killing her because of Elena and him. but he was determined to be the best of friends to her because the ones she had right now weren't exactly filling the position.
"so what are you going to do now, how do we let Klaus know that the two of us aren't going to be going against him?"
"well I thought that I would find him and simply tell him that there is a plan being concocted and that we are not playing any part of it. and if he doesn't believe us we can simply offer to be under his constant watch so he is assured of our non-involvement or we can do what ever measures he suggests so he is comfortable to know that we are not going against him what do you think?"
stefan contemplated for a bit and couldn't think of any other solution it should be them to submit to what klaus would think appropriate since that have made the first of many first moves with him and he would be fair he thought at least where caroline was concerned he wouldn't harm her he was sure of that but Stefan wasn't going to let her walk into the hybrid den alone that was for sure.
" ok so how do you want to do this and when?"
" I think the sooner the better but I want to give my mom the heads up just in case our friends don't heed my advice so she can be prepared for any repercussions and I desperately want her to be aware so she isn't one of those repercussions I don't think he'll hurt her if I make it clear that I am not involved this time so I am going to run my errands and meet my mom for lunch and after that I am going to find Klaus ok."
Stefan considered her idea and nodded his agreement then he asked her to text him when she was ready to go see Klaus because he was going with her to make it known that he wasn't going to be involved either, she agreed to that and told him she would contact him later and got in her car and went on her way. she stopped at the grill and placed the reservation for her and her mom for lunch and walked to a bunch of different stores buying a bunch of different things she needed and when walked past the mystic antiques and jewelry shop and stopped to look in the window admiring the items when she felt the vessels in her brain start to pop uncontrollably the pain was agonizing and she didn't see anybody around to be doing the spell she was losing consciousness and she fell to the ground in darkness.
Stefan looked at his phone it was 1:45 P.M. and he knew that caroline and her mother tended to take longer lunch hours when they got together that was now the normal with them, once Sheriff forbes had learned that her daughter wasn't a mass blood sucking murderer and that she was Basically the same caroline she always had been except she was stronger and had a lot more self confidence she exuded her own personal strength becoming a vampire had allowed Caroline to embrace the person she was inside letting go of all the natural human qualities except the ones that matter most, her patience, long suffering and her kindness she was the Vampire out of every one that held onto the good qualities of being a Vampire more than anyone he had ever known in his one hundred and fourtyfive years of living a supernatural life, even Lexi hadn't been as controlled as Caroline was he loved every thing that Lexi was as a person, a friend and as someone that had brought him back over from the edge more times then he could admit to freely, but for caroline she had been his unwavering anchor when he thought that he could do nothing else when Elena broke up with him and he wanted to tear into the first mortal he could see it was caroline that became his sober sponsor, amidst every thing that she had been going through at the time with tyler leaving and Elena being sired she was the one that kept him from going back to the unfeeling ripper part of his self; and he wanted nothing more that to prove him self the best friend a girl like her could have he hadn't always succeeded but that was another thing about Caroline if she saw you at least trying to be the person she needed you to be she could forgive the slip ups and the in descressions all she wanted was to for you to choose her before all the other unimportant things that tend to make Vampires go nuts for revenge whether it be, choosing her first as a friend, a lover, a sidekick, or as just the girl that could execute a plan for everyone's safety all around instead of letting one side win she was always about getting the best results of a situation instead of a one sided Victory. Stefan stayed at the Boarding house after Caroline left to mitigate the damage that had been left after Caroline's exit and announcement that she would not be participating to a plan that left everybody and anybody Vulnerable to destruction
" I don't understand her she would rather see Klaus live and be apart of this town expose me to a life time of blood donations then get rid of the root of all our problems she is suppose to be my friends loyal to us and she wants to play both sides!" Elena said angrily she stood pacing the length of the seating room everyone had remained in
Damon stopped her and began rubbing his hands up and down her arms trying to calm her and focus her at the same time Elena tended to get overly emotional and irrational when she was upset and that is the last thing that anybody needed because she tended not to see the big picture and somebody eventually got hurt.
"Elena don't worry Klaus is not going to come anywhere near you I won't allow it I will get blondie on bored with the plan or at the very least I will make sure that she won't screw it up."
