Hey guys! Two new chapters today! Time for the vampire party. Also a one thing I want to mention: I'm sure some of you actually live in NYC or are pretty familiar with it, I have to let you know I've only been there ONCE and am basically taking all my descriptions from it on my vague memory or things that I can google. So sorry for any inaccuracies. Let me know what you guys think!

Cheers!

Caroline stood in the loft of the hotel room and gazed down at the party below. She was dressed in a black and gold cocktail dress, another one of Rebecca's outfits. Her blonde curls hung elegantly down her back. Klaus had insisted she look her best. It turned out that he was right. The vampires in Manhattan were very different than the ones she knew in Mystic Falls. They were different from anyone she had ever met period.

The room was filled with about a dozen or so vampires, men and women. All them were dressed to the nines; expensive designer dresses and button-up silk shirts. Most looked to be about 25 or around that, which was how old Klaus always looked to her. Caroline wondered how old most of them actually were.

From where she stood, hiding in the loft, she could hear every word that was spoken. She figured out from conversation that these vampires knew exactly who Klaus was. Apparently they all worshipped him as if he were some sort of god. They all fawned over him as if they had been waiting centuries for his grand return. She rolled her eyes at the stupid display and stayed in her perch up in the loft. There was no way she was going to be joining them.

Klaus's eyes flicked up to where Caroline stood above. She was sulking. But he could tell she was also afraid, even though she was doing her best to hide it. It was obvious in the way she chewed her lip as she studied everyone below. Caroline was still a young vampire. Without her friends at her side, she seemed to lose some of her confidence. Little did she know no one here would dare touch her. They all thought she belonged to Klaus. None of them would risk such a social faux pas or the threat of being torn to shreds if they made the wrong move towards her. That was all the Manhattan vampires cared about anyway: social standing and appearance. He had barely listened to the vampire in front of him drivel on about charities and galas and red carpets. These vampires had become so humanized. It was rather unsettling.

His eyes unconsciously flicked back up to Caroline. She looked exquisite tonight. Gorgeous was the word that had come to him earlier when he kept stealing glances, as she got ready. Klaus wasn't normally much of a voyeur, but watching her was ever so fascinating. The way she made sure every curl was in exactly the right place or that her makeup was perfect. She'd straightened and wiped at her dressed at least a hundred times before she was satisfied with the way she looked. Still her eyes had held some disappointment when she beheld herself in the mirror. As if all her effort still hadn't gotten her the result she wanted. Did she not realize how alluring she truly was?

Klaus shook his head. Why was he thinking about this? Thinking about Caroline in this way. Well it didn't mean anything. He had noticed beautiful women before. In fact he had surely seen women much prettier women than her in his thousand-year existence. Although, none were coming to mind at the moment.

"Well I have this fabulous makeup artist on staff, she applies old age makeup on my face flawlessly. The humans can't even tell that it's not real. That usually buys me about 5-10 years and then I head off to Europe somewhere to 'die' and leave my inheritance to a mysterious unknown daughter, which is of course me" Klaus caught the end of the woman's story. She laughed obnoxiously at her own joke. He hadn't been really listening to her go on about her continued existence in both the human and vampire worlds. But he nodded and smiled politely.

"Well, vampirism has seemed to have changed a lot in the past few decades," Klaus implied.

"Yes Niklaus, it is essential we all mingle with the humans. Those lone vampires of the south really don't know what they are doing." The woman Claudia, whose name he finally recalled, scoffed.

"Niklaus, I notice your attention seems to be elsewhere this evening," the vampire man across from him flicked his eyes up to where Caroline stood.

"Forgive me Charles, if I am being rude," Klaus replied.

"Not at all my lord. She must be quite a special vampire to deserve your attention," Charles offered.

"Special. Indeed." Klaus repeated, a hint of sarcasm slipping into his voice.

Klaus nodded at Caroline to come down, but she turned her head and disappeared away from the bannister. Klaus frowned at her disobedience in front of his guests. Not that he had anything to prove to any of these creatures.

"If you'll allow me my lord," Charles gave Klaus a slight nod and headed up the stairs towards Caroline. Klaus watched the audacious vampire with careful eyes as he made his way up the steps.

Caroline sat on the bed. Her legs and arms crossed in irritation. The nerve of Klaus! Nodding at her to come down as if she were his beck and call girl. She had no inclination to go down and mingle with those awful people who worshipped him and only seemed to be able to talk about their insipid vampire lives in Manhattan.

Just then, one of the vampires who Klaus had been talking to came up the steps and around to the bedroom area. She felt uneasy at this new presence. He walked towards her, an easy smile on his flawless face.

"Good evening," he said to her, "nice party." Caroline just nodded at him. "I'm Charles VanStatten. And you are?"

Charles stretched his hand out to Caroline. She eyed him for a moment and then took it. "Caroline. Caroline Forbes."

"Very nice to meet you Caroline Forbes." Charles stepped back and leaned against the half-wall of the loft. Caroline continued to observe him warily. He was tall with dark hair and dark eyes. In fact he kind of reminded her of Damon a little bit. Based on his looks, they could be distant cousins or something. Except Charles' brown bangs hung down around his eyes. Clearly he was the kind of guy who would spend hours in front of the mirror making himself look artfully disheveled. "So what's a lovely woman like you doing all the way up here by herself?"

Caroline snorted at the lame line. "I don't know anyone here."

"Where are you from Caroline?"

