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Chapter 2

Heads will roll

Caroline was going out of her mind. She didn't go too far, though.

Everything seemed so sick. Sick, sick, sick.

Vision of that mutilated body had been tormenting her all night.

Headless.

5.42 am.

She couldn't sleep that night.

You'd think that nothing could fill a vampire with utter revulsion. Yet Caroline felt nauseous.

Her room was eerily silent. She felt like looking under her bed to make sure there was no monster hidden there. She would probably give him a tight hug, though, choking him to death that way. Being a creature of the night doesn't make you fearless and she obviously needed somebody, anybody, to be by her side.

The sun began to rise and Caroline nursed a hope that her nightmares would pass along with the darkness of the night. She hated night-time. She always belonged to sunlight, that's why Klaus once said something about her being full of light.

She never needed darkness to feel strong. Her strength was defined by the exact opposite.

However, since the accident in the woods, she felt absolutely helpless for the first time in her life.

And it severely depressed her.

Kol knocked gently at Caroline's door.

No answer.

It was Sunday, damn it, she must be at home.

It was Sunday, it was 8 o'clock in the bloody Sunday morning!

He had a point there, the morning turned out as bloody one, indeed. The police was investigating the circumstances of yesterday victim's death. Kaitlyn Jones. Another regular schoolgirl, another pointless shed of blood.

Knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, kno-!

"What the hell!" He heard a familiar voice and saw a familiar blonde vampire coming up to the door. She seemed as glad at the sight of Kol as a condemned man would be at the sight of gallows. Not entirely delighted. But still looking sexy with messy hair and in that blue nightgown, he made a mental note to himself.

"Good morning, Caroline," he started diplomatically but she didn't let him finish the sentence.

"I don't remember when my last good morning was, so cut the crap and say what you want from me." She crossed her arms and waited. Don't look at her chest. Don't look at her bo-

"I have a few questions for you." He tried to stay calm and neutral. He really tried.

"The answers are: yes, no, yes, yes, no. Maybe." She gave him sour smile. "Bye." And with those words she shut the door right in Kol's face.

Who said that superhero's work would be easy?

But wait a minute, Kol thought, nobody said it meant to struggle with neurotic, oversensitive barbies either.

Caroline sat at the side of her bed and could hardly contain the tears.

She needed somebody's help, not additional pain in the ass.

Then she jumped when something hit her window. She looked out carefully.

Kol.

"I just want to ask if you knew the victim."

What a nerve!

"No."

"But maybe you know something about the girl? Like, who killed her, for example." He wasn't exactly a master of delicacy.

"Go play in traffic, Kol." She said, her patience running out like water through a hole. Prepare for the flood. Three, two, one...

"What?" Kol didn't understand her and tilted his head to the side like a confused dog.

"Get. Lost." She hissed through the clenched teeth.

When he trudged away she went back to wondering about the murder. She had killed people, too. But never like this. Never intentionally. Never in such a cruel way. Only a heartless person could do something like that. She set her mind on finding out who the killer was.

She roused from a daze.

She knew only few people in Mystic Falls who might enjoy killing to that detestable degree.

All of them were related. All of them were Mikaelsons.

Klaus and his villainy demeanor were swaying around the crime scene at the edge of woods. Maybe there was something that the police missed; without excellent vampire sight and hearing it was highly probable. He crouched down and took a deep sniff of the air.

Blood, a lot of blood.

But there was something more about the scent he picked up. He'd never smelled something like this.

The smell was... dead. It reeked of decay.

Well, it seemed logical, a girl was beheaded there after all, but it wasn't her scent. It was her attacker. Whoever it was, he or she was dead. Or you'd rather say, deadly dead. Vampires don't stink like this.

Klaus unbuttoned his black jacket and slipped both hands in the front pockets of his navy blue jeans. The smell of blood still affected him. His eyes became slightly more prominent, more sharp, deeper, and his lips reddened a little.

He'd better be going.

He turned on his wheel, ready to head home when he collided with something thin and frail. He instinctively pushed forward, but the obstacle didn't move. He looked down and saw Caroline.

What was she doing here?

"What are you doing here?" She glared at him. Was he trying to hamper her investigation?

"I could ask you the same." He stood up to her glare.

He would not go down without a fight.

He would not let himself soften around her anymore.

He was the one controlling things.

He had power over her.

He gulped.

Caroline had her reason to suspect him. It was basically because he was himself.

But on the other hand, Klaus could suspect her. She was acting weird lately, and she had found the last victim's body. And now she came to the crime scene.

Klaus eyed her up and down. She was such a bright person, in general. Nevertheless, she still was a vampire and all vampires have their dark sides. You might be a textbook case of denial like her, but a vampire never changes his fangs. Or something like that.