Damon's said pointedly and scanned the room and met every ones eyes making sure that he wasn't gong to be argued with, Matt and Tyler didn't say anything they had both dated Caroline and although they didn't agree with her at this particular moment they also didn't want Caroline to get hurt form either Damon or Klaus so they would comply with Damon's plan to at least keep her out of the way and safe so their plan to get rid of Klaus permanently would succeed; they knew from experience that they couldn't kill him because he was sire to them all and if he died they would all die so they had planned to use caroline to lure him to an out of town, out of the way area and use the tomb spell to keep the original locked away and bind the spell with a Bennett generational ancestral spell if some one were wanting to release him from the tomb it would be very difficult because Bonnie was the only Bennett left in the greater virginia area, the ancestral spell is used to conjure two dead Bennett witches into existence for a short time to link with bonnie so they could conjure the spell and bonnie had already done that part she wanted to be prepared so with out telling any one she went to the old witches place where she was most connected to the spirits of her ancestors and she was able to conjure her grams and Emily Bennett into existence and they had explained to her that once the Vampire entrapment spell was enacted that it couldn't be undone unless either bonnie died or that the burial spot of grams and Emily were desecrated . No Vampire that entered the place would be able to get out, it had turned out that it was a very powerful spell and because it was there would have to be a great sacrifice to end it and bonnie was sure that she was never going to have to make that sacrifice at least never for the likes of Klaus Michelson so Grams and Emily kept themselves secret from everyone, kept themselves hidden until it was time to conjure the spell they were able to come and go from the physical plane when they desired so they were always at the ready.
"ok so we just have to decide where the place should be that we want to lock klaus in and once he is locked away I will do a spell on all of you and take the memory away so if you are asked, caught or tortured you will have no information to give and Klaus will be locked away forever."
bonnie stated plainly she looked at everyone expectantly asking them with her eyes for their suggestions of tomb places that couldn't be easily discovered everyone paused for a moment to think that's when Stefan spoke up
"so you're really just going force Caroline into a potentially dangerous situation with out any thought of her?" stefan questioned
"I am not going to let her humanity get in the way of keeping Elena safe." damon replied
r"Caroline's humanity has never put any of us in danger in fact her ability to care for everyone has kept us safe more often then not, her ability to show klaus compassion kept tyler alive yes he had to be on the run for a while but he was alive and it was for Caroline that klaus let him come back, her ability to see rationally helped me see that seeking revenge on klaus kept Elena human, her compassion is what gives you and Elena the chance at being happy together with out any guilt over the things you did to her damon; with out any apology! for that matter, and hardly any sympathy from her friends. Its been Our blind site for Elena and only Elena that has caused a lot of the grief and its been Elena's humanity that has gotten us in trouble, if I am being totally honest it got Bonnie's mom turned into a vampire it got Rebecca dagared in the back it got me to go to klaus and turn off my Humanity because I couldn't loose you damon, because I wanted to leave Elena with some one that could be with her and make her happy, don't you see it damon if we don't have Caroline as our voice of reason we end up tearing each other apart because we are blind and selfish, unnecessary death comes into play and all our plans end up going south any way and Klaus keeps winning because he uses our weaknesses and our inability to work together against us."
Stefan ended his argument looking at damon and Elena trying to see some honest recognition in their eyes he had hope to help them see that Caroline was the lynch pin in their little group she kept tyler alive, she kept matt human by helping him see that he shouldn't be involved in every supernatural fight, she kept bonnie from reverting back to her "I hate every Vampire, they are all the same." attitude and she kept Elena honest about realizing that if she could love the Darkness in Damon that she should look for the light in others that were consumed in darkness he remembered once after Klaus had bitten Caroline in anger after he was trapped in the Gilbert home, so they could look for the Cure. Klaus came to him to talk out his guilt of almost letting her die that she had told him that she knew he was in love with her and that anyone capable of love was capable of being saved, Klaus at the time was so confused by that she had been on the precipice of death and yet she had still seen through his anger to his tiny glimmer of humanity, and it caused klaus to save her, to feed her his blood and heal the girl that gave him hope for a better future. Stefan had been a recipient of that kind of hope from Caroline so he knew and could tell Klaus that she had ment every word of it because she had not given up on him but she certainly made him earn it that was another thing he admired about Caroline she was free with the gift of forgiveness but she also made you earn it but if you stumbled and fell she never left you on the ground bleeding
" get up and try again it's ok I will be right her for you"
she truly was the light in the sea of dark someone you could follow and always count on when you were at your darkest. He looked to see if he had made any kind of difference to his brother and friends plan that he had helped them see the genius of Caroline's plan to keep them all safe and yet he could see that he didn't he could see that they were still consumed by their own desire for revenge and they couldn't see her wisdom, he sighed and was getting out his phone to see if he had received a text from Caroline it was 2:20 P.M. and it was surly past time that caroline should have text him to meet her so they could to talk to klaus, and there was no message and no missed calls he started to get anxious about her where abouts he walked out of the boarding house leaving everyone behind and their complaints and arguments trailing behind him as he walked out side to the garage to his motorcycle he dialed the sheriff it rang twice and Liz answered.
