Beauty and the Immortal
Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners
Chapter 2: The Dark Knight
Caroline leaned against a tree as she watched Klaus teach Henrik how to hunt. They'd never catch whatever it was given the noise the younger boy was making. Klaus knew it but he let Henrik crouch low, tongue peeking out from the corner of his lips as he frowned in concentration while he tiptoed toward the target. Caroline wanted to intervene but she didn't want to risk annoying the only two people who actually didn't mind her there, especially since it's been almost a month and she still has not found a way back to her own time.
She sighed inwardly as she decided it was a good thing Henrik took longer than usual to learn this particular lesson on stealth. Caroline was not looking forward to going back to the house. She would gladly take this over Rebekah's incessant questioning, or Elijah's suspicion or the watchful eyes of Esther. Then there was Finn who seemed almost afraid of her and Kol who had almost figured out her secret more times than she was comfortable with. Caroline didn't even know where to begin with Mikael, the ticking time bomb that studiously ignored her existence but seemed to wait only for a trigger to lash out.
Klaus turned around to smile at Caroline, falling back a few steps to stand beside her. "I know, I know, I'd be better off just teaching my brother to set a trap. But…"
"You can't find it in you to break his heart and tell him he's horrible at this?" Caroline supplied in a whisper.
Klaus shook his head, suppressing a smile, "No…it's because this is the perfect excuse to bring him out here…away from our neighbors."
"Of course, how can I forget? They are such a delight to be around." Caroline said tiredly, remembering all the glares and cold looks she received after being introduced to them. Granted there was no name yet for her kind at this point but the enmity was there. She was not a friend to the werewolves and even in their human form they could sense that. Klaus picked up on it but never really said a word and instead just made sure she never had to spend time with them. "I'm just glad it's not yet the full moon."
"It doesn't matter." Klaus said. "It's not safe for Henrik to be around them."
Upon mention of his name, Henrik tripped as if on cue. Klaus rushed to his brother's side when he heard a small whimper. Henrik tried to hide his pain but he hissed painfully as Klaus tried to examine the wound on his leg.
"Come on, let's get you home." Klaus said as he tried to pick up Henrik.
"No!" Henrik protested. "We need to clear out the traps and bring home what they caught. Father will be angry if we don't."
"You're hurt. We should get back. I'll deal with Father." Klaus said determinedly, faltering only slightly at his last statement.
"No, brother." Henrik insisted. "Just be quick. Caroline can stay with me."
Klaus looked the blood on his brother's leg then at Caroline, silently asking if she could handle it knowing her…weakness when it came to blood, having witnessed her feed once before.
Caroline merely rolled her eyes at Klaus and sat down next to Henrik. "Go. We'll be fine, right Henrik?"
Henrik nodded and waved away his brother. Klaus relented and looked at his brother straight in the eyes. "Yell really loudly if there's any danger. Do you hear me? Caroline…please."
"Give me a little credit." Caroline said shooing him away. "Go."
"I'll be back soon." Klaus clenched his fists, his jaw tight as he hesitated then turned around to leave.
Henrik waited until they were alone before he turned to Caroline. "He can be quite protective…but it doesn't mean he doesn't trust you. He does. It's just that he's extra cautious this close to the full moon."
"He does, Henrik. But this isn't about the full moon." Caroline said quietly. "It's not the only danger around. Your brother is wise to recognize that."
"You wouldn't hurt me, even if you can." Henrik said with a smile. "I know you're strong and not…not quite like everyone else. But you are no danger to me."
"What makes you so sure?" Caroline said raising her eyebrows.
"Because you would not betray my brother like that." Henrik said simply. "It's nice to see someone protective of Niklaus for a change. Far too often, it is the other way around. He spares my feelings far more than he should."
Caroline smiled, "I think he's not ready for you to grow up just yet but you're already aware of your realities, aren't you?"
"I cannot hunt as well as my siblings. I cannot even fight better than Rebekah, who knows her way around a blade even if Father forbid her to learn how to use one." Henrik said quietly.
