Disclaimer: I own nothing but my ideas.

* * Chapter 1: Beginnings * *

One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

- Nietzsche

I woke up with a start, and a gentle voice told me to calm down. I'm not proud to admit it, but I did squeak even more then. I looked around and felt my throat. It hurt so much. There was a man sitting on the bed beside me, the owner of the voice that had startled me so, and I asked "What happened?" while looking around the room. I was in a bedroom.. A hotel, it appeared.

::Present::

I recalled small pieces of what had happened before, but wasn't entirely certain what to make of it: A good looking guy asking me how I was, and if I wanted to drink something with him. Then shoving his wrist in my face, forcing me to gulp down his blood. Then darkness. "And who are you? Why am I here?" I added, trying to sit up until I realized that I was too weak at the moment. To say I was scared was a hell of an understatement.

The man looked at me, silently assessing me, it seemed. Then he took a breath. "I am Klaus, sweetheart. Do you remember what happened to you?" he asked, and I didn't know how to reply without sounding like a nutjob. He took my chin and looked into my eyes. His pupils dilated, and he told me to be calm and completely honest. For some reasons I was, and after telling him all I remembered, he explained things to me that made him seem like the nutjob. But he had looked at me, and his pupils had dilated again, and for some reasons, I obeyed his demand to believe him about me being in Transition.

"What happened to the other vampire?" I asked, afraid to hear what he would say, no matter what it would be. A part of me wanted to deny the fact that he even existed. "He is dead, love. I killed him."

He certainly didn't sweet-talk. My calmness disappeared. Was he a vampire-hunter? Did he bring me here to kill me once I had fully.. transitioned? But he had told me he was a vampire himself! Was he some sort of Angel or Spike? "Are you going to kill me?" I asked silently, looking into his eyes, hoping to find something in them.

"After you have already been killed? Why would I do that?" He seemed genuinely shocked, which in turn made me feel slightly safer.

"I don't know you. But it feels like I'm dying." I said, my voice broken. His face hadn't shown many emotions so far, but I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes. Maybe something like regret. I wasn't sure if it was directed at me or the mess that I made of the bed I lay in, though.

"My apologies," he started saying, "You're what's known as collateral damage. It's nothing personal." I didn't know what he was talking about. Did he intend to kill me after all, because I was a vampire, or almost? He seemed to read my questions on my face, and said, "I could let you. Die. If that's what you want, if you really believe your existence has no meaning.

"You have to decide if you want this life for yourself. If you want to become a vampire. Live forever, see greatness, and then see it burned down. Lose, battle, and run." His face became darker, and it seemed as if he was showing sympathy towards someone or something he thought he saw in me, before he added, "Dying. I thought about it myself, once or twice over the centuries, truth be told. And all you need to do is not drink any blood. It would hurt until then, although I will admit, it is bearable pain. But I'll let you in on a little secret: There's a whole world out there waiting for you. There are great cities and art and music. Genuine beauty. It is worth it. And you can have all of it. You can have a thousand more years. All you have to do is ask.

"Caroline, you can decide. You don't have to become a vampire. You don't need to live forever. You can decide to die. Or not."

I looked at him. What he said seemed too complex and deep for me to understand. When faced with the decision whether to die or not, I didn't have many doubts. Not right then: I wasn't done living yet, I had just started, just graduated. I wanted to study, and meet people. I wanted to do things, and the final year of High School had only made this wish grow more urgent. I had had moments in the past, in which I contemplated life, but being faced with the reality of dying I wanted to continue living.

So even though I wasn't sure what being a vampire entailed, I sure wanted to find out in this world, not the afterlife. There were some unshed tears in my eyes, and I realized that they weren't meant for me. He looked so lonely, saying that he contemplated suicide, and that the pain of Transition was bearable. I didn't know the man next to me. But if he considered the pain I was in right now bearable, then he must have been through some tough times. And parts of me were afraid, but the other parts tingled in awareness, telling me "finally" over and over again.

"I don't want to die," I told him.

There was a hint of a smile in his eyes. "Then I have an offer for you."

* * Notes * *

Hey everyone! I hope you'll enjoy this story. Let me know if something bothers you, if you think a chapter needs trigger warnings or if you have suggestions! I'd appreciate it very much! As this story is not beta-read, I hope you can overlook typos or other types of mistakes. (Though I wouldn't mind you letting me know so I can fix them!) If something within the content seems to make no sense, let me know so I can see if it was me accidentally editing stuff out, or if it's supposed to be weird! ;)

Apologies that I included a canon scene, but I was feeling like I should honour the moment Klaroline stopped being a crack-ship, even if I didn't always appreciate the things the writers did to it.