"stefan, hey what can I do for you?"
"hi liz has caroline left you yet?"
liz was Silent for a minute when she came back on the line her tone was harder and more worried
"stefan I haven't seen Caroline today, we were suppose to meet at the grill for lunch but she was a no show and we lost our reservation do you know where she is?"
liz questioned stefan and his stomach fell with worry he knew Caroline was nothing if not punctual and everything was planned and orderly it was part of her neurotic control freak personality and that was something everyone could depend on so when she went off plan and out of contact it was surely a bad thing .
Caroline stirred and slowly opened her eyes her head was pulsing with the after pain of having her capillaries in her brain burst time and time again. It was dark in the room she was in, she didn't have much light to see where she could be, Caroline was tied to a chair with stakes in her hands, in her thighs, in her feet, nailing her to her seat and her neck was restrained with a spelled metal collar; she literally couldn't move an inch with out shooting pain through out her body she struggled to see if anyone was in the room with her she couldn't see anyone, Caroline was using all her other Vampire senses hearing and feeling the room to sense anyone, she could feel a presence it was a strong one that felt familiar but she couldn't place the presence
"hello who's there , I can feel you out there !"
there was no answer back no one came in Caroline was being left to stew in the mystery of where she was and who was keeping her locked away.
Hours since she first opened her eyes and tried to find out who had kidnapped her Caroline struggled every once in a while to loosen her bonds she had made some headway she was able to drag her left had up through the stake but she had only gotten a third of the way up the stake, they were extremely long stakes probably for this purpose she couldn't take one quick movement and free her hand from the it so inch by inch she drug her hand up it, she tried screaming for help, she tried reaching out to her friends through her mind, but she felt a blocked she knew that she wasn't going to be able to contact them that way, her only hope now was to wait and hopefully be found before there was nothing to find.
Caroline was drifting in and out of consciousness from blood loss and during those times she would would be back in that dream in the gallery walking along looking at the paintings they had changed since the last time; they were less bloody and the light became brighter the gallery was becoming bigger she was no longer just in the romanesque and gothic art era she was now into the the early renaissance era and in theses paintings she saw Klaus more as the ruler and leader that he had been, she saw him in grandiose portraits that included his family and his individual portraits, she saw him through the artists eye his cool demeanor, his hard eyes that showed little to know emotion, the eyes that were still a bright mysterious blue. Caroline could always see his pain behind his hardened no emotion facade, it was clear to her he was like her, all he ever wanted was to be someone that was chosen above all else, above others agendas, above others petty desires, and most of all chosen by those who were closest to him. Klaus wanted to not be turned away, and Caroline knew how that felt.
There was a sudden pain in her throat she could feel something slicing across the right side of her carotid artery the left side, so she had literally been cut from ear to ear she choked on not only the loss of air but also the blood that was going down her throat and out her esophagus and down her front she could feel the healing begin but because she hadn't consumed blood in hours she wouldn't be healing as fast as she normally would be, all she could do was listen to her self gargle helplessly; her left hand struggled a few more inches up the steak in a desperate attempt to focus on something else, the tears flowed down her cheeks and Caroline felt her determination for the first time weaken that maybe she wouldn't be able to get out of this one, like all the many other tortures she had gotten through just as the last of her cut throat healed she let out one last desperate scream for her life. "Heeeelpppppp Meeeeee."
stefan drove his motorcycle to the Michelson mansion he stoped and kicked down the kick stand and Vamped up to klauses door and used the big Iron M door knocker and waited for the door to be answered, the door swung open stefan looked at klaus and he automatically stood straighter as he looked into the hybrids questioning eyes
"Stefan Salvatore, to what do I owe the pleasure old friend?"
klaus asked a stoic expression on his face that gave nothing away,
"I need your help Klaus, Caroline and I were going to come and see you today but I haven't been able to find her and you know what happens when Caroline doesn't keep to her set schedule it usually means something has happened to her."
stefan stated and klaus looked at him curiously and stepped aside to let the younger salvatore into his home and preceded to lead stefan into the drawing room where he was more comfortable to converse with his unexpected guest.
" so stefan what makes you believe that Caroline has gone missing and why would I not think that this is one of your little gangs plans to lure me out and try again to get rid of me?"
klaus questioned as he reached for the crystal decanter that held his favorite bourbon and poured him self a glass then turned to look at stefan as he took a long swig as he waited for stefan to answer.
