Hello, my lovely readers. Sorry about the long wait for chapter two of this re-write. If you read the original version, you'll notice some differences here because I'm trying to slow certain events down just a little bit. On with the show…
Chapter 2: Bloody Party
Klaus:
I had not wanted to go to this party but my friends insisted. Now, I stood outside of the looming Salvatore Boarding House. No one from our high school had ever stepped foot inside the old home. As far as I had known Zach Salvatore was the only person who lived in this house. It seemed I was mistaken that Zach's nephew, our newest classmate, Damon Salvatore and his older sister, Caroline, who none of us had encountered yet, had moved in.
Standing before the door, I felt nervous energy coursing through my body when my best friend, Rebekah Donavon, rang the doorbell.
Bekah seemed to be as nervous as I was but for different reasons. She had been going on and on about Damon. This bothered me, not because I liked Rebekah as anything more than a friend but because I had a bad feeling about Damon, a feeling I couldn't shake while we waited for someone to answer the door.
Elijah Lockwood stood to my right. His posture was relaxed. There was very little that got under Elijah's skin and I always felt better to be in his and Bekah's presence. They were like my limbs. I could not do anything without knowing we were together and whole. "Are you looking forward to this?" I asked Elijah who smiled just as Kol Bennett shoved his body between ours and gave the doorbell another ring. I glared out at our friend who returned my gaze, unperturbed. "Where is your patience?" I snapped at him.
"It's in the same place as yours," Kol retorted when the door swung open, emitting music, cheering and laughter of teens into the early evening.
"Hello," a voice called to us and my head whirled to take in a girl who stood mere inches from me. Her body leaned into the doorframe like she could melt into it. My eyes took in her cherry red lips and tight black dress and my throat constricted while my pulse sped up. "You must be more friends of Damon," the girl said with a wide, dare I say, inviting smile. I could swear her focus was on me. "Please. Come in."
Kol shoved past me and ran into the house, tugging Bonnie Forbes along behind him who let out a giggle. Rebekah followed them with my baby brother, Stefan, and Elijah following her. I was left standing in front of the door like a fool. "Do you want to come in? Or should I come out?" the girl said, licking her lips and moving one foot outward, her red toenails peeping out from four inch heels.
"Oh, I'm going to come in," I replied, breathlessly. I wanted to kick myself for leaving such a stupid impression on this girl. Everyone knew that first impressions were key.
The girl moved so that I could enter and I sucked in a deep breath, inhaling her scent of roses on a warm spring day. "I'm Klaus Gilbert," I told her.
"Caroline Salvatore," she replied with a slow smile.
My eyebrows rose. "So you're the mysterious older sister of Damon. Somehow I expected someone who looked…" I trailed off, not wanting to continue my train of thought.
"You thought?" Caroline replied, her eyes glittering while her smile widened.
"I thought you were older, by a few years, from what the rumor mill had it but you look to be a teen like the rest of us," I answered, hoping that I was not digging a hole for myself with this woman. Her beauty had me lacking in my usual ability to hold my own in any conversation.
"How much older did they say I was?" Caroline inquired, taking my hand and leading me further into the room. She never turned once to look where she moved and people moved out of her way like she were their queen.
"They thought you were… at least seven years older than Damon," I told her which was impossible.
Caroline let out a laugh. "Well, I've had people assume worse. And they're always wrong," she told me before wrapping her arms around my neck. "Do you want to dance with me, Klaus Gilbert?" she questioned me, pressing her body against mine and making it hard for me to think clearly.
"Yes. Very much so," I replied, sliding my arms around her waist and pulling her closer to me. God, she might be the death of me. At least I would die smiling.
We swayed to the cords from a Mikky Echo song who Rebekah loved dearly. I wondered if she was dancing with her crush. Searching the room for any sight of Rebekah, I noticed her standing just off the make shift dance floor with Damon. They were smiling and talking. Nothing seemed to be out of place but watching the two of them together made my stomach twist with an anxiety or fear that I could not put a name to.
"Is that your sister flirting with my brother?" Caroline inquired lightly.
