Rebekah was tired. Her mother had betrayed her trust, taken over her body and she nearly died in the process of getting freed. Now her brother had taken off with this stupid Doppelganger, and so he had left her, too. She had no idea where Kol and Elijah were, but mostly she had no idea what she was going to do with herself. Those were Rebekah's thoughts upon entering her so-called home.
Then she felt them. Two presences. One, she would recognize from anywhere. It was Nik. So he had not left her. The other, took a little longer to recognize, but quickly enough she knew that apparently Caroline Forbes was here as well. That intrigued her. She sped upstairs calling after her brother. "Nik….?".
As she entered his room she took in the sight of Caroline, chained up in the middle of his room and exhausted beyond believe. "Well, what do we have here? Did my brother bring home a new pet?" she teased.
Caroline looked up at Rebekah, slowly lifting her head, after two days of blood withdrawal that took a lot of energy out of her. "Go. Away". She spat out.
"Well, my my… how impolite. After all, you are in my home, not the other way round?". Rebekah flashed in front of the girl, taking in the obvious withdrawal signs. Her skin had paled unhealthily, she looked tired and even such a small gesture like tilting up her neck was exhausting.
"Let me guess, if my dear brother has not fed you blood, he probably has not kept you on vervain either, right?"
Caroline's eyes grew wide. She was genuinely afraid.
"Don't worry, tell me where Nik is, and I won't compel you .. at least not right now."
"I don't know." Caroline whispered. That was true. After waking up and that brief conversation, he had spent most of the day gone. And he had not returned since. He literally had left here hanging in there for almost two days without making any appearance, for which Caroline was gratefull, but she doubted Rebekah would believe her.
"You mean to tell me that my brother just chained you up in his bedroom and left? Well.. if you insist on being difficult, then I guess I have no other choice, do I?". Rebekah was just toying with the girl, she knew where her brother was. In his study. But she was curious to compel Caroline into telling her all about her brother's mischief with her. If she herself felt bad, why should not Caroline feel bad as well?
"No, please.." but Rebekah had already gripped her neck and her pupils were dilating slowly.
Then the Caroline's phone rang.
Klaus had placed it on the nightstand next to his bed, and it had been constantly ringing or at least beeping with a message and Caroline was pretty sure, Klaus counted on her friends failing attempts at contacting her to add to her growing frustration.
Rebekah went to answer the Phone. "Hello, Elena…" In a split second Klaus sped in, grabbed the phone and heard Elena's voice on the other end of the line. "Where is she, what have you done with Caroline?".
"Well, sweetheart, she is with me of course. As to what I have done to her? So far nothing, as a matter of fact I have been a rather perfect host, or at least I am trying to be… she is being difficult at the moment. You know how she is." He said nonchalantly.
Caroline glared at her.
"Klaus?... What the… I thought we had a deal. Listen I will come with you, and we can leave town, just like you had originally planned. She has nothing to do with this…"
"So your precious Salvatores are actually going to LET you leave… with me? Without a back-up plan like killing or deterring me?". He had sent his hybrids out, he knew that the brothers were not letting Elena out of their sight 24/7."It's alright, we'll take that trip some other time. Those brothers will slip up eventually, but until then, I am pretty sure Caroline here will be delighted to keep me company." Elena started to sob, just a little.
"Wait, let me talk to her… Please."
"No." he simply stated and hung up.
"Hello, love." He said walking up to Caroline, the ever-present smirk stretching across his face. Caroline just glared.
"What is she doing here?" Rebekah asked.
"Well, right now we're hanging out.", he chuckled, gently stroking Caroline's cheek, who as per usual, tried to back away.
"And the blood withdrawal…?" Rebekah inquired.
"I needed some sort of method to put her focus on all the things she has – deep down in her precious little dead heart – in common with me. And with you. Those damn Salvatores really did a bad job in teaching her."
Then she understood. "You want to make her a ripper? .. HER?" Rebekah raised an eyebrow. Caroline Forbes was plenty. Plenty annoying, mostly. And way too pretty. She was a wanna-be-human vampire… not a killing machine .
"Only for a couple of decades… just long enough for to embrace her inner monster. Just enough for her to stop being so… unforgiving about my past. Any more questions, or would you care to leave me to my little project?".
" I am just glad you haven't left yet." She went to the door and turned, with a mean smile. "Have fun, Caroline."
After Klaus heard the door close behind him, he slowly lifted Caroline's chin. "So… how is your little diet plan going for you?" he chuckled.
"Get away from me." She hissed, her voice still hoarse.
"I've already been away from you, but I figured a couple of nights of me sleeping in my study should be enough for you to settle in and adjust. Tonight I really prefer my own bed, in my room."
"You mean… here?"…
"Correct, besides how can you expect me to stay away from you… when you and those hungry eyes of yours are so enticing right now? You must be starving, sweetheart. Tell me, how hungry are you… really?" He inhaled the scent of her hair.
She knew he already knew that answer. Blood or rather the fear of starvation was taking over her brain, has been for almost a day now. She even had imagined biting Rebekah, and now, with Klaus and his warm blood being so freaking close… she could not imagine not biting him. Her gums hurt like hell, her throat was dry. About every five minutes she tried struggling against her restraints, mostly out of frustration and unfulfilled craving. She needed blood, badly, and they both knew it.
It took all of her determination to choke out. "I am not hungry, thank you for asking though."
Klaus let out a sigh, then a smile reappeared on his face "Suit yourself, love. I on the other hand am hungry, so I will go and get myself a snack. See you tonight.".
He planted a quick kiss on her jaw, surprising her with his speed… and left.