"there was a plan that the others were going to enact but Caroline and I had decided that we were done with trying to get rid of you, we all met this morning and were going to discuss this plan but caroline told everyone that instead of continually trying to get rid of you and risk your wrath again and besides all of our plans fail any way, she told them if we showed you compassion to let you live your life and let go then you would leave us alone. she argued that all we were doing is continuing in a dangerous cycle of planning against you and you getting revenge on the people that are closest to us, she said that if we left you alone you wouldn't need Elena's blood to make more hybrids to protect your self from us she and I were going to come here and offer our selves into your care and watch so you would know that we were serious about not being apart of the plan."
stefan explained, he looked to klaus with pleading in his eyes that klaus would believe him that he would set aside his paranoia for now and believe him that he and Caroline ment him no harm.
" well Caroline has always been the smartest out of all of you, she is the best of all of you as well, one of the many reasons I fancy her she has an integrity and a loyalty that not many of our species are capable of ."
stefan nodded in agreement "so stefan again why exactly do you think that she is missing?" Klaus asked again
"she was going to run some errands and have lunch with her mom she said that she was going to explain what was going on she didn't want her mom to be one of the repercussions that would inevitably happen if they continued to plan against you she said she would text me when she was done so we could come and talk to you but she hasn't yet and I called sheriff forbes and she said that she hasn't seen her all day and that the reservations that Caroline had made at the grill were lost because nobody showed up and you know that's just not like caroline to not keep her commitments."
klaus agreed with that statement Caroline was just as controlling and narcotic as he was and she would definitely not miss a commitment that she made definitely not one she made with her mother.
Klaus's concern for Caroline was increasing she had made him feel emotions that he had hardly been aware of even before he was human that some one liked him for just who he was, he knew that she was fighting her feelings for him she was a baby vampire whose Ideals were still so very high; but he would wait for her till she had a little more life experience to know that not everyone is going to be what she expected them to be, that some people will disappoint her not that she didn't know that already, there had been plenty of people to disappoint the beautiful young woman already in her life for one Caroline's mother at one time couldn't except that she was a vampire, her father had tried to fix her through torture, on more then one occasion tyler, the one whom she was suppose to trust above all others had left her for vengeance against klaus, and just like caroline had known Tyler's plan would ultimately fail; she was brilliant just like he was, always anticipating, seeing the big picture, and doing what was best for the betterment of everyone even if they didn't see it that way.
" alright stefan lets go find our favorite girl." Klaus said as he moved toward stefan wrapping his arm around Stefan's shoulder leading him out to the foyer.
stefan was relieved he followed klaus to the garage to get into klauses car they headed to the main street of mystic falls they walked down the street after parking the car in front of the grill they first headed to the sheriffs office to talk to liz and inform her of the situation they walked into the sheriffs office and knocked of Liz's door.
Liz opened the door to see Klaus and Stefan standing before her, she glanced at Klaus and steeled her self for an argument but she wasn't going to relent she was going to get Caroline's location she wasn't a hundred percent sure that Klaus had anything to do with her disappearance but she hasn't come to the point in their acquaintance where she felt comfortable trusting him, but he had put her daughter first a lot of the time and given her a sense that she was cared for and that was something that because of her job she wasn't able to before because she did not want her to get involved with the supernatural but she couldn't protect her from it and when she found out Caroline was a Vampire she couldn't kill her either so she was forced to live with the daughter that she loved be the thing she was taught to hate.
"Stefan Have you heard any thing from Caroline, have you found anything out."
"No I haven't I went to klaus, so he could help me find her liz and we will find her I promise you that."
he looked deeply into her eyes Liz saw sincerity there and she believed him she had always believed him he was the one that she could trust even above Damon.
" Sheriff, I want you to know that I want more than anything to find Caroline and keep her safe, she has changed me in a way that I have never known before she makes me want to be better and if I , or we were to loose her the wold would loose a bright light and I would loose myself and I find that I like the light more than the dark."
Klaus had stated his case and it had shocked liz, but then again it didn't shock her because that was one thing that caroline was good at getting the bad guy to turn sides because caroline was so good, kind, and full of compassion. she shuffled on her feet and swallowed her pride and shook her head and thanked him and stefan for trying to find Caroline.
"I went by the grill and talked to the hostess that took the reservation and asked if she saw or knew where caroline may have gone, she said that she saw caroline walking down the street with some boutique bags and fresh cut flowers then she lost site of her and her Car is still parked in front of the grill I have called a tow truck to take it home, I have asked my deputies to keep an eye out for her."
" has the tow truck come for her car yet, I want to grab something that has her fresh sent on it so I can track her." Klaus held his hand out for Caroline's spare key
Liz took it off of her key ring and handed it to him " you can do that track her by her sent the trail wouldn't have gone cold by now?"
