It was frustrating. They had had such a promising start, with him on top of the game and her slowly losing herself in her hunger. Only… it seemed that the game was stalled now. At least it has been for the past 4 days. He continued to bring home humans for both of them to feed on, and despite everything – her hunger, her normally healthy sense of self-preservation, her craving – she refused. She always told him politely, yet sarcastic (the degrees varied depending on how strong she felt) that she was not hungry. Then he proceeded to kill them. Some of them seductively, some of them viciously. Just to get a rise out of her. After that he always attempted to go in for the kill, sometimes he would drench his fingers in blood and place them on her lips, just like he did the night of that divine kiss. Other nights he would paint some of the blood on is lips and kiss her, or he would at least paint her lips in blood, expecting her to lick it off herself. Only the trick no longer worked. She refused to kiss him back, she never licked the blood off her lips of his fingers… and he had no idea how she managed that. Somehow Caroline always managed to resist. Like that one-time slip-up was forcing her to make sure it won't repeat itself.

It frustrated Klaus on so many different levels. Firstly, he genuinely wanted a second kiss. A second, reciprocated kiss and he wanted to see her smile, like at his mother's blasted ball. Only, back then he was merely "very, very interested" now he was "desiring" her in a way that he had not anticipated.

Secondly, he hated losing. The game was rather simple, get her to lose it, drive herself over the edge and make her a ripper. But he needed for it to happen without compulsion, only he also needed her to be alive for it, and at the moment her health was dangerously deteriorating. She was getting paler and paler, seemingly inventing new nuances of pale. At night she stirred, because all of her jaw was hurting like hell, and she was scarcely conscious, making it even more difficult for him to seduce her into feeding. Come to think of it, if he did not compel her soon, she would not even be conscious enough anymore to be compelled, which would force him to resort to blood bags. So right now her headstrongness in pursuing this pointless hunger strike was leaving him with not really enjoyable options: Letting her go, compelling her (which meant cheating himself of the joy of watching he give up) or blood-bags, which he resented.

Klaus thought about all of this, while sketching away. Mostly her. His frustration was heightened by her being in his bedroom. It was great… but not as great as it could be. He thought of the first night that he had shared a room with her.

FLASHBACK

His hybrids had cleaned up rather well, they had even replaced the blood stained mattress, he noted after looking around the bedroom approvingly. His eyes quickly fell upon the beautiful woman chained up in the middle of his room. Immediately, the memory of that kiss came back and he approached her with a knowing smirk.

"Bed time… Now, you don't look all that comfortable here. I'll make you a deal. You promise not to run, and I'll let you sleep in a bed tonight." Meaning, next to him of course.

She looked up at him and, after a second of assembling enough strength, she muttered " I prefer sleeping vertically".

"As you wish". With that he walked towards the bathroom, only stopped by her voice.

"It was because of the blood".

He looked at her, confused.

"The kiss. Me … kissing you back. I tasted the blood on you and I could not stop it. I tried to, but I couldn't."

He slowly walked back towards her.

"Maybe so. But I am sure, once I win our little game, you will be in need of a better excuse for anything that might happen." She winced at his way of saying "anything".

"I was starving. I thought I was crazy, I spent the past hour wondering what is wrong with me for kissing you. Honestly, I thought I was going insane. But I am not. I am only starving." He chuckled at that.

"What are you getting at, love?"

" I won't ever let you have me doubt myself. You can and you probably will starve me to death, because right now you do have THAT power over me, yes. But that is all you have. It won't ever happen again."

He growled at her.

"So you can wipe this stupid smirk off your face, because I won't feed on humans, I won't kiss you again and if I am going to die because of that, that might just be okay. At least given the alternatives."

Klaus lunged at her and held her by her throat. "Sweetheart, you do realize you are talking crazy. Sure, you don't want a nightcap. Because seemingly, you just said it was okay for me to starve you to death." How she managed to amuse and enrage him at the same time was beyond him.

"It is not okay, but it is okay for me to decide how I feed, when I feed and everything else for that matter.", she once again tried to get out of his grip. Surprisingly, he let go.

"We shall see" he hissed and went into the bathroom.

He stepped into the shower and let the hot water sooth him, while he pondered her words. So she really believe she can refuse blood – fresh warm human blood – forever and fight the effects it has on her? He smiled to himself, she really was strong-headed. Even when believing the impossible. He'd show her in the morning, he thought.

After leaving the bathroom, he turned off the light, went to bed and said "Sleep tight, sweetheart.", knowing she would not respond. He spent most of the night listening to her breathing rhythm, waiting for her to drift to sleep. After an hour of silence, he whispered. "You know, I could always compel you.".

"I know.", she said calmly into the dark.

Caroline fell asleep an hour after that, and only then did he allow himself to rest as well.

FLASHBACK END.

The problem was: She had kept her promise. No matter how close he got her to blood, how he used every trick in the book to even get her to have a nip, she refused. She was literally fighting her entire body at times, and he had no clue how she managed that, but she did not cave. Neither did she kiss him back or reject to his touches. It frustrated him.

Yesterday night, he had started dreaming of her. Of them dancing at the ball, but her staying afterwards, of her smiling at him but also of her feeding on people. But in reality, he could not get her to even respond to him, and unless he wanted her die right in his bedroom, he was going to have to cheat and compel her, which was exactly the opposite of how he wanted things to be.

