Croatia 1510

"I don't believe you." she said smugly and pushed the beautiful wall of curls behind her shoulders.

Elijah smiled walking next to the angel who graced his company. "I tell nothing but the truth Tatia."

She gave him a sweet smile but her eyes were mischievous. "Prove it my Lord."

Elijah shook his head still astonished with her usual ways. "I would bring shame to my family Tatia if I indulged in your every wish."

She laughed and twirled around in her beautiful intricate dress, just like a little girl would but there was nothing of innocence about Tatia and Elijah knew this better than anyone.

She waited until he was close enough to her and then whispered. "If you don't please me my Lord, then who will?"

The older Mikaelson accused the meaning behind her words. "You belong next to my brother now Tatia." he reminded her once again.

Tatia came too close for a woman of respect to stand with a man who was not her promised one. "I am with him but I don't belong with him, I belong with you my Lord Elijah and yet I am not with you. How sweet and bitter is our irony."

"It is not irony that I have to see you with my brother every day Tatia, it is my constant torment reminding me of what was once mine."

She wasn't smiling because he wasn't either and walked with him in silence now, at least they had these morning walks when she pretended he was courting her and waiting to steal a kiss from her.


Present Mystic Falls

Stefan handed a glass of bourbon to Caroline and sat across her, he looked around his living room. "I see that you kept the house style, I expected a lot of pink when I returned."

She smiled tapping the glass but not drinking from it. "It's hard enough keeping this huge house under control as it is, but thank you for letting me stay here."

He gave her that sweet Stefan smile and stroked her knee. "How are you holding up?"

Caroline pressed her lips into a thin line. "She still makes my life pretty unbearable and Tyler showed up today saying he still loved me…" she shook her head. "If only I could get past the vivid image of Hayley riding him in his bed, we could pick up exactly where we ended, planning a June wedding."

Stefan lowered his head piercing her with his intense stare. "You can fool everyone else but not me. You still love him."

Caroline moved her teeth clicking them against each other. "I don't know if it's love... he was everything Stefan and then he was nothing… I thought we were meant to be, perfect mates and all."

"You have a lot of years ahead of you, werewolves aren't like vampires but you will still outlive a lot of your friends and during that time you will find your perfect match."

Caroline pulled her eyebrows together in suspicion. "Are you dating anyone? You have that one true love look on your face… it's similar to the, I'm your best friend and I just care for you look but only shinier."

Stefan laughed. "Caroline... I really missed you gorgeous."

He stood up which only made her open her mouth and point at him. "Don't you gorgeous me… spill."

Stefan went for a drink and then faced her with a big smile.

"Oh my God!" she stood up as well, excited and forgetting about her gloomy mood at once.

"I met someone." he said touching the back of his neck. "And she's a vampire."

Caroline touched her chest. "Is she pretty? Forget that, I'm sure she is." she rolled her eyes.

"She's… beautiful and fun and intense…"

Caroline gave him a naughty smile. "So the sex is amazing."

Stefan gave her a serious look in return and had his drink.

Caroline giggled. "Oh come on, I need details. I need to forget how awful and dreadful my romantic life is."

Stefan sat down on the sofa, he stretched his arm over it, his firm arm showed the muscles under the tight buttoned white shirt. "I met her in Central America during one of my expeditions, she was ranting in the middle of the road over a flat tire and throwing all these charming not so lady like names at the poor woman on the other side of her expensive phone."

Caroline had that romantic look on her face now as well and sighed. "You were the hero."

"I changed the tire and we started talking… it kind of happened fast. I met her again a few nights later in town and we had a few drinks… one thing led to another and we've been travelling the world together."

Caroline had her drink slowly. "I hate you, I'm just going to put that out there. You went away and found love while I was stuck in here and miserable."

Stefan straightened himself. "I'm sorry I left but I couldn't stay in town while Damon was a loose bullet." he leaned over playing with the drink in his hand.

"Have you heard from him?" she asked in a whisper.

Stefan shook his head. "He left this town believing he had his revenge. Because I left as well, he thinks he was successful and that I went away to mourn my friends."