" Her sent is in bedded in me sheriff I just need to have the most recent fragrance so I can a tune my hybrid senses to it."
Klaus stated he sounded certain that he would find her and liz's confidence in klaus's feelings and ability to find Caroline was just turned up a thousand percent she placed her hand in his and looked him straight in the eye
" I hope you find her and that she is alive and safe because I think I see what she sees in you and I believe you deserve the opertunity to be happy and I know she can be a big part of that."
Klaus nodded his head and grinned a bit he could appreciate the woman that taught Caroline how to be strong and stand up for herself. Klaus and stefan turned to leave the sheriff station and walked out to the street as they walked towards the grill stefan looked at Klaus from the corner of his eye.
" what did you mean that her sent was in bedded in you?"
Klaus smirked and turned to glance at stefan " Caroline has made such a deep impression in me stefan one that couldn't change even if she were to never be in my life she brought out my humanity and I am not even sure I had much of it even when I was human because of the hatred my father had for me and once you have felt that kind of change in your life its something that your body, your senses and your very nature holds on to so yes stefan Caroline is literally in bedded in who I am and If by some happenstance that she is not alive when we find her again I will be changed and I don't believe the world would survive the monster I would become."
Stefan paused for a moment when he thought about it he understood where Klaus was coming from he had felt that feeling before he felt it when he first met Elena before the travelers released them both from the Doppelganger love spell that had been placed on each Doppleganger but he also felt it when Caroline had helped him over come the loss of his memory when quetseia had fried his brain and then when the travelers scrambled him trying to kill his other Doppelganger Tom.
they made it to Caroline's car and Key fobbed it open and Klaus set to rifeling through her middle console to find something that had her recent fragrance on it and he found her Jean jacket and he took it out and key fobbed the doors so they locked and Placed the spare key in the door of the gas tank, and texted the sheriff to let her know where he placed the key and led stefan to the opening of the ally way and held the Jacket up to his face and inhaled her sweet sent it smelled like wild flowers and sunlight the exact thing that he would describe her as. once he had her smell his face transformed to his hybrid vampire face stefan watched as his eyes glowed gold and the Veins under his eyes started to move and his fangs started to elongate and he took a big sniff of the air around him and his head suddenly whipped toward where they previously had been,
klaus turned his face back to normal and walked back out of the ally and down to street toward the different Boutiques and stopped at each one that her sent lingered in and it was growing stronger and they found them selves in front of the Mystic Antiques and Jewekry shop that Caroline had been in and Caroline's sent was the strongest there and they looked around and noticed blood near the wall and what was even more peculiar that it was a message that stefan recognized it had been so familiar to him that he knew it was Caroline's it was a smiley face he could not help but smile a little bit then he alerted klaus to it.
"Hey I found some blood over here and its Caroline's."
klaus crouched closer to the blood spot and chuckled " our girl is certainly one of a kind here she is, in trouble and she manages to leave us a clue in the form of a happy face she can not even attempt to be stupid when the occasion would call for her attention to feel some fear no one else would think to leave us a clue."
the saw tiny drops leading away from the smiley face and down the sidewalk klaus and stefan followed the trail and it suddenly stopped by the corner next to the intersection and then it was as if all clues stopped they could feel the block it was definitely magic the klaus tightened his Jaw in frustration stood still trying to smell the air again and he could still smell the faintest bit of her that still lingered in the atmosphere.
" we need a Witch stefan, she is magically blocked from me and that is not good if they need to block her from being found it leads to the thought that they are going to be torturing her for a very long time which means by the time the block is off her trail will go cold , where is the Bennett witch ?"
stefan gave klaus an incredulous look " are you serious, I told you that they a plan to take you down and you want to go to them for help? can't we find another witch to undo the block?"
Klaus looked stefan in the eyes set his hands firmly on stefan's shoulders " Mrs Bennett is a very powerful witch she was able to take silas down she was able to weaken me to the point where Elijah was able to almost end my life , she was able to harnnes expression, dark magic and the spirits to bring Jeremy Back to life and she is the witch I will ask to help me save caroline."
Stefan nodded and told him that he had left them at the boarding house , he pulled out his cell and texted Matt, stefan thought that going through Matt would be the best option instead of getting grief right off the Bat from every one else.
Stefan- " Matt are you guys still at the Boarding house ?"
Matt- " the others are they are still trying to figure out how to get caroline to be Klaus Bait!"
stefan- " where are you ?"
Matt-" I had to go to the grill for my shift, why what's up?"
Stefan-" Caroline is missing and Klaus and I have found her blood, the trail is being magically blocked."
