I don't own anything TVD or TO related.
I started this story just to play around and I liked it. And I wondered what could happen next. So, this is for those that wanted the story to continue. Three or four months have passed since Friend or Foe ended. By the way, Haley is in the story, much to my regret, but I might play around with her character a little.
Happy Reading!
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Chapter 1
He couldn't find a way to be with her, all hope was lost. It was their fault. They had destroyed any chance that he had to reach her, to be with her and now, he was in purgatory hell. Since that was the case, they were going to suffer like he was. They would feel the pain of never being with the one they love. The agony of searching for many years to find her, the one that he was meant to be with, only to lose her. He was going to make them feel every emotion that he was feeling. He felt anger, wanting to lash out at those around him at the injustice. He felt despair, the hopelessness that never ended. They were responsible for the anguish and they would pay for his torment. He would make their lives the hell that he was living.
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New Orleans
The house was nested in the bayou, not far away from the city. Three vampires entered the abandoned house as they looked behind them to see if they were being followed. As they entered the room, the smell of blood enticed them. A lone human female was being fed on by the vampires who had kidnapped her right off the street. Diego entered the room with a frown as he shook his head. So impatient, he thought. "I thought I told you to wait until the sun goes down before you do any hunting. We don't want to draw any attention."
The vampires looked up from their meal with annoyance. Diego didn't really blame them, he understood. The city used to be at their disposal, their own personal playground until the original family and the witches killed Marcel. Now, they had to be discreet with their hunting.
One young vampire walked to stand with Diego. "Maybe we should find new territory." They were all frustrated, angry that their home had been taken over.
Diego leaned in close. "This is our home and we're going to fight for it." Marcel had taught him well, he wasn't going to give up so easily. The survivors were looking for leadership, someone to come up with a plan. Diego was going to make sure they looked to him. How were they going to get their territory back, though? Everything had changed. His sire, the king of New Orleans was dead. Their legendary parties in the Quarter had been put to an end and the witches were no longer bowing down in fear. The control the vampires had over the city was gone, and the original family was giving the orders now. The hybrid couldn't be killed, so they decided to do the only thing they could and get rid of the witches.
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The moon shined bright, creating pockets of light to counter the darkness. The vampire flashed down an alley, looking over his shoulder with fear. He moved quickly around a corner as he tried to put as much distance between himself and the shadow that was following him. As soon as he left the house, he could sense he was being followed. They had been warned but Diego was cocky, as if he were invincible. Diego was acting just like Marcel had, confident that he could take on anyone. They hadn't learned anything in their defeat months ago. Well, he had learned his lesson the first time he had been on the receiving end of the hybrid's rage. He knew what would happen if they tried to take on Klaus, they would all end up dead. As he turned down another alley, the fog cleared to reveal two figures standing in his path. His breath stopped as he recognized Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson. He starting breathing again, heavy with fear and anxiety as he stepped closer.
"You have information for us, Jerry?" Elijah asked. Klaus stayed quiet with his hard eyes focused on him. Jerry nodded as he cleared his dry throat. Whenever he was around Klaus, his palms would sweat and he could barely look his way. Jerry had almost been killed by the hybrid once, and the experience had left him terrified to every cross him.
"They're going after those two witches again. The powerful ones. They want to keep the witches of New Orleans in fear. The survivors of Marcel's army would follow Diego if he could get the witches under control." Klaus flashed and occupied Jerry's space. The young vampire jumped back so fast, he fell into the garbage cans that was standing behind him. Elijah looked around the alley to see if anyone had heard the loud bang, before turning back to observe his brother. Jerry shivered with terror, breathing heavily as he got back to his feet.
The moon shined on Klaus, highlighting his striking features and commanding presence as he glared. "When?"
"In a couple of days." Jerry decided to look at Elijah as he spoke, it was easier to get the words out.
Klaus growled with rage. "I suggest you leave town for a while. They won't be here when you come back."
He nodded, before flashing away in relief. In order to survive, Jerry needed to be on the winning side, which was why he would stand with Niklaus Mikaelson.