Caroline trapped her bottom lip with her teeth. "If he ever finds out that we tricked him…"

"He won't but if he ever comes back, I will deal with him Caroline. Permanently this time."

She looked down on the floor and finished her drink, not that she wasn't happy to have her best friend back but his presence also stirred up a lot of memories she wanted to keep buried.


Bonnie finished her text message and sneaked another look at the bar, the two handsome men were still here, talking and laughing.
She didn't know the other tall young man who arrived later but she knew the sneaky model-looking vampire who occasionally searched her table with his devil stare.

It was in one of these moments that they weren't fast enough to avert each other and were caught in a long gaze.
But Bonnie rather focus on something else, she utterly refused to think of how hard she scratched his back in pleasure.

Thankfully one of the Sheriff Deputies arrived, the young blonde nodded at the boy behind the counter and then walked towards the bathroom hallway.
He gave Bonnie a small look and she waited a few seconds before following him.

The young Deputy, not much older than her and Caroline waited in the discrete hall for her.

"Did you get it?" she asked him at once.

"I could get into trouble for this Bonnie."

She smiled at him. "No one will ever know that you got me this Matt."

The blue-eyed boy wasn't too convinced but he owed Caroline for getting him this job, he knew how close Bonnie was to her so this was a small way of paying her back, he handed Bonnie a folded paper that he took from his green parka.

"Thank you Matt." she took the paper a bit shaken by the vital information inside.

"Just promise me that you won't go alone. Don't do anything stupid Bonnie." he said in his slow husky voice.

She nodded putting the paper away without looking at it.

Matt stroked her arm smiling. "Don't make me regret helping you." he warned again before leaving, he stopped before he bumped into a man who came in their direction but looking at his phone.

"Oh, sorry mate… I didn't see you there." he apologized casually.

"That's ok." Matt inspected the stranger, he knew that the new man in town belonged to the royal vampire family, gracing them all with their unwanted visit.

"I will be more careful from now on. I promise… Deputy Donovan." he said with a snarky smile while reading the tag on Matt's shirt.

Matt looked back at Bonnie, he didn't feel comfortable leaving her behind with this one but Liz had forbidden everyone from enforcing any kind of confrontation or law against the Mikaelsons.
Personally he hated that they all had green card just because everyone feared them but he had an obligation to the town and they were all known to punish ruthlessly whoever went against them, so reluctantly he left.

Bonnie didn't move an inch as the smug vampire came slowly to her.

"So we meet again in a dark, shady little spot." he toyed with her.

Bonnie laughed scorning his words. "Actually we met at the bar."

"I watched you for an hour before I decided to finally make a move at the beautiful woman at the bar." Kol said tilting his head, he smiled as the flashes filled his mind.

Bonnie tried to keep her confidence but it was hard, Kol was too good-looking and too much of a sneaky bastard to stay immune to him. "You compelled my cousin to go home."

He smirked proud of his deeds. "You didn't stop me, darling."

Bonnie locked her eyes with his. "I wasn't thinking… which was a mistake."

Kol neared her so much that his breath tickled her face. "You didn't stop me then… and you won't stop me now." he said in a terrible alluring voice.

Bonnie felt her skin wrinkle in a shiver when he touched her chin, he moved his skillful fingers to her cheek and she closed her eyes because he was so close to her.

Kol deliberately ran the tip of his nose along her neck, leaving a small kiss on it which made her whimper, he smiled happy that he had the exact same effect over her as he did that night and snaked an arm around her waist. "I haven't forgotten how breathtaking you look when you come..." he whispered nudging her skin with the tip of his tongue.

She pushed him away from her with a troubled breath and heated blushing cheeks. "Stay away from me."

He could easily bring her back to where he wanted but he opened his arms allowing her to walk away for now, his smile returned because she tasted exactly as he recalled, like addiction.


"I'm sorry for taking your seat yesterday, I'm new in school and I didn't know."

Jeremy took his eyes away from the paper in front of him surprised that someone was talking to him, he looked at the girl with small features. there were Asian traces in them which gave her an exotic and unique beauty. "It's ok." he simply said and focused on his drawing again.