Matt- "why are you with Klaus and what do you mean Caroline is missing?"
Stefan- "Long story Matt can you get away from the grill and meet us at the boarding house so we can
explain it to everyone."
Matt-" yeah i will be there as soon as I can."
Stefan stuffed his cell in his back pocket and signaled to klaus that they should leave, they walked back towards Nick's car when klaus was suddenly hit with a vision that had him collapsing to the ground because of the power that it held, he felt as the image pushed its way through his mind it was an image of Caroline screaming while some one held their hand over her head, she was screaming so loudly that her neck veins were bulging to the point of eruption . Klaus recovered from the images that passed through his mind they were so intense that they had damaged his optical nerves that he was literally blinded by them he raised his head and his arms to find stefan to help him up off the sidewalk, he could feel his eyes mending but stefan had to lead guide him inside the car and drive them to the salvatore boarding house to meet up with the others.
Caroline- PLEASE STOP, PLEASE!
Stranger- "you are his weakness Caroline and he will come for you, I have left him many clues my dear, he sees you suffering and it will blind his mind and it will distract him from my plan to destroy him, I am so glad that he learned to feel and he learned to care about you Caroline because you will be his undoing."
Lowering his hand from her for head he gave her a reprieve from the torture he has been inflicting on her for the better part of the day, she was so exhausted and dirty and drenched in blood and sweat she was not able to see her captive in front of her he was wearing a hood that covered his face he had not distinguishing marks other then he was tall broad shouldered and fit judging by the way his clothes hung on his body, he reached out his hand again and moved toward Caroline's face she shrugged her self away from his touch but he caught the side of her head and brought his mouth close to her other ear and spoke low and breathy in her ear;
Stranger- "It is truly a shame that I have to hurt such beauty and light to get to the beast of darkness caroline I would rather spend the time enjoying you and your fruit rather then torture and burn it I do so enjoy a beautiful woman such as yourself I would make you writhe for me, beg me for the pleasure I could give you, I would have you drenched in sweat and your sweet odor rather then stain your body with your own blood ."
Caroline shuddered as he caressed her cheek in a seemingly gentle embrace ment for someone that was warm and caring capable of showing love, it was something that she had only felt a few times never from tyler never from Matt, Stefan had held her gently when he helped her control her transformation in the bathroom after she had killed the carnival worker as he told her that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, that felt like so long ago it had been two years since then she had been through so much and changed so much she was who she had always wanted to be strong, beautiful and full of light those are the words she sought for in her mind he had told her those words when she had been feeling trapped by her feelings for klaus and her loyalty to her friends and to tyler that had been exiled he had held her that way as he saved her life from tyler's bite on her Eighteenth birthday, he had held her like that after saving her from Alaric in the high school he held her sweetly as they danced at the Michelson ball saying those sweet words to her he made her feel that way, by the way he singled her out and pursued her relentlessly even though she had rejected him and covered there connection with anger and hostility because she wanted to continue to be girly little caroline secretly resented being murdered and losing the life she wanted to have led she has fought so hard to contain the monster within herself klaus and his words came to her again.
klaus- "There is a whole world out there caroline Music, art, Genuine Beauty and its yours for the taking all you have to do is ask."
caroline- " I don't want to die" she said as he rolled up his the sleeve of his shirt and jacket to expose his wrist to her as he drew her close to his chest as she Clamped down on his wrist with her fangs exposing the cure to her system unbeknownst to her at the time he was curing the poison her body, but also curing the poison her life she from that time onward really did become ageless and fearless. he had given her so much and she had only recently began to acknowledge the beautiful things that he had done and given her and she had just barley started to accept her buried feelings for him.
Caroline drew her head back and thrust it forward hitting the sweet spot between his nose and forehead throwing him to the ground in front of her she glared at the personage sitting before her said
caroline- "klaus will come for me, but i will not be his weakness; I love him, I will always love him wether I be in this world or on the other side; he will know that he was loved and cared for despite the things he has done, so you can torture me all you want, kill me if you must and the consequences be on your head and those that help you."
the stranger stood up and leaned into her once again and hissed
Stranger- "He will not have the chance to burn the world in vengeance for your life caroline ... He will be dead and I will be the one to end him, in front of those beautiful blue eyes and as you watch his body stiffen and gray you will know that his is dead because he cared more for you then his own family"
The stranger then turned and walked out the cell and locked the door behind him she could tell that it was evening now and all she wanted beyond in taking a couple of blood bags was to tell klaus the things that she had realized and had felt for him a little to late she hoped that even though she wanted him to use his heart that it wouldn't completely rule his head that he would think clearly so they could all get out alive so she could tell him what she felt and what she wanted now she bowed her head and closed her eyes taking advantage of the peace that was left to her to glean and sleep and to possibly dream, to dream of him and her together.