"Virginia. Mystic Falls."

"I haven't heard of it."

"Well it's pretty small. That's not surprising." Caroline's tone was light. Not exactly friendly, but Charles seemed nice enough. She felt herself relax a little as the conversation went on.

"Ah, small town girl. This is your first time in Manhattan isn't it?" Charles smiled at her. Caroline simply nodded again. "The trick is to just dive in. Pretend like your some heiress or something and that everyone should know you. The key is, always leave them wanting more."

"I'll remember that." Caroline replied.

Charles pushed off the wall and walked over to her, offering her his arm. "Come on, I'll show you. I promise no one will bite."

She laughed slightly at his corny joke and took his arm. He led her down the stairs and into the party. A few heads turned their way as they came down, including Klaus's. The easy smile on his face seemed to drop a bit at the sight of her, but she tried to brush it off. He should be happy she finally came down.

Charles brought her into the crowd and introduced her to a couple of the other vampires in the party. One was his sister, Claudia, who Klaus had been speaking with earlier. Claudia was the spitting image of her brother. Perhaps they were twins. She was seemed nice too but a little bit narcissistic. She complimented Caroline's dress and seemed utterly fascinated by her small-town life. Caroline wasn't sure if this was due to genuine curiosity or if she was mainly trying to make fun of her. Another vampire she met was Emile. After meeting him, Caroline figured out that he was pretty much the leader of the group in Manhattan. He was older looking, slightly graying, and distinguished. Caroline wondered how long this man had been a vampire.

Everyone in the group turned their attention to the door as a few new guests entered. In walked another vampire that everyone seemed to be familiar with and behind him were five human girls.

"Oh good. The food has finally arrived," Claudia squealed, emptying her champagne glass.

Caroline became very nervous. She watched as Claudia, and a few other vampires, took the humans off to the sides and began feeding off of them. Right in front of them! Treating these people like they were a punch bowl or a tray of finger foods. She had never been around anything like this before. It was disgusting. She quickly excused herself and headed out towards the balcony.

She stepped out the sliding glass door and over to the edge of the balcony, trying her best to ignore the call of fresh blood as she slipped away. The balcony was also much larger than a normal hotel balcony. It really was more of a deck really, with comfy lounge chairs, a pool table, and another bar. The wind was a bit chilly as it whipped its way across her skin. It didn't bother her though. Things like heat and cold didn't really matter to a vampire. The view of the city was breath taking. Sure it was noisy and a bit smelly and so different from Mystic Falls, but the lights and the energy were beautiful.

Caroline heard the door slid open and shut behind her. Someone had joined her out on the balcony.

"The new party favors making you a bit queasy love?" Klaus said sidling up next to her. He leaned far over the railing like he was daring himself to fall over.

"I don't feed from humans," Caroline affirmed.

'Don't tell me you're one of those boring vampires who only hunt squirrels and other woodland animals."

"No, but I choose not to prey on innocent people." Caroline continued to look away from him and out at the nightlife.

"I noticed you talking with Charles quite a bit," Klaus observed.

"Jealous?" Caroline teased.

Klaus scoffed, "Not in the slightest darling. You may speak to whomever you please, but I'd be careful how much you reveal about yourself or your life in Mystic Falls to these vamps. Wouldn't want them to go poking around would you?"

"Is that more for your benefit or mine?" She challenged raising her eyebrows at him. He turned to look at her, his tone very serious.

"Well that depends. They go poking around, find out about the doppelganger, that would be bad for both us. And also considering the history your little town has had with vampires would you really want to add this group to the books?"

Caroline grimaced. He had a point. Shoot. Well hopefully she hadn't already blabbed too much.

"No matter how much this city changes it is still absolutely beautiful," Klaus murmured, gazing out at the buildings.

"Yeah that's what I was just thinking," Caroline agreed, "I mean I know people always say that in the city you can't see the stars, there's no fresh air, blah blah but god if it isn't amazing in it's on way."

Klaus chuckled at her lightly. He watched the lights reflect across her face as the gentle breeze whipped her curls around. "Absolutely."

"Seeing this, the night time, looking at it all from far away. This place seems perfect. Right now seems perfect," Caroline spoke almost dreamily. She glanced over at Klaus, who was looking at her intently. "You know, except for being here with you."

"Oh of course. Of course except for me," Klaus nodded sarcastically and looked away from her again. His arm brushed against hers lightly. He found himself laughing again for a moment.

Caroline couldn't help but laugh along too. It was weird. Twelve hours ago she was waking up in a car hating him and now here she was joking around with him. She stole another glance at him out of the corner of her eye. He just sipped his champagne and looked out into the night. He seemed to be far away in thought. She wondered for a moment if he even remembered that there was a party going on right behind him. The partiers were still enthralled with the human treats.

"Well," Klaus said pushing away from the balcony, "I suppose I should go back in. Wouldn't want to disappoint my generous guests by denying their gifts would I?" He winked at Caroline. She rolled her eyes and watched him go back inside. Soon he was getting acquainted with a blonde human girl, before setting his teeth to her throat.

Caroline decided to remain outside. She had had enough of the party for tonight. She slid off her heels and lowered herself into one of the large, comfy lounge chairs, facing it outward away from everyone. It had been such a long day. Kidnappings and museums and wars and history and vampire glitterati and Klaus. Klaus. Soon Caroline drifted peacefully off to sleep.

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Also, I updated with chapter 4 today too so enjoy!