Anna tilted her head and looked at the images, she couldn't tell much from what she saw but they looked like a man screaming, the mouth too wide and open in horror to be normal or human. "Personal experience?" she asked him with a frown.

This time Jeremy didn't look up but smiled. "You should look for the popular squad, it will be bad for you if others see you talking to me."

Anna laughed. "Do I look like the type of girl who fits with the popular kids?"

Jeremy only raised his eyes enough to catch the army boots, the black leggings and long shirt that matched the grey nail-polish. "The Goths usually hang out around back."

"Where do you usually hang out?" she asked smiling.

Jeremy sighed and closed his sketching book, he stood up grabbing his bag annoyed. "Anywhere I can be alone." he said walking away without looking back.

Anna chuckled and turned her iPod on, he just got so much more interesting.


Hayley stood by the door, she wasn't too sure if she should go in because Klaus was painting and the heavy black that stood from the canvas was a bad sign.

"Are you going to stand there for all eternity Hayley?"

She smiled, of course he knew that she was here. "Depends on how mad you are at me."

Klaus carefully put his brush away, he stepped back and looked at his work. "You don't belong with that boy, he reeks of weakness."

Hayley pressed her teeth, it probably was an awful idea to remind him again of how much she loved him. "He is loyal." It was the best she could say without upsetting him more.

Klaus cleaned his hands on a cloth with a lot more strength than needed, if she mentioned again that she was in love he was going to lose it. "Was he alone when you decided to take him into your bed Hayley?"

The question was odd and surprising that it came from Klaus.

He turned his head just enough to look at her. "There was a girl in town very upset with you. I know that it wasn't just because you tried to round-up your own pack, a term I use loosely because you took the popular humans considering how few werewolves reside in this town to make a proper pack… but, am I far from the truth when I assume you took Tyler from her?"

Hayley shook her head slowly in response.

"Then tell me Hayley, how loyal is this werewolf who isn't even able to stick to one girl?"

She was appalled with the words and the cheeky smile. "I'm your sister Klaus, shouldn't you be at least a bit on my side?"

"Fight your own battles sister." Klaus replied serious. "And don't ever assume that I will get in the middle of your idiotic struggles."

Hayley felt her blood come to life, rushing in her veins in anger, the sound she made was one of an animal mad and she turned away furious, she almost missed the Original standing in her way and she snarled mad at him as a greeting.
Just what she needed, the other half of the duo from hell in town.

"Dog." he whispered as she went by him.

He laughed listening to her cursing him all the way down the hallway and came inside the painting room with a smile. "Gosh, you all get so depressed when I'm away. Kol was drinking half the bar in the local Pub and you are giving Cézanne a run for his money during his dark period." Henrik cocked his eyebrow at the black canvas.

Klaus chuckled. "I missed having someone who appreciates art around me."

The two brothers shared a look and a smile, Klaus wasn't really the affectionate type but Henrik loved him just the same.

"How is architecture working out for you?" Klaus asked tossing the cloth away.

"Much better than medicine, that wasn't me at all." Henrik grimaced remembering the last college adventure with Rebekah.

Klaus moved to the table crammed with papers, brushes and pads, he easily found the one he wanted and smiled turning to Henrik.

The younger Mikaelson took it quizzically. "What is this?"

"I still believe that you should pursue your true talent."

Henrik relaxed into a nostalgic smile as he went through the worn-out pad. "I can't believe that you kept this." he said slowly looking at his very first attempts to draw something, he chuckled when he saw a bunch of lines from a pencil filling the page, he showed it to Klaus. "I believe this was supposed to be a horse."

Klaus laughed in that easy way that not many were allowed to witness. "You came a very long way Henrik."

Henrik closed the pad and handed it back to Klaus with a smile and a warm heart for their little moment. "I could never come even close to your talent brother. You are the artist in the family."

"Kol might disagree." Klaus said with a squint.

The two of them laughed at ease again.

Klaus returned the old pad to the wonderful mess over the table and Henrik decided to give it a try, since Klaus was in such a good mood.