Caroline nudged his shoulder with hers, "You're smart. Believe me that's going to get you to win fights someday."
"Maybe." Henrik said thoughtfully as Klaus approached. "But it might not be enough to save my life."
"This way." Klaus whispered urgently. "We need to get back before they notice we're gone."
"I should have worn my pants today. Where are we going anyway?" Caroline asked as she kept her hand firmly in Klaus' as they weaved through the trees.
"You'll see." Klaus said, his eyes locked on the path ahead of them. "It's worth it, I promise."
"It better be." Caroline said. "Are you sure we can't do this on a night that's not a full moon? We're just a tad too far for a quick run, even for someone like me."
"Feel free to turn back, Caroline." Klaus said with a small smile as he released her hand. "With or without you, I'm going…I'm not missing this. You shouldn't but I'm not going to force you."
Caroline looked up in exasperation and placed her hand in his again. "For future reference, flowers are just fine. Grand gestures, though welcome, are not required to get my attention."
Klaus smiled, "Now why would I do what everyone else is bound to do? I am no ordinary mortal, my lady. I do not intend to simply catch your attention, as you so put it."
"Do tell." Caroline played along, letting him link their arms together as the path cleared towards a ledge facing the open sky. "What are your intentions?"
Klaus said nothing but tugged on her hand. They walked right to the edge just as the shooting stars appeared, raining from the sky and illuminating the darkness.
"Wow." Caroline said, her eyes transfixed on the phenomenon, lifting her hand to the sky as if she could touch it from where they stood.
Klaus looked at her sideways, a soft smile on his face. "My intention, Caroline, is to see you smile everyday for the rest of our days."
Caroline said nothing but smiled as she continued to watch, shifting her hand so that it was entwined with Klaus'.
After a few seconds, Caroline squeezed his hand. "Thank you."
Klaus opened his mouth to speak when the clouds parted and revealed the full moon. A howl shattered the silence around them followed by a scream that tore Klaus' heart.
"Henrik." Klaus said, all the color draining from his face. "He….no…he didn't."
"Are you sure?" Caroline asked taking a step forward, wary about the danger they now faced.
"He's been so curious about the wolves." Klaus said as he finally got himself to move forward. "He cannot fight, Caroline. He cannot even run fast. I need to get to him."
"Wait. Let me listen. Just stand still." Caroline pulled him to a stop, letting her senses sharpen and take over as she gripped Klaus' hands. She scanned their surroundings, trying to listen and track down Henrik's location. She pointed to a worn down path to their left. "There. He's close but so are they. Run back. I'll get him. I can move fast enough even if I have to carry him."
"I won't run from a fight." Klaus said in a low voice, his jaw clenched.
"We don't have time to debate this." Caroline said through her teeth.
"Exactly." Klaus said leading the way. "If it comes down to it, then you take my brother and run. Don't look back. I'll make sure they don't follow."
Caroline shook her head angrily. "I'm not leaving you behind."
"If that's what it takes to save Henrik, we both know you'll do it." Klaus said softly, touching Caroline lightly on the arm.
"This isn't how the story should go." Caroline said holding back tears, hearing the wolves closing in.
Klaus gave her a small smile as they saw Henrik from a distance. "And pray tell, how is this story supposed to go."
Klaus blinked and opened his eyes to find Caroline already beside Henrik, examining the boy's leg. He ran the rest of the way and fell on his knees beside Henrik. "Are you alright?"
The boy didn't reply, whimpering in pain as tears streamed down his face. Caroline spoke up, "His leg is broken…he won't be able to run, much less walk."
Klaus looked into Caroline's eyes, "Take him and go. Now."
A low growl interrupted them, followed by another and another. They were surrounded by three grown werewolves; snarling and snapping, ready to pounce.
Klaus and Caroline stood up, backs to each other as they tried to keep Henrik out of sight.
"Can you still outrun them?" Klaus whispered in a low voice as he kept his eyes on the enemy before them, slowly pulling out a knife sheathed on his belt.
