I come bearing gifts! Ok, not really, just this chapter. Tomorrow is Easter and I won't be home all day so the next chapter won't be uploaded until Monday.

I'd like to thank all of you wonderful people who took the time to review! I have to admit, I'm a little scared I won't live up to your expectations but I promise I will do my best! Ok, that's all from me. Without further ado, here's Chapter 2, happy readings! :)

Chapter 2: Something in the Water

The rising sun began to peer inside the crevice, notifying them that a new day had begun. Klaus opened his eyes to notice the blonde lying next to him. At one point in the middle of the night she had nestled herself closer to him, her body curled up with her head resting on the side of his chest. He smiled but didn't move as not to disturb her. He noticed how peaceful she looked; so helpless and innocent. He couldn't help chuckling, knowing she was anything but. The slight movement of his chest caused Caroline's eyes to slowly open. She squinted, offended by the blinding sunlight and brought her hand up to rub her eyes. As soon as she realized the position she was in, she retracted from him, almost like two repelling magnets.

"You got cold last night." Klaus informed her, propping himself up on his elbows.

Caroline looked at him suspiciously, as if his words had some form of double meaning. She stalled to respond, fearing that she'd somehow say the wrong thing.

"I guess." She stated, quietly. Klaus smiled as he came to his feet, walking to the edge of the cliff. "So how exactly are we going to get out of this place?" She asked.

Below them, the ocean waves crashed into the rocks with force. There were no birds in the sky and what he could see of the forest looked ominous even in plain daylight. He was in deep thought for a few seconds until he finally turned back to face her. She was still sitting on the floor, resting her back against the rocky wall, her eyebrows slightly arched, like a cat perking up its ears in attention.

"When you're alive for a thousand years, you hear a lot of things; legends, tales, some real, some fake," he began, "when I fled back to the Old World, I met a vampire, who told me of a place similar to this, but I never thought it actually existed." Caroline furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips, listening to his words carefully.

"What else did he say?" She asked.

"He said there's only one way in and one way out, meaning..."

"Meaning, we might never find this gateway, passage, or whatever the hell it's called." She finished his thought, annoyance in her voice.

He looked at her with a serious demeanor, perhaps she was right. They could literally spend the rest of eternity looking for just the right spot and never find it. This place was meant to be a prison, after all.

"Is it possible to die here?" She asked with a slight tremble in her voice.

"You're not going to die here, Caroline. I'll make sure of that." He stated with confidence.

Caroline took in his words and relinquished a smile as she too came to her feet and walked to the edge of the cliff. The ocean breeze was soothing but they both knew they couldn't stay in the cave much longer. If they were going to find the passage back to Mystic Falls, they had to get moving.

"It would probably be a good idea to explore this place a bit more, maybe we can get a clue of where this door to our world can be." She laughed at how ridiculous it sounded, but she knew it was far from a joke.

They climbed down the cliffs, suddenly Caroline was thankful for that summer Elena had convinced her to take a rock climbing class instead of salsa dancing. She exhaled, relieved once her feet touched solid ground again. The beach was covered in tide pools and she couldn't help stopping to observe the tiny creatures moving within them. Red sea urchins danced around in the clear water and orange and purple starfish clung to the rocks. The sea anemones wiggled around as a tiny crab made its way across the water. She had the urge to dip her hand in and touch but was too afraid she'd harm them. Klaus only looked on, she was like a child discovering something for the first time and he was pleased to see her so happy.

"Sorry, we can keep going." She said.

"No need to apologize, sweetheart. But I do agree that moving on would be a good idea." He replied.

They figured using their vampire speed would cut their time of exploration in half but the fact that they had to stick together was of some disadvantage. They could cover twice the amount of land if they split up but Klaus wasn't willing to let her out of her sight. After only a few minutes they reached a location in the northwestern side of the island. The forest in that site was denser, giant plants covered the floor, making it difficult for them to walk. Just like the first time, they were both out of breath and extremely tired.

"I feel weak, not to mention hungry." Caroline uttered, taking a seat on a broken tree trunk lying on the ground.

Klaus struggled to catch his breath and he too admitted that using his vampire speed had drained him of his energy, lack of food was now becoming a issue as well.

"We have to refrain from using it so much, I feel worse than yesterday when we ran to the cliffs." He stated.