Every one was gathered at the boarding house waiting for Stefan and klaus, irritated that klaus had been clued in to they're latest kill klaus plot, Damon was where he always was, standing next to the counter where all of the Salvatore Acohol decanters were he could always be found with a drink in his hand when plans had been spoiled, Elena and Bonnie were sitting on the couch together quietly contemplating the status of everything and also silently simmering that Caroline or stefan had messed up they're plans, Matt was walking up and down the small Entryway nervously glancing at the front door every few minutes and Jeremy was in front of the fireplace gazing in on the flames feeling the heat and the anger and worry coming off every one in waves, they dad been waiting for stefan and Klaus for at least twenty minutes.
Damon- "I thought you said that the meeting was urgent quarterback?" he said snidely.
Matt- " that's what I was told by stefan when he called I don't know what holding them up damon, I don't have advanced senses or mind reading abbilities" matt retorted shaking his head in annoyance.
Jeremy shifted his feet getting aggravated in the growing tension he had just as much reason to hate the situation as much as any one but he could not get rid of the feeling of darkness that was over casting them all , and that the situation was going to be so much worse then they were ever going to expect he feared for caroline he was just about as fed up with all the drama as she was but Elena was his sister and he was going to do everything he could to make sure she was kept safe even if that ment that he had to help take down klaus of all vampires to do it, Jeremy had tried to speak to any ghost that he could think of on the other side to try and find out any information about caroline and where she might be, and no one had come to him yet.
Bonnie-" did they say anything about where caroline was or how they discovered she was missing ?"
she asked coolly she had also been upset with caroline knowing that when she had left earlier that she was going to expose them to klaus because she was feeling fed up with all of the drama that had been going on lately and she could not completely blame her for that but betraying her friendships regardless of it all was something that she was going to have a hard time forgiving but if Caroline was missing then she would help find her of course regardless of her furry over ruined plans and betrayed loyalties she acknowledged the fact that Caroline had been there for her friends fiercely in the past and although she was upset now she could not abandon her friend if she was in trouble.
More time Passed by and suddenly the vampires in the room turned their heads to the front door which invited the humans to follow their gaze just when the door opened and stefan and Klaus walked through the door, stefan traveled down to the stairs that led to the underground cells and storage area, while klaus walked himself over to the couch across from Bonnie and Elena took a seat and looked at them with an intense and poignant they looked at klaus Bonnie had seen desperation in his face and Elena could see fear they looked at each other making the same decision that he was sincere in his fear for caroline and in that moment they knew the situation was far worse then they feared. before any of them could speak stefan was back with a couple of blood bags and set them in front of Klaus he picked one up and opened it and began to consume the Blood while gesturing with his had to stefan to begin telling them of the events of the day after Caroline left the boarding house earlier that morning when he was finished telling them what he was privy too he turned to Klaus
Stefan- " tell them what happened after we found the wall of magic, what you saw!"
Klaus knew that he needed to tell them of the horror that he saw and knew that it would unveil his weakness that caroline was for him but he knew that he needed Bonnie Bennet's help and she would be more apt to helping him, them ... find her if she had proper motivation and even if it wasn't him that was eliciting fear he knew or at least he had a hope that these people that called Caroline their friend that they would help find her even if it ment working with them but he also knew that he had to make some concessions so if he was going to get their help he had to give them something in return
so before he told them any thing about the vision that he had he would offer them something first
Klaus- " First I want to secure your help in finding Caroline first and make sure that she is your first priority and know that you aren't going to try and double cross me and use this situation to your benefit and try to get rid of me"
Damon Snorted indignantly at the accusation klaus was implying of course he was right Damon thought any chance that damon had to take down Klaus and get him out of their lives he was going to take it he cleared his throat and said
Damon- " what makes you think that you can secure that kind of deal with us what do you have to offer that we need or want?"
Klaus leveled his gaze at damon then moved to the others meeting each of their eyes and then turned to stefan and said
Klaus- " I will give up my claim for Elena and leave her to you and her friends and family for all eternity.