Looking down at her, I could see that same light in her eyes, that glimmer of laughter. I had the sense there was a joke that Caroline was in on but she would not be telling me anytime soon. Since I would make no headway on that front I decided to deal with the obvious. "Bekah? She's a friend, not my sister."
"Oh, so does that mean you're more interested in her?" Caroline asked me with a pout, moving to walk away from me.
I shook my head, jerking Caroline back to me. Feeling her body pressed to mine, I wrapping both arms around her, holding her so she couldn't escape. "I love my friends, not in the manner you're suggesting, more like they were my family."
"You would die for them?" Caroline asked me, staring into my eyes with a look of intensity that no one else had ever looked at me with.
"Yes," I said without hesitation.
"I wish I had a friend like that." Caroline's smile twisted for a moment and her eyes turned red.
"Caroline?" I questioned when she looked away. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Just got something in my eye," Caroline said when Stefan came over to us.
"Nik, I think I had too much," he told me, suddenly pressing a hand to his mouth. "Oh, man, I'm going to be sick."
"Okay," I let go of Caroline and caught my brother under the arm, directing him toward the front door. "I'm sorry about this. He knows that he should not have more than two," I told Caroline who seemed more amused than disgusted. "Let's get you outside," I dragged Stefan out to the front lawn where he emptied his stomach into a bush by the front door.
"Sorry, Nik," Stefan muttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I know you were having fun with the pretty blonde girl but I really couldn't hold it anymore," he groaned, taking a seat on the grass. A second later, he laid down, clutching his stomach.
"Jenna is going to kill me," I muttered, running a hand through my short curls.
"Sorry," Stefan continued to moan.
"Well, I guess we're going to have to shut this thing down early. Can you promise you'll stay here while I go inside and get the others?" I asked my little brother who looked up at me, trying to focus his gaze.
"Yeah. Do I look like I'm going anywhere?" Stefan asked me.
Shaking my head, I wished for the one billionth time that I had driven over here. But, no, I had to allow Kol to drive us. Everyone knew that Kol drove like everywhere was a race track. "Damn my hideous luck," I muttered under my breath. Ringing the doorbell, I waited. This time Damon answered the door. "Hey! I just came back to collect my friends. It looks like Stefan partied a little too hard already."
"Oh. Cool. Let me see where Rebekah wondered off to," Damon told me as I walked back into the house. Looking around, I spotted a guy at the top of stairs with one of Rebekah's arms slung around his shoulder. Her body sagged into his and, even though the lighting dimmed on the second floor, I believed I saw her eyelids flickering open and closed. Feeling rage pool in my belly, I moved to follow them.
Damon placed a hand on my shoulder. His eyes met mine, his expression setting into something that make most people turn and run in the other direction. "Go. Find the others. I'll deal with Rebekah. Do not come upstairs, no matter what you hear. Understand?"
My mind tried to resist his words. Who was Damon Salvatore to be telling me what to do about my friends? He had only known Rebekah for a moment in comparison to our life-long relationship. It should be me coming to her aid. Not a relative stranger. Still. I found my feet moving in a completely different direction than where Rebekah had disappeared to.
"Kol!" I called, finding him on the dance floor, pressed up against Bonnie. They had a very odd relationship of sorts where they never discussed what they were to each or anyone else that I knew of but would go to parties, dances and any other social events together. "Kol, Stefan's sick. We need to leave early."
"Ugh! Leave it to Stefan to ruin my fun," Kol groaned.
"Is Stefan okay?" Bonnie asked, looking around her. "Where is he anyway?"
"He's on the front lawn," I told the head cheerleader who rolled her eyes.
"You left your drunk brother on the front lawn of a stranger's house? What if he crawls into the driveway and someone runs him over?" Bonnie yelled at Klaus who sighed heavily. Sometimes Bonnie could be judgmental for no reason whatsoever.
"When you get a brother then you can tell me how to treat mine," I snapped before looking around for Elijah who was flirting with a small group of girls. "Elijah!" I shouted, cupping my hands in front of my mouth.
"Nik!" Elijah shouted back to me. He turned to the girls and said something before making his way over to us. "What's going on?" he asked, looking around at the rest of us.