Caroline nodded and scoot herself over on the trunk, making room for him to take a seat. He sat down, bending over, placing his head between his knees until he felt recovered. They decided to hike through the forest instead, carefully searching for animals and fresh drinking water. Klaus suddenly stopped, spotting the mysterious figure wandering about once again. It was quick and slick, moving from one place to the other without making a sound. He looked over at Caroline who seemed unaware, her foot hitting a root, causing her to trip and almost lose her balance. His hands caught on to her waist as he helped her regain her composure. He brought her in closer to him and she stared into his eyes in silence, a warm feeling spreading inside her. Being so close to him gave her a weird feeling, she could only describe it as a slight anxiety attack. His eyes searched the area around them and the figure was gone but the lingering feeling of being watched made him uneasy. He decided to keep it to himself, alarming her wouldn't do any good. She stared back at her and let go of her waist, as they continued their trek through the forest.

The sun reached its highest point in the sky and even the shade provided by the thick flora wasn't enough to keep the heat away. They were both drenched in sweat and Caroline was not enjoying it. She hated being dirty and gross and wished more than ever she was back home, where she could stand in her shower, cold water hitting her hair and cleansing her of the dirt. Her ears suddenly picked up the faint sound of running water in the distance and her face lit up with joy.

"Do you hear that?" She asked, looking at Klaus. He smiled picking up the sound as well.

"It's coming from that direction," he pointed to the north and they both smiled wide, hoping what they were hearing was actual spring water and not the ocean.

After a few hours of walking they discovered what she could only describe as an oasis. Beautiful crystalline water filled a swimming hole as streams ran down from the mountains above. The surrounding area was the brightest of greens and Caroline wasted no time taking off her shoes. She stopped after unbuttoning her jeans and turned to Klaus.

"Well, what are you waiting for, love? Go on..." He smirked.

Of course he'd want to watch. He was being sweet and kind but Caroline knew he liked her so he wouldn't mind a free show. She looked at him defiantly and placed her hands on her hips.

"Here, I'll go first." He grabbed the hem of his not only torn but also grubby shirt and peeled it off his body. "See, it's not a big deal."

Caroline suddenly felt short of breath but she couldn't help noticing how toned his upper body was. He was well built but she'd never would have guessed he looked this good. She slightly shook her head trying to rid herself of the thought and inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to appear indifferent to his advances.

"A shirtless man and a topless girl are not the same thing." She replied, looking over at the water that looked so inviting and refreshing.

Klaus smiled and tilted his head, his admiration obvious. "Suit yourself. I on the other hand, am dying to rid myself of all this muck." He went on to unbutton his jeans and in one swift motion pulled them off along with his undergarments.

Caroline's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open at the sight. She brought her hands up to cover her eyes and turned to face a different direction.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed and then she heard a loud splash.

"The water's amazing, love. You're missing out." He bragged.

Caroline watched him swim around, his naked body distorted by the ripples in the water. She would have never imagined she'd see him naked and never in a million years would she have thought that visual would have been so... No, she shut her eyes trying to think of anything but what she had just seen. She hadn't gotten a very good look at it, having covered her eyes almost immediately, but she'd seen it long enough to realize that it was, well, long. She screamed internally, trying to control her thoughts. She blamed the island for messing with her mind. There was no way she could be so drawn to him, he was the enemy. However, she couldn't deny that he was attractive and his accent was charming and in a way seductive. She took another look at him as he placed his head underneath one of the streams.

"Ok, I'll come in," she relented, " but I need you to close your eyes or look away or something."

He turned his back to her and she kept an eye on him as she stripped off her clothes. Her shirt came off first and then her jeans, she debated on whether to take off the rest or leave it on but eventually she unclipped the band of her bra and tossed it on top of the other garments. She stepped on the clothes and let her underwear slide down her legs. She walked to the edge of the sinkhole and carefully dipped her feet into the water; it was crisp and cool. Wasting no time, she dove in head first, her body felt instantaneously invigorated. Her head popped out of the water and her feet swirled around to keep her afloat. Klaus was now turned but was respectful and kept his distance to not make her feel any more uncomfortable.

"You're right, this feels amazing." She said, dipping her head back.