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Mystic Falls
Caroline pulled up to her childhood home and turned the car off with relief. Her vacation had finally begun. Her first semester in college had been grueling. The classes, studying into the late night and just the responsibility that came from officially being on her own. As she walked the path to her home, she couldn't help it, she was proud of herself. Caroline had doubted whether she could do it, heck even her own mother wondered if she was college material. She had proven everyone wrong, even herself. As she was smiling with her thoughts, the door opened and Sheriff Forbes stepped on the porch with a proud smile. They hugged tight as if months, not just weeks had gone by.
"I'm glad you're here. The house has been so empty with you gone."
"It feels good to be home."
Caroline smiled as she opened the front door and the comfort of home engulfed her. Everything was the same, she thought as she walked around the house. The dorm at college was nice, but it was always good to come home and sleep in her own bed. Since she shared a room with Elena, Caroline had to deal up with Damon coming and going like he owned the place. Whenever she could, she spent time with Stefan to gain peace of mind and to start her training. Caroline was able to learn pretty quickly using weapons, but the hand to hand combat was hard to grasp. It gave her an excuse to keep Stefan occupied, though.
The first weeks of freedom for Stefan had been hard, nightmares and panic attacks occurred often. He seemed to be in his own personal hell as he fought to return to his life. We were still in shock to discover Stefan was Silas's doppelganger, something Stefan didn't talk much about it, almost in denial. Silas had disappeared the night Stefan had been found and he hadn't been seen since. Everyone was anxious as they waited to see what Silas would do next. He had failed to destroy the Other Side and Katherine had been forced the cure, which Caroline thought was poetic justice.
If Silas was anything like Katherine, that wouldn't be the last Stefan sees of him. Stefan moved into a place in town to gain some distance from Damon and Elena as well as to try and protect them. Silas resented the freedom Stefan had, while he had been held captive for two thousand years, and Stefan was more worried about what Silas would do to his friends and Damon than himself. As always, he was thinking of others.
Liz stood at the door to her room as Caroline unpacked, watching silently. "I made dinner. I thought we could sit down together."
Caroline looked over with a smile of surprise. "I need to be away more often if you're going do the home-cooking thing." She tossed the empty suitcase to the floor as Liz pulled a package forward that had been hidden behind her.
"This came in the mail yesterday." Liz looked worried as she handed it to Caroline. "It's from New Orleans." Caroline met her mother's gaze, before looking away in panic. She hadn't talked much about her trip or her kidnapping, whatever one could call it. It wasn't too hard deflecting the questions since everyone had been so worried about Stefan. Caroline had only told them about Davina, how they'd rescued her and helped Sophie's coven defeat Marcel. She had been pretty vague about the time she spent with Klaus. Rebekah had kept her mouth shut, but she gave Caroline knowing glances whenever they were together, which wasn't often since Caroline was away for college. Although it still pained her that Bonnie was a ghost, Caroline had dodged and ducked Jeremy whenever she saw him. When she first came home, she had been worried that Bonnie had told Jeremy about Klaus's kiss. But Jeremy hadn't said anything, so she assumed Bonnie hadn't either.
Caroline cleared her throat, avoiding her mother's searching eyes as she laid the package aside. She didn't know if she was ready to talk about what happened between her and Klaus while she was in New Orleans. She knew she would have to deal with it eventually, to confront whatever she felt for Klaus, but she was afraid of the consequences. Caroline could lose her friends and Tyler if they discovered that she cared about Klaus. She didn't know if she could deal with the pain of that. Liz was still standing at the door as if she wanted to say more, but chose to stay silent. She gave Caroline a look of speculation as she walked away.
Caroline exhaled as she glanced at the package out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't help herself, she was curious. They hadn't talked much, just exchanged texts and short phone calls every now and then. Caroline got the feeling Klaus was trying to give her space, though he would send small gifts as a reminder that he was thinking of her. He would always send them here, never to her dorm at Whitmore. It might have kept Elena from discovering that things had changed between her and Klaus, but her mother was here to see them coming. They were small things, art that Klaus drew for her, a scarf he thought would complement her or just a letter, trying to stay in contact.