3 hours later, he came back. In his company were three girls. Two blondes and one redhead. The blondes had both hazel eyes, and the redhead had blue eyes. She knew he had them compelled when he said " This is Caroline, don't mind her, for the moment she is just part of the interior design." She scowled at that.
She watched Klaus as he sat himself on his bed. The first blond crawled up behind him and slowly gave him a massage, while the other sat on his bed and offered him her neck. He did not immediately bite into it, instead he grabbed the massaging one's arm and gently bit into her vein. "Keep on doing what you were doing, dear, never mind that little scratch.", he purred as the blood kept flowing from her arm, filling the room with its scent. From the corner of his eye, he watched Caroline's reaction. She held in her breath and closed her eyes, trying hard to ignore the aroma that filled the air and what it did to her hunger. "Care for some redhead love?", he asked, pointing at the girl that was leaning against the door, waiting for her turn.
"Sorry, still not hungry" she managed to get out. He smiled at her stubbornness, but they both knew her hunger was painfully obvious.
Klaus proceeded to slowly drain the second blond, while the other was slowly massaging him as well as bleeding to death. He deliberately wanted to waste that one, not drink from her, just waste all her blood; he knew the thought would drive Caroline even further over the edge.
When both of the blondes were dead, he slowly approached the redhead, gently pushed her long hair away from her neck and then he just tore into her.
Caroline's eyes opened at the scream. She took in the sight of Klaus, his shirt all soaked in his masseur's blood and red stains around his mouth. For a second he stopped and flashed himself and his prey right in front of Caroline. The he had it again. He bit into the poor redhead like he – not Caroline – was the one on the brink of starvation, causing her to scream and fight. Caroline cried along with her.
"Stop it, please.". He just grinned at her and continued, dropping the girl only when she was dead.
Then he locked his gaze with hers. It was like a silent stand-off. His eyes taunting her about not being able to win this one, while also begging her to let him help her. It was mixture of victory and genuine care that he could not suppress. As much as he enjoyed his game and as intent as he was on winning it, he missed her smile and he sensed that she not only needed blood badly, but also rather soon. Her eyes on the other hand told him how desperate and terrified she was getting, but also how she was going to fight him. This. He could see how it took all of her self-control and all of her energy to resist her urge for blood, and he slightly admired her for that.
None of them had noticed Rebekah coming in until she said "Wow… and apparently poor little Caroline had none of all that fun." Rebekah smiled. Not because she particularly enjoyed seeing Caroline in distress, although she was slightly amused, but because her brother was not yet gone and the blonde seemingly was going to keep him around for a little while longer. Rebekah was just not ready to loose all of her family yet, so she was thankful for Caroline. Something that distracted Nik from leaving.
Klaus smirked at Caroline and turned to Rebekah. "You are right. Quite the pity, isn't it?".
He hunched down towards the fresh red-headed corpse and pressed his left thumb into her wound until it was soaked in blood. His right hand, he put on Caroline's neck, pulling her even closer towards him. Then, he pressed the blood-covered thumb gently onto her lips.
Caroline shook her head, but his grip on her was stronger. Of course, it was. "Have at it, love" he whispered.
The thirst was stronger this time. She had not had blood in days, but Klaus had made sure that at the moment its scent was everywhere, intoxicating and taunting her. Before she had even comprehended the response of her body, she was licking the blood off his thumb. It only took her a few seconds, but when she was done she stared at him in shock.
"See, doesn't taste that bad after all, does it?". The he crushed his lips onto hers. He couldn't help it. This victorious feeling, the way she had worked on his thumb and the proximity to her, it was all too much: he needed release. At least he needed to taste the blood on her lips. And she kissed him back. He knew that it was probably her body reacting to all that blood on his lips, but he was sure it would take her all night to come to the same conclusion.
Suddenly Caroline bit him. It had taken her a while to process what she was doing, and she felt horrible, because she knew she had played right into his hands by kissing him back, but she was not going down without some sort of fight.
He glared at her, and then chuckled. "Still hungry, right?" Of course, she'd be. "Well, as much fun as that was, I think we'll stop for tonight. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to tell my hybrids to clean up all of this mess, and then I think it's bedtime." He gave her a peck on the cheek, and slowly left the room.
Rebekah just stared at Caroline in disbelieve. Either that girl was getting desperate or was braver than she had thought, because when she saw her brother after that girl's bite, she was sure he would seriously hurt her. She did not realize she was thinking out loud before she heard herself ask "Why don't you just give in? It's just a little blood after all?".
It took Caroline a while to utter a response, she was still too much in her own head, mad and disgusted with herself over that kiss, furious at Klaus and helpless at that growing red thirst in her throat. Her gums were still hurting and her frustration was reaching its boiling point, while her body as getting weaker and weaker due to the denial in nutrition.
"Because it's the right thing to do." She had no wittier response. Not in her current state.
Rebekah quietly shook her head and left.
After having ordered his hybrids to clean the room, Klaus had returned to his study and was already sketching away. He thought this small victory would make him happy, but he was quite sure that the smirk on his face only stemmed from that brief physical contact with her. His patience was starting to lack, so he would have to speed up his game. The sooner she gave up on her silly notion of humanity, the sooner she would grasp him and what he could offer her, and he had a feeling in his guts, that only then the real fun would begin. It seemed the more he made her crave for blood, the more he longed for her. The stakes were rising, not just for her but also for him.
So... I hope you guys like it, I am a little nervous about this chapter. If you do like it, wait for chapter III: Tyler will attempt to save Caroline. And Klaus will take advantage of that. ... :-)