He couldn't help noticing her chest rising up below the water's surface, her breasts a bit contorted by the current but still breathtaking. A sudden flow of blood filled up his dick as he felt himself harden. He looked up at the surrounding area and tried to breath himself out of it but watching her swim around and wondering what the rest of her looked like, made it impossible. Her back was now turned to him and as he submerged himself underneath the water, it took all his strength to keep himself from opening his eyes and taking a good look at her. Minutes went by, both of them enjoying the feeling of cleanliness, but he noticed the sun was beginning to hide its head behind the trees.

"That's not funny..." She warned.

Klaus looked over at her, wondering what she was referring to as a confused expression took over his face.

"Stop it! I don't like being..." she turned around and paused, "...tickled." She muttered.

She swallowed hard, a terrified expression on her face when she noticed he was at least six feet away from her. She breathed in pauses and exhaled deeply before looking down at her feet. The water was clear and even though the sun was beginning to disappear behind the trees, there was still enough light remaining to make out everything in sight.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked, swimming towards her. She didn't even care that he had gotten closer.

"I think there's something in the water." She whispered, trying not to splash around so much.

"It's probably just a fish. We should be getting out anyway, the sun will be setting soon and we need to find a place to sleep." He started to swim toward the edge when Caroline frantically grabbed a hold of his back.

Her hands wrapped around his neck and her body pressed up against his spine. He didn't know what to make of it, all he knew was that it was the worst time for her to do that, there was no way he was going to step out of the water with a huge boner in display. His thoughts were interrupted by her screeching screams as she wrapped her legs around his waist, crying out in terror.

"Snake!" was all she managed to spit out.

Klaus turned around, Caroline still attached to his back. He looked down into the depths and saw a giant black snake, about twenty feet long and its girth as thick as a tree trunk, swimming in circles. It's belly was bright red with big yellow eyes bulging out of its skull, it took notice of them, striking at his leg, the sharp teeth making contact with his skin. Blood dripped down, clouding the water around them. He swam towards land as the snake broke the surface, standing up like a Cobra with its forked tongue sticking out. Klaus knew he had to react quickly, or they'd end up being its next meal. Without hesitating he used his vampire speed to get himself and Caroline out of the water, safely. But the snake didn't budge, it crawled out and slithered towards her. She tossed a large rock at it, blood spilling from its head but it wasn't enough to stop it. Just as it was about to strike again, Klaus pierced its head with a sharp piece of a log. It fell over, next to Caroline as she hyperventilated in panic and finished it off by smashing its skull with a large rock.

He grabbed a hold of her, moving her out of the way. After a few minutes of getting over the shock, she realized she was in his arms, both wet and naked. They looked at each other awkwardly without saying anything as they scattered around to find their clothes. Darkness fell over the forest and they hurried to find shelter for the night.

"Looks like there's a storm coming." Klaus said looking up at the sky, the areas visible between the trees were becoming covered in dark grey clouds.

A flash of lightning lit up the island for a quick second and a few minutes later it was followed by the loud roaring sound of thunder.

"I've only seen storms like this on the Discovery Channel." Caroline said with a giggle, carefully stepping through the forest floor. "Sounds like a rough one."

Klaus placed his hand in front of her to stop her from stepping into a sinkhole covered in debris. She stopped dead on her tracks and smiled in gratitude, impressed by his quick reaction. Another flash of lighting lit up the sky and this time it took less than a minute for the thunder to strike.

"I think this place will do." Klaus said, motioning with his head to an opening between the thick roots of a tree. He knew it would provide enough protection from the rain.

They crawled underneath it, the hollow space increasing in size once they were inside. The ground was a bit more comfortable than the stone floor of the cliffs they had stayed in the night before. Caroline curled up on her side as he lied on his back next to her. Water began pouring down on the forest, the sound the raindrops dripping through the leaves and hitting the ground was comforting, in a way.

"Klaus," she began, he turned and waited for her to continue, "I never said thank you." She whispered.

"I told you I wasn't going to let you die, remember?" He said with a smile.

"Who would've thought, the ruthless, evil hybrid... a hero in disguise." She muttered, staring into his blue eyes.

He huffed and rolled his eyes, somehow offended by the compliment, but he couldn't deny that he was different with her around. All traces of evil disappeared when she was near. He watched her close her eyes and slip into a deep slumber until he too was overtaken by sleep.

To be continued...

Thank you guys for reading! Don't forget to review ;) Also if you have any questions or just wanna say hello, catch me on Tumblr (reedusstew) I always follow back :) and Happy Easter for those of you who celebrate!