They were all stunned it was as if they were all struck with spell that had shut off their ability for speech they were all for a lack of a better word stunned, Klaus did not let them stew in there shock for very long time was of the essence so he again looked to stefan and nodded to him gesturing that it was his solemn- word that he was giving to them that it was not going to get broken or revoked at anytime and for Nicklaus Michaelson he hardly gave anyone his solemn word on anything stefan then turned back to the others and nodded in his acknowledgement that what Klaus had said was truth they could trust, Damon stared klaus in the eyes searching for a reason he had offered them they're salvation and then he saw the briefest glimmer of something... was it love? devotion he recognised it because its what he felt for Elena it was possession because if he felt like Elena was his to have and hold to keep safe then that must be what Klaus was feeling for Caroline he was feeling Possessive and protective of what he deemed was his to have and to keep and He had to admire the original for even being capable of that emotion for anyone other then him self and his weirdo family
Damon- "ok Klaus we will take the deal, what exactly did you see?" damon questioned straightforwardly knocking everyone out of their shock and back to reality Bonnie scooted forward and Motioned that she needed to have contact with Klaus as he spoke so that she could go into his mind and see the vision for her self so she could pick up on anything that might help her Magically deduce where Caroline was and he allowed the contact being very familiar with witchery that they needed to be linked to people, places, or objects tied to the information that they were seeking.
So he began to describe the vision to the group Closing in around him and Bonnie's Mind was transported into the vision it was as if she was walking into a room that was blurred at the edges and only the images that were right in front of her were clear and as she scanned the room she could see Caroline entrapped in the Chair tied down and staked she looked awful her body was ripped, Bloodied and raw, Caroline was writhing in agony she could not hear her screams but she knew they were pouring from her throat she could see the strain that the noise was taking on her throat and her face Bonnie had to look away because of the horror the bile was rising up her stomach and inching its way into her throat how could any one stand the mental torture this vision must of put them through no wonder Klaus needed to consume blood the strength to keep conscious must have used up a lot of his power she was barley standing it and it was using a lot of her own strength to stay in the vision she knew that she did not have a lot of time she could not hold the link for much longer she scanned again to see anything that might help her she looked to the person draped in black the hood covering his head she moved over to face the front of side of Caroline's torturer to see if she could see a face but all she could see that was not covered up was his eyes they were deep brown eyes and she could see that he was a brown skinned person she could tell that he was male because of his stance and build there were not any distinguishing marks except a long thing barly there scar that traveled just up above his eyebrow arcing upward towards his hairline, then with the last of her strength she let go of Klaus's hand and her mind became untangled from his and he sat there and watched her as she slumped back breathing heavily trying to keep the contents of her stomach inside said stomach she was swallowing deep gulps of breath and placing her head in between her knees trying to assuage the Nausea that had consumed her from watching her friends torture.
Klaus only had so much patients, he knew that after his own experience with the vision he had to take the time to recover in fact he had taken the time that it took for stefan to load him in his car and drive the twenty minute drive to the Salvatore house for him to even begin to feel like himself again so he understood that even if she was a mere mortal and did not have supernatural strength he needed any information that she might have gleaned that could help them save Caroline for he knew that she was a strong woman but she was only two years into her Vampire life and she did not have the strength to last in that torturous condition for eternity and it had been more then half the day since she disappeared and the more time she was gone the less chance they had to find her alive.
klaus- " was there anything useful that you were able to find?" Klaus asked urgently sitting forward barley on the edge of the cushion his urgency was palpable to the others as well as there own they shock and concern for their friend was thick in the air Elena was rubbing Bonnies back and Matt had went to the kitchen for a glass of water stefan was stuck in a perpetual state of unfathomable distress for his best friend, Damon had a faraway look in his eyes he was remembering his 5 year sentence as an Augustine Vampire prisoner and that had been the worst torture he think of a vampire going through so he knew the kind of thing Caroline was going through and he could honestly say that he was concerned for barbie vamp and knew that they needed to get her back as soon as possible, Jeremy was stunned as well and could not imagine anyone other then the originals doing that kind of torture on another Vampire except for a few witches when they wanted Vengeance for something the vampire may have done but Caroline was the best vampire he had ever known even speaking for his sister Elena had never exuded the control over her vampire self like Caroline had as far as he knew she had only killed one person from feeding since she turned he could not think of any one that she had angered to have them torture her so mercilessly.
Bonnie raised her self from her hunched over position and stared at Klaus and said regretfully " The only thing I was abel to see, it was a man that is torturing her and he must know that you might go to a witch because he was very careful to keep her in a dark cell, the only window was one that he would open that had slats on it so he could burn her and when I moved in front of him to get a look at his face the only thing not covered was his eyes, I could tell that he has brown skin and a scar above his right eye brow and arcing up to his hairline that's all I was able to get before it got to much the power that I was feeling while he was torturing her was immense and very dark it reminded me of when I was consumed by expression it was bound by no rules so he literally has any option that he can think of to torture her or if he wants any option he desires to end her." Bonnie stated Flatly getting the seriousness across just by the gaze she shared with klaus.