When you think of Klaus's armor, think Assassin's Creed, lol. You can see where my migraine started to disappear as the writing becomes more fluid and makes a little more sense, also ; )
Caroline's eyes slowly cracked open, and she found herself staring up at the intricately painted ceiling of the foyer. There was a weird, pungent scent in the air, and her head and back ached, and she sat up slowly, as she tried to remember what had happened. One moment she had been on her way to the troops with Elena, and then, someone had attacked her. Someone who looked just like Elena.
Looking around, she found Elena was stretched out, face down, a few feet away. She scrambled over and shook her friend, praying for the best.
"Elena? Elena, wake up!"
"Oh, she will, don't worry." Caroline froze. She had to be going mad, because that was Elena's voice, but Elena was unconscious before her. "Confused yet, Caroline? I guess that's to be expected. You're so very, very simple. Aren't you going to face me?"
She slowly stood up, and turned to face the speaker. She gasped as her eyes landed on a woman who could be Elena's twin, but on closer inspection, she found this other woman had a cold, hardness about her, that Elena could never have. She looked evil.
"My name is Katerina Petrova. You probably haven't heard of me, but now, you'll never forget me, will you, Caroline? You look sick, dear. No, not sick, hungry."
Katerina closed the distance between herself and Caroline, until she was close enough to whisper in her ear. "Do you smell that, Caroline? Isn't it delicious?"
"What is it?"
"Blood. Elena's blood, to be precise." Katerina steered Caroline around so she faced Elena once again, and could see the trickle of blood seeping across the floor from Elena's head. "Go on, have a little taste."
Caroline felt her face tightening, and her teeth suddenly felt sharper. Elena began to stir and Caroline felt her whole body tense, ready to spring.
Elena's eyes fluttered open. "Caroline? What, who is that?"
Another little rivulet of blood trickled down the tile towards Caroline, and she lost all sense of composure. She lunged.
Elena shrieked in horror, while Katerina cackled, happily. But, before Caroline could grab her lifelong best friend, a loud crack rent the air, and she collapsed on the floor.
"Bonnie Bennett, what on earth are you doing here?" Katerina turned to face the witch who had intervened. "And, how soon can we be rid of you?"
"Klaus is not far behind me, Katerina. I assume it's Damon leading the assault on the village. His brother, Stefan, is with Klaus, you know?"
A shadow passed over Katerina's face at Stefan's name, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "Stefan is a weak little boy. I'm surprised Klaus found a use for him. Besides, no matter. The damage is done. Lord William is on his way here now, and when he sees his daughter, you know what will happen, don't you? He'll kill her."
"Not if I can help it." Bonnie snarled, launching in to a chant that sent Katerina to the floor, screaming in pain. Elena took this opportunity to scrabble to her feet and run for the door, but she stops to look back at Caroline.
The chant is effecting the blonde girl, though not as much as Katerina. Caroline writhes in discomfort, and something in Elena tells her to help. She runs to her friend, pulling her to her feet and out the door.
And that was her biggest mistake.
Outside the door is nothing but bloodshed. Vampires killing innocent humans, and supernatural mercenaries killing the vampires. Caroline feels the strange sensation in her face again, and her grip tightens painfully on Elena. Without thinking, she pulls Elena and buries her face in her neck, drinking the blood like the sweetest of wines.
Elena screams and struggles, but weakens quickly. Her life force drains, and she is just at the edge of death.
"CAROLINE!" A voice roars, causing her to release Elena in to a heap on the ground. "My child! A vampire?"
"Father?" She whimpers, knowing how pathetic she must look, cowering, covered in her best friend's blood.
"No, do not call me that." Lord William's features contort with horror as he raises his sword to run his daughter through. "You are forsaken!"