Caroline shook her head as she mirrored each step of the werewolf that faced her.
"Even if you run without us?" Klaus said slowly.
"I'm not leaving you." Caroline said automatically, her head whipping sharply to face him, surprised by the gentle look on his face.
"I will not hold it against you." Klaus said. "Save yourself."
Caroline reached down and pulled a knife from her boot. "I said I'm not leaving you. I've never abandoned a friend before and I'm not about to start now."
Klaus nodded once and before Caroline could react, he had thrown his knife straight through the air and hit one of the werewolves in the eye. Its howl of pain angered the other two, sending both charging towards them. Klaus picked up a thick branch and swung it toward one of the wolves. But the monster caught it with his teeth and bit into it then pulled it from his grip. It rushed towards Klaus, lifting its front paws from the ground to pounce but it stopped in midair when Caroline's own dagger sailed true to its heart. Klaus rushed towards Henrik just as Caroline catapulted over the werewolf in front of her, landing behind it. She wrestled with it, careful not to get close to its jaw as she fought to snap its neck. Caroline sighed when she heard the bone in her grip crack and the creature fell limp in her grasp.
Klaus propped Henrik against a rock and went to Caroline to check on her. It didn't even take five seconds but it was all that the last werewolf needed to pounce on the young boy to retaliate for the dagger in its eye. Klaus' vision went white with rage as howled and slammed into the werewolf, tackling it to the ground as he grabbed the hilt of the knife and twisted it in the monster's eye. The angered wolf tossed around but Klaus kept his grip, giving Caroline enough time to maneuver into the fight and plunge her hand into the creature's chest and pull out its heart.
The second the werewolf fell to the ground, Klaus ran to Henrik, placing his arms around the boy as he stared wildly at all the blood surrounding the boy.
"He's not breathing, Caroline." Klaus said shaking. "He's not breathing."
Another chorus of howls erupted around them. Caroline locked eyes with Klaus as she placed her hands on his face. "Listen to me. Take your brother and go. Run home as fast as you can. I will deal with the werewolves. He has a pulse, I can hear it, but it is very, very, very weak. Go, Klaus. Now."
Klaus nodded, trembling as he stood with Henrik in his arms. "Be safe, Caroline. Survive this. Please."
Caroline nodded, turning her back to them, choosing to face the danger than say goodbye. She heard them leave, running fast in the opposite direction. It was then she saw five pairs of eyes stare at her from the darkness. Without weapons, or any hope left, she crouched low and prepared to fight for her life.
They all leapt at her at the same time but none of them managed to touch her. The world around her stilled and all the sounds died away, muffled as if someone held their hands over her ears. The wolves clawed at an invisible wall between them. Caroline didn't question it but chose instead to run after Klaus and Henrik. She ran and ran, briefly wondering just how far she was that she still couldn't see them. She was moving faster than she ever had but the woods seemed endless and the night had already begun to give way to dawn.
Without warning the scene around her changed and she found herself right behind Klaus, who carried the lifeless body of Henrik towards their family. Klaus laid down the body of his brother then sat on the ground, knees to his chest as he rocked back in forth in his grief. Caroline reached out to him and found she could not touch him. She screamed his name as loud as she could but no one could hear her. Caroline tried to hit him, shake him or just hold him but nothing worked. When he stood up and ran to the woods, she followed and kept pace with him as he ran in circles, tears running down his face without end.
"Where are you? Where? Where?" Klaus muttered over and over until he stopped suddenly and picked up something from the ground—a piece of cloth soaked in blood.
Caroline's fingers brushed against her leg and found that he held part of his dress. She watched as he fell to his knees, lifted his face to the heavens and let out a silent scream that pierced through her.
"I'm right here, Klaus." Caroline sobbed, trying in vain to get his attention, to just know she was there with him. "I'm okay. I'm right here."
In the end, she simply chose to sit next to him in silence until his shoulders stopped shaking, and his breathing didn't sound like he was chasing air. She watched him run out of tears, curl into a fetal position as if it would keep reality from touching him.