"Bekah called me…"

Klaus dropped the pad heavily on the table. "I don't know who that is."

Henrik scolded his brother. "She's all right but she misses you."

"Well I don't miss her at all." he faced Henrik with a stern look showing that this conversation was over.

Henrik shook his head and left the room with his hands inside the cool leather jacket, he knew when not to push Klaus.

Klaus pressed his jaw mad and looked at the canvas, there was an irresistible urge to destroy it because it reminded him of her.
Of how she made him feel right now with her absence, truth be told everything reminded him of Rebekah and her smile.

He would never accept her back because of what she had done but he couldn't rip her image away from his heart, not even when he shut all of his emotions off.

"Niklaus, I need to speak to you." Tatia came inside the room with a smile.

"Be quick about it." he said without much tolerance.

"I'm throwing a party to let the town know that we are here." she said excitedly.

"Why are you bothering me with this Tatia?"

She lost a bit of her excitement but still shook her curly hair. "I miss the old big dances so I was thinking of a theme taken from the Victorian era, with the big dresses and hair."

"I like the idea of a party, I could use the opportunity to see who is on our side… but ease a bit on the costumes Tatia." he warned in his serious voice.

She smiled and came closer to him, she trailed one of his necklaces slowly. "Once you were a fan of those." she smoldered him with her chocolate stare.

Klaus slowly grabbed her hand a lot harder than he needed to, making her cringe with the pain. "Once I cared for you and for whatever we had… sweetheart." he said bitterly.

"What we have is stronger than that Niklaus." she tried to pull her hand back but he kept her inside of his forceful grip.

"Let's not get keyed up about it love." he finally released her hand.

Tatia rubbed her hand but smiled when he headed for the door. "I love you Niklaus."

He laughed at her. "Spare me the human display Tatia, it's suffering to watch."

Her hand was still stinging when she dialed the number, a playful familiar voice answered from the other side and she put him up to speed. "He's losing interest… again. And this time I won't have a lost sister to drop at his feet to win his gratitude, I can't expect another century of his… occasional appreciation that I'm his companion." she gritted her teeth mad that her invisible ally was laughing from the other side, she faced the wall exactly like someone trying to hide a forbidden talk. "Stop laughing, we need to find something to keep him from sending me away. If we lose Niklaus now our entire plan crumbles so you better start thinking of something really brilliant." Tatia ended the call mad but trying to keep it together.

She paced around the room landing her eyes on the black art, well, maybe she could do this the old fashion way and actually seduce Klaus.


Without much thought he drove into the woods, he was trying to place this current landscape with his memory, Klaus stopped the car when the trees didn't allow him to drive any further and he stepped out of the car slowly.
The rest of the track was made on foot, usually he only came to the woods during the rituals but this year he was quietly haunted by a will to visit the place where his human days happened.

It had been too long but he still recognized the well they used to take water from and where Kol learned to swim after he threw him inside during a silly fight, the tree next to it was also still here, witness to his first efforts to capture images on paper.
Klaus walked further into the woods, he came to a halt and looked around, the huts were gone but there was an old mansion abandoned among the thick forest.

It looked cursed, standing on forsaken land as it was and Klaus felt a sting of something he had left behind in Mystic Falls alongside his humanity, the sting of pain.
On this very soil he was turned into something that prevented his permanent death.

Klaus stood inside the house that had no roof and went back to that night when his parents made the first vampires, not really caring what became of him, not bothering at all about the consequences.
The memory of Rebekah being forced to drink blood surfaced, again she was haunting him so he quickly left the house.

Still he didn't go far because there was a cave nearby that prickled his interest, the iron door was destroyed but the lock was new, not old like everything else in here.
Klaus couldn't help the big smile as he came to the door and found the blonde who made an entrance in his life as a flawless stunning white wolf.

She was trying to yank some chain from the wall and blew a few of her locks away from her face.
Klaus leaned his head to the side watching her, the tall ivory legs inside the brown boots, the flowing blue dress that moved along with her curved body, the golden hair that shook with every push she made, making the waves quite hypnotizing, he was lusting and he wasn't even aware of it.