Silence fell between them and stayed there for a rather long moment.

What if she really was the murderer? Klaus pondered. Should he continue saving the town or leave the milk spilt as it was?

"Nevermind." He said and turned to leave.

"Wait! What do you think you're doing?" She spat. "You owe me an explanation."

"And you owe me your life." Hah, that was clever, he thought triumphantly, but didn't let it show in any way. She was speechless.

"I could help you, Caroline." Klaus said gently .

She snarled.

"Hello? Where have you been all last year? In case you don't remember, I'll refresh your memory: you're my enemy. Or maybe it was your evil twin brother?" She threw him a challenging glare.

"I don't owe you anything, and especially not my life. You're in the honorable circle of people who ruined it." She pointed a finger at him like mad teacher points at naughty pupil.

"And if you had something to do with this sick beheading game, I'll know. And I'll make you pay." It was her brave parting shot.

He stood there, shaking with anger.

She was thinking that Klaus was that psychotic murderer roaming the streets?

Was she nuts?

Ok, it's better to pass this particular question over in silence.

Anyway, it finally dawned on him: no more Mr. Nice Guy.

Kol loved the moments like this. His brother came home burning with pure rage.

Klaus slammed the front door so hard that they danced on their hinges.

He kicked a wall and then hit it with his right fist. A picture of plump renaissance woman fell to the floor like a dead body.

Kol was observing him from a comfortable armchair in front of big TV screen. What the hell was wrong with MTV? How could you date somebody's mother? He cringed. The first image that came to his mind was that of Caroline's mother going with him on a date. She'd probably shoot him straight in the face. Twice, to be sure he was hurt.

While Kol was wondering about pointlessness of dating somebody's mother, Klaus was breaking chairs in the living room a few meters away from his philosophizing brother.

After breaking the last chair, he sat on the floor and looked up to Kol.

"How's your investigation going?" He panted.

"I have it almost solved." Kol lied. He didn't even know who to suspect.

"Any suspects?" Klaus read Kol's thoughts.

"A few, yes." He tried to keep it cool.

"Any vampires? Or werewolves?"

"In Chicago I have seen murders without benefit of vampires or werewolves, you know."

"But it's Mystic Falls, brother. We are far away from Chicago and analogically, the things are far from normal here."

"Are you suggesting something?"

"If you have it all almost figured out, I wouldn't even dream of solving your puzzle for you." Klaus smiled slyly.

As he presumed, Kol was lost like a kid in a fog.

The Original hybrid was treading carefully among the branches. He decided to go on a night patrol. He smirked to himself when he imagined himself as that funny blonde vampire slayer from a TV series that was always patrolling cemeteries in search of bad tough vampire to kill with her superhuman strength.

During his long existence he had met once or twice girls that called themselves 'vampire slayers'. It had been always a very funny and entertaining experience. Especially in the(ir) end.

A loud crack interrupted his sentimental journey.

Something, or somebody, was hiding in the darkness. He stopped immediately and listened intently to the surroundings.

No heartbeat, no breathing.

A vampire.

A little bit more to the left... Behind him... About five meters or so...

Klaus turned out, his eyes flaring.

One second.

He jumped like a wild beast he was, knocking the suspicious character to the ground.

The hooded spy was sprawled on the grass and Klaus was on top, straddling him, keeping his shoulders down firmly.

Then he noticed... Breasts? He cocked an eyebrow.

He took the black hood off the spy's head.

"Caroline?" He gasped.

"Get. Off. Me."

And like an unpredictable person she was, Caroline went ballistic on him. Literally. She took advantage of his confusion and threw him off, his body hitting hard a nearby trunk. She attacked him with all the strength she had, which of course turned out not enough to beat him. Right, like she even could stand a chance! He thought and launched an offensive again.

They landed on the ground, rolled around a few times, then assumed old, well-tried position where the stronger (Klaus) pins the weaker one's (Caroline's) back to a tree.

She was well aware of his body right now as it was crushing hers against the wood. His face moved closer to hers and if somebody was secretly watching them, he or she would think the two vampires are just making out in the bosom of nature.

Klaus felt the tension building up in the place where it shouldn't.

Caroline felt her stomach flutter and her mouth went dry.

That awkward moment when you're so close it's impossible to breathe (theoretically).

That awkward moment when you start to tremble under somebody's close proximity.

That awkward moment when you're captivated in his eyes.

That awkward moment when you're feeling hots for your enemy.

That awkward moment when you both are leaning closer and your lips almost touch.

And that terrifying moment when you hear police sirens echoing through the woods and you snap back to reality.