Caroline sighed heavily, unsure of how to handle this. She knew this couldn't go on forever, she needed to make a decision about what to do. As she considered each path she could take, she knew someone would be hurt. There was one thing she was certain of, she wanted Klaus in her life. That alone, was going to cause problems. Caroline had finally heard from Tyler a few weeks after she came back from New Orleans. He came home soon after, but she had been away at school, so any time together had been short and far between. With Tyler adjusting to being home, they hadn't had much time to discuss their on and off-again relationship. Tyler would never accept Klaus as her friend, much less anything else. And Caroline didn't want to even imagine Elena's reaction, although Klaus did come through for Damon not too long ago.
Caroline huffed with frustration as she grabbed the package to appease her curiosity. As she pulled the wrapping away, she discovered a small brown frame. She turned it over and froze in surprise. It was a portrait of her as she stood on a balcony. The sun was shining down on her as she was looking away into the distance, smiling with serenity. Caroline's stomach tightened with nerves and her palms begin to sweat as she remembered the moment, right before Klaus had stepped out to join her to look at the city. She closed her eyes as memories came rushing back. Damn, he surprised her again.
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Caroline was quiet at dinner, ignoring the looks she was getting from her mother. She was hoping to finish quickly and hide out before Liz started the mother-daughter bonding talk. Too late, she thought as Liz cleared her throat, before she looked directly at Caroline.
"So, the gifts that are coming from New Orleans, are they from Klaus?" Liz's eyes were tight with worry as she jumped right into it.
Caroline swallowed the lump stuck in her throat, looking away as she thought of what to say. She opened her mouth to respond, but from her mother's expression, she had already answered the question without saying a word. Liz was worried before, now fear filled her eyes as she started shaking her head. "Please tell me that you're not dating Klaus."
Caroline gave a nervous laugh. "Dating, Mom?"
"Hooking up, friends with benefits, whatever you kids call it now days." Liz waved her hand, her anxiety raising as Caroline avoided answering.
"No, Mom. We're not dating or any of the other things you mentioned." Caroline decided not to freak her mother out by telling her about Klaus's vow. She smiled at her mother's attempt to sound cool as she tried to think of something to change the subject.
"Then why is he sending gifts?" Liz wasn't going to let it go, she seemed determined to find out everything.
Caroline shrugged her shoulders as she got up from the table. "He's just being nice."
"Nice? Klaus and nice doesn't fall in the same sentence, Caroline." Liz followed her daughter into the living room. "What, are you two friends?" Liz sounded as if she was going to laugh off the question, but she caught Caroline's wince and stopped in her tracks. "Oh my god, you are."
"Mom, calm down." Caroline huffed a breath and decided to get it over with. "Yes, we're friends."
"Friends? You're friends with Klaus after everything he did?" Liz slowly shook her head in confusion. "That still doesn't explain why he's sending gifts. What, is he trying to woo you or something?" Again, Caroline didn't need to answer because it was written all over her face.
Caroline tried to deflect as she snickered. "Woo? That's a little old-fashioned, isn't?"
"He is, isn't he?" Liz's eyes were wide as she processed the news.
Caroline sighed with eyes closed, if her mother was having problems with her friendship with Klaus, she couldn't imagine what she would say if she knew everything else. The way he made her feel, the desire that she finally admitted to herself that she felt for him, and the resolve to have Klaus in her life, even if they were only friends. There was a knock at the front door, as her mother continued to shake her head with disbelief. Caroline breathed with relief as she rushed to the door to evade any more questions. At first, she didn't see anyone, but she turned and saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye.
As the shadow stepped closer into the light, Caroline inhaled with surprise. "Tyler?" And from the look on his face, he had heard everything that was just said. Caroline had just jumped from the frying pan, right into the fire.
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I'm still putting the story together, so please have patience. I hope to update soon. I welcome any reviews, good or bad. Thanks for reading!