It had been so long since he was even interested in anything else but his army, let alone in a woman who didn't make the first move on him.

"Can I be of assistance sweetheart?" he asked her sweetly.

Caroline jumped startled and faced him with a hand over her heart. "Why would you do that? You scared me."

"If you are trying something different with those, it works better when there are two involved."

She rolled her eyes and went back to her work, she yanked the chain again and it finally seemed to start giving in.

Klaus leaned against the wall watching her, he was terribly amused and the view was amazing, he could stay here for a while just watching her efforts. "Mind if I ask you, what you are attempting to accomplish?" the view was nice but he could add her voice to the picture.

She clasped her lips and looked at him holding the chains. "Trying to figure out how I managed to get free from these the other night."

"You chained yourself? Without any help?"

"Santa was busy, he sent me a message. Of course alone!" she snapped.

"Why are you mad at me? I simply made an inquiry." he pretended to be offended.

"Because I'm almost certain that this has your stinking sister's finger all over it."

Klaus wasn't smiling anymore and he was the one clasping his lips now. "It's not very wise to go around accusing my family like that."

"I didn't include the rest of them, I don't know them but I know your sister and I hate her."

Klaus slowly straightened himself, he came inside the cave and Caroline gripped the chains in her hands, they would be useless against him because she wouldn't go down without a fight.
He stopped near her, his eyes remained powerfully on hers as his hand went down between them.

Caroline gasped because she felt his hand on hers, always looking at her with intensity he took the chain slowly from her.
She went from his eyes to his lips and then to the perfect scruff and the way his jaw seemed to form a little dimple in the middle, her gaze even spotted the small mark on his neck and the amount of necklaces he wore.

"I hit you with my car and you were bleeding, by the time I laid you down on my bed you were already healing. A creature so strong needs stronger chains, love." he solved her riddle in a low, husky voice.

"You think?" she asked surprised that her brain was actually obeying her.

She was oddly attracted to the stranger that she only knew by reputation and by Hayley's endless speeches about her hybrid brother.
There was another movement between them and Caroline was almost disappointed that it wasn't him closing the gap between them, instead he raised the chain that he easily yanked from the wall.

He dropped the iron on the ground with a smirk. "Next time, do it properly. If you need help, I'm available to demonstrate how to chain someone correctly." he licked his lips.

She dropped the flirt between them, thinking about the next full moon was enough to put a damper in any mood. "I only have four weeks to torment myself until the dreadful night." still she looked at him with big expressive blue eyes. "But don't worry about me, I'm sure you are a very busy man and I don't want to be a hassle."

The corner of his lips formed a mischievous curve. "There is always time to strap a captivating woman..."

She read to a bed in that small pause he made. "I rather break free during the next moon and eat half the town."

"You look like someone with a big conscience." his devious smirk grew.

"Don't kill me during the next four weeks and you might actually come to like me." she shrugged.

"Why would I harm you?" his remark was honest and he half-closed his eyes debating her words.

"Because your name is Klaus." she said fast but she knew she was stretching a dangerous rope.

"One could say you have a way to poke a beast." he said so slow and so low that it became eerie.

She forced herself to remain silent this time.

"Do I sense fear?" he cocked an eyebrow.

She smiled easily. "I'm not afraid of you."

He inched even closer to her. "And all the things you've heard about me, are they not weighting now?"

"Again, my problem isn't with you Klaus. I know what others say about you but I don't judge people without knowing them and so far you've hit me with a car, took me home like a stray dog and stood there trying to arouse me with chains talk and a cocky smirk."

"What can I say? I have a soft spot for fiery wolves..."

His smile and the way he said it made her laugh softly.

"I really look forward to know you better Caroline Forbes, it's not every day that I have Miss Mystic Falls in my bed and then chained to a wall." he said before walking away.

She looked down on her wrist, he chained her up and she hadn't even realize he did it. "Seriously?" she yelled angry but he was gone.


Soundtrack:

I'll never hang my head down – David Fonseca