"Klaus is about to win the Brother of the Year award for leaving his baby brother to drunkenly get run over by a car in the Salvatore's driveway," Bonnie answered for Klaus who sneered back at her.
"I see," Elijah replied with a laugh. "Right then. Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to stay," he told us.
Rolling my eyes, I turned away from them. "Fine. You stay. The rest of us will go."
"But I want to stay," Kol muttered when the music cut out so that I could hear him.
"Oh, really and who is going to give me, Stefan and Bekah a ride home then?' I demanded, glaring at Kol. This is why Bekah and Elijah were my closest friends because I could bloody well depend on them.
"Is there a problem?" Caroline interrupted us, appearing by my side with a smirk.
"No. Not at all," Kol told her with a flirty smile. "Actually I was about to come find you to tell what I wonderful party that you're throwing for us lot. We're having such a good time it's hard for our friend, Nik, to talk us into leaving early. And since there are so many people here, there has to be someone who can give him and his brother a ride."
Bonnie looked up at Kol with a glare, sending an elbow into his rib cage. "What Kol meant to say is that his obligation to his friends trump whatever party spirit he has and he would like to apologize but he needs to go home since it's past his mental age's bed time."
"That is not what I meant at all," Kol protested. "And I resent the implication. My mental age is more that of a man in his twenties," he declared, looking Caroline over and causing Bonnie's jaw to set. "Now, about that ride for Nik and Stefan…"
"Yes," Caroline nodded and then twirled on a heel to face me. "I can give you a ride in my Camaro. I think you'll like it. It's extra roomy in the backseat."
I gulped while Kol began to protest. "Oh, you know, I think my car's beginning to break down. Do you think we could hitch a ride?" he was saying when Caroline took my arm and led me through the crowd of teens.
"Hey!" Damon called. He stood by the door, holding Rebekah in his arms. "Are you headed out?" he asked us.
"Yes. We'll be back soon," Caroline replied with a wide grin directed at her brother.
"Who is we?" Damon demanded, placing his hands on his hips.
"Oh, me, Klaus, poor Rebekah, she looks like she's had a rough night. And Stefan," Caroline answered with a smirk.
"Do you really think that is such a good idea?" Damon asked. "To leave a house full of teens, unsupervised. What if someone calls the cops and tells them there are underage kids drinking? That could get messy. You might want to stick around to make sure nothing like that happens." For some reason I got the sense that Damon was threatening his sister as they stood close to each other with Rebekah between them.
"I can take her," I said, moving to take my friend. For some reason I had a bad feeling that if these two started fighting that Rebekah might be hurt if she were in the middle.
Damon nodded, handing my friend over to me. "Yeah. I think I'll be the one to take them home. I'll be back before you know that I was gone," he said. Again he gave Caroline a look that seemed more like a warning than anything else.
Caroline stood there, not uttering a word, with her arms folded over her chest. She did not even wish me a good night. Turning her back on us, she walked over to the door and twisted the knob, I heard a crack and I was sure she had just broken the lock. That would be impossible, right? Then I saw her drop the knob to the ground where it rolled into the grass. Flinging the door wide open, Caroline entered and I was reminded of a predator approaching its prey.
"Let's go," Damon called to me and I turned back to him. He looked like he would hit someone as he helped Stefan to his feet and walked around to a garage.
"Is…" I had no idea what to ask when Damon looked back at me with a frown that made my blood chill. "Never mind," I muttered.
Damon dropped us all off at my house because I did not want to be alone in the car with him while Stefan slept soundly nor did I want Rebekah left alone with this guy. Yes, he saved me from that other guy but that did not mean he had earned my trust just yet. "Thanks for the ride," I called to him when Jenna came out.
"Hey, did you enjoy the party?" she asked us.
"Aunt Jenna," Stefan cried, moving toward her and nearly knocking her over.
"Some more than others," I told her. Looking back, I saw Damon had driven off without so much a good-bye. Must be a family trait.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Answer to guest review:
Guest; Thank you and I'm sorry it took so long to write the second chapter. :/
Peace,
Jessica