"It's time to go, child. You do not belong here."
Caroline turned to the voice with a frown. "Who are you? Why can you see me?"
"I am Ayana," the woman said gently, "I have come to help send you back to your time. At least, I hope to try. Much change has already been brought about by your presence here. I only wish I could have known sooner."
"Wait, can't you send me back a day first? Save Henrik…save Klaus from all this pain." Caroline said her eyes on the man that lay still on the ground. "I can change this."
"No, child." Ayana said firmly. "Henrik was not meant to survive this. Changing that will not help Niklaus. The consequences are too dire to imagine."
"Please." Caroline asked but Ayana shook her head. "At least let me say goodbye. Don't let me leave like this…with him thinking I'm dead."
"This is how it must be." Ayana said. The witch waved her hands and Caroline's protests were drowned out by whirlwind that enveloped her, crushing her until everything went dark and all thought abandoned her.
Caroline woke to rain falling softly on her face. She struggled to stand, slipping a few times on the slippery ground. She looked around and saw a light by the edge of the road. By the looks of it she still wasn't in Mystic Falls and still in a different time. Caroline sighed and trudged towards the house. She knocked on the door and called out.
"Hello? Anybody home?"
The lights inside immediately went out and windows shut almost instantaneously.
"Okaaaay." Caroline said as she stepped back into the rain and moved towards the next house she could see.
She was rejected exactly ten times, none of the residents even daring to speak to her, before she reached the mansion at the end of the road. The path wound up to a driveway that led straight to a massive structure that was ablaze with, what Caroline could only assume, ten thousand candles.
She raised her hand to knock but the door opened before she made contact. Caroline went in and was about to call out when someone slammed into her and moved behind her, holding a knife to her throat.
"Vampires are not allowed passage into this town unless I give my permission…and I don't recall granting you one, stranger. You have exactly 60 seconds to convince me why I shouldn't saw off your head with my blade."
"Klaus." Caroline whispered. She felt him go still against her, his shock radiating through his body.
"No." Klaus whispered. He spun her around and pushed her away. "This is impossible. I saw…no…no."
"It's me." Caroline said slowly, walking towards him with careful steps. "It's me…Caroline."
"No!" Klaus screamed as he threw the knife towards her and pinned her against the wall as the tip of the blade caught on her sleeve. "You are not her! She is dead, doppelganger!"
"I am not a doppelganger!" Caroline said. "Look at my clothes! Klaus, look at me. Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence that I look exactly as I did the last time you saw me?"
"A mere deception. Your kind is quite cunning. I've learned that lesson the hard way with Katerina." Klaus hissed. "Did she send you? Did she?!"
"What? Katherine? She's here?" Caroline asked confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Do not lie to me!" Klaus roared in her face. Caroline matched his stare, not blinking or even moving just a fraction as they watched each other. She waited out the seconds and the minutes until Klaus took a step back.
"Klaus." Caroline started, waiting for him to interrupt. He didn't so she continued. "You asked me that day how this story was supposed to go. I never got to answer you, did I?"
Caroline kept her eyes on him as she pulled the knife from the wall. She turned the knife so that the hilt was extended to Klaus. "No, I never heard an answer. And it doesn't matter anymore. That man you claim to know is long dead. He died when his brother did. And if there was anything left, it was eviscerated when his mother turned him into a monster. I am no longer human. I no longer care."
"Then why do are you looking at me like you want me to prove you wrong?" Caroline whispered, placing the knife in his hand. "It's me, Klaus. How many shooting stars will it take for you to believe me?"
His resolve began to crumble but he steeled himself and turned away from her.
"You can stay for the night. But be gone by the morning." Klaus said coldly as he turned to walk away from her. "You are not Caroline. I have mourned her loss for centuries…I mourn still. I am not foolish to fall for your lies. I will not live through that kind of pain again. I will rip out your heart to save myself from having to see your face again and be reminded of what I lost. Be gone by morning or you will not live past it."