Caroline screams, bracing herself for the attack, but it never comes. She opens her eyes to find her father crumpling to the ground, unconscious. A man in light armor, a hood over his face, stands beyond her father, the fist he used still raised. His eyes meet hers, and before she can say a word, he has sped over to her, throwing her over his shoulder, and motioning for a dark haired man who is carefully avoiding getting blood on his armor to gather up Elena. As they stalk through the battle, the man beckons to another dark haired man, who is enjoying clubbing the vampires a little too much,
"Kol, get the witch. We are leaving this place. Let the Borgias take it."
Klaus can not explain what came over him when he saw the blonde vampire cowering before her father. One moment he was in the heat of battle, the next, he sees her transitioning, attacking her friend, and the whole world comes to a standstill. Like a man possessed, he snuck up on her father and clubbed him before he could kill her. It was as if he had no control over his own body.
They have been riding for the better part of an hour, and she is seated on the saddle before him, her body snug against his. Elena's unconscious body is being carried by a wagon pulled by his brother Elijah's horse, Stefan walking alongside. And Bonnie and Kol are bickering, already.
"How was I supposed to stop Katerina and Damon at the same time? Tell me that, Kol!"
"I don't know! You're the witch, do witch things!"
"You're insufferable!"
"Likewise!"
Klaus rolled his eyes and nudged his horse in to a trot.
"May I get down, please?"
He finds Caroline looking over her shoulder at him. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You're too new of a vampire, you can't be trusted not to take off and go on a bloodlust-fueled rampage."
"But, I'm hungry." She whispers, and he sees how grey her skin is. Without another word, he bites in to his wrist and puts it to her lips.
"Have at it, sweetheart."
Her hands come up to clutch his arm, and she drinks greedily. After a minute or so, she releases his wrist and wipes her lips.
"Where are we going?"
"To my home. We need to regroup after this newest development. And you need to finish your transition, and, hopefully, get through the bloodlust quickly."
"You should have just let my father kill me. I tried to kill Elena. I don't deserve to live."
"Wrong, you deserve to live. Katerina Petrova will pay for this. I promise you that."
"Bonnie said you had your own reasons for not liking her. What are they?"
They were coming to a clearing in the woods, and Klaus could hear the tinkling of a little waterfall. He longed for nothing more than to submerge himself in the waters, but intended to ride right by.
"Katerina and Damon betrayed me in order to aid the Borgias. They have been helping to steal my strongholdings out from under me, and turn them over. I have lost wealth, status, friends. Family. And every time I get close to overtaking them, they manage to thwart me. My only purpose in life is to see them, and the Borgias, destroyed."
"Katerina looks very much like Elena. Do you know why?"
"I do, but that is a story for another time."
"Klaus!" Elijah called out, causing him to turn his horse towards his older brother. "I must wash off this blood before we go any further!"
He had already turned his horse towards the little waterfall, an expression on his face that told Klaus that it was no use arguing. Within moments, Elijah was in the water, stripped to the waist, carefully purging himself of the blood on his skin. With a sigh, Klaus dismounted from his horse, then guided Caroline down. Caroline immediately went to the cart carrying Elena, gently smoothing Elena's hair as she cried tears of apology.
Bonnie joined her, whispering words of healing over Elena, while Klaus joined Kol, Stefan, and Elijah in the water.
Caroline raised her eyes from Elena's slumbering form, and her breath caught in her throat as the sun glinted off of Klaus's well-toned body. Her eyes rose to meet his, and he winked at her, before splashing water over himself. She licked her lips, catching lingering traces of blood on her tongue.
It triggered a reaction deep within her newly vampiric body, and Elena groaned as she opened her eyes to see Caroline's face transforming again. This time, however, there was a blur of movement, and Caroline found herself pinned against a tree, a strong arm wrapped around her, while a hand pressed her face in to a neck that smelled like earth, and rain, and fire, and home.
"Calm yourself, sweetheart. Have a little nip. There, that's better, isn't it?"
She nodded as she sipped at his blood, wondering when this horrible feeling would ever stop, if it would stop before she killed someone.
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