"Your toy is broken". He turned around to face Rebekah. "She is not going to last any longer." She said teasingly.

"I am afraid she will have to." But he knew that his sister had a point. Caroline was not going to last any longer without at least a little bit of blood.

"Maybe you should just kill her" Rebekah suggested. As much as she liked having her brother back, he was not really paying attention to her these days. Hadn't been since their horrid conversation concerning Finn's death. Caroline might be keeping him at home at the moment, but maybe a little less of her, would not suck either.

"Not an option". Klaus replied coolly.

"Why?"

"Have you ever seen me give up in the middle of a game?"

"No, but she will die anyway, the way things seem to go at the moment. You can turn any other vampire into a monster… why her?".

"I could turn any vampire. But frankly, I am not ever going to get another vampire like her into my possession."

"What do you mean, another vampire like her?".

"Well… just look at her. … She was turned as collateral damage. As a human she probably was an in-closet OCD case. No vampire in his right mind would turn someone like that."

"Yeah, no one turns someone annoying. Just her luck Katherine was desperate."

"I never thought of it until her… but her need for control… it kept her human. Bubbly. It enables her to be content in a way that I have never seen another vampire be."

Rebekah just sighed and left, not wanting to think about his brothers strange obsession anymore.

Klaus decided to pay his "guest" another visit. But upon seeing her, he knew he had to decide on his next step of action fast. Her skin was so pale it was slowly getting see-through and it had gotten so thin, that the chains had started to scrape it while her healing processes had more or less ceased to exist. She could barely keep her eyes open, it would not be long before compulsion, would no longer be an option. However, he was still hoping he could avoid that as well.

"Hey sweetheart." He said, wrapping his fingers around a stray of her hair. "Care to join me for lunch? I am in the mood for Mexican. Or how about Asian." He taunted.

She weakly attempted to pull her head away, but the answer was clear enough.

"You do realize you are almost dead, right" He glared at her.

Her response was too hushed to be clear. "I am sorry love, I did not quite catch that." He moved his head closer to hers "Told… you …so."

The anger took him faster than he could rationalize. He grabbed her by the neck and finally she opened her eyes to look into his. There was barely any life in her, he noted, but the look she gave him was full of acceptance of what she expected he would be doing now. Little did she know that killing her was not on the option list, at least not on his.

They were interrupted by noise from downstairs.

"Where is she?". Even in her weak state Caroline reacted to the voice faster than Klaus. She quietly mouthed Tyler's name.

Klaus had no idea how Tyler Lockwood managed to get onto his property without being taken out immediately by his other hybrids, but well… despite his anger, he could not suppress a smile. This might just get a little more interesting. Caroline saw the expression in Klaus' face and suddenly felt a wave of fear rising. She tried to shake her head in protest to whatever he might be thinking now, but Klaus just put his finger onto her lips. "Don't worry love, I won't let anyone spoil our fun.", catching a tear sliding down her cheek.

Tyler burst into the room. He stopped in his tracks to take in the sight of Caroline in her weakened state, chained and held onto by Klaus.

"Get away from her", he shouted, the anger boiling up inside of him.

"Now why would I do that?", Klaus asked curiously. Tyler should know well enough that he is no match for him.

"I said GET AWAY…"

"Or.. what?".

The fight was over quicker than even Klaus had thought. Tyler had charged at him, Klaus had grabbed and thrown him into the nearest wall, then grabbed him again and after breaking a few bones and despite Tyler's valiant efforts – the pup did manage to land a few scratches – had him soon enough lying on the floor, all blood and bruises with a horrified Caroline looking upon them.

"So.. love, what do you suggest I should do with our hero? And no, letting him go without a punishment is not an option."

"Don't hurt him, .. please", she cried…barely managing to get the words out due to her lack of energy.

"What did you do to her" Tyle asked, looking at Caroline.

Klaus hunched down keeping a tight grip on him. "You mean what has she been doing to herself?... well, just look at her and tell me what you see." He brought Tyler's head up so he could look at what was left of Caroline. "She needs blood." Tyler let out a growl.

"Indeed, she does. However, you see. Caroline here has been remarkably stubborn. I provide perfectly good, healthy and nutritious meals for her and she refuses. Now I would never force her to eat, but you see… her clock is ticking.".

Tyler's eyes grew wide at Klaus' words. "You tried to make her feed on humans? You fucking…" Tyler let out a scream as Klaus calmly dislocated his right shoulder. "Careful Tyler, no insults.". Tyler fell back to the ground due to the pain.

Caroline observed the scene, trying hard to gather enough energy to scream or to say something. Over the passed days she had not really said much. She needed the energy to focus. On her hunger, on what she needs to do to not give in. Lately it had been mostly her and the hunger inside her head. When Klaus approached her, and taunted and tempted her, she drew all her energy together to resist. She could not even spare any energy in thinking of an escape plan, she had no idea how much longer she could last, but she would not let anything distract her from keeping her control. She would not die a monster. Or so she thought, but now Tyler was there and her concern for his safety, was more than just a distraction, it consumed just as much energy as the grip on her hunger. Klaus had always been unpredictable, but right now Caroline was sure he was capable of doing pretty much anything to Tyler, and she had to find a way to save him. She could not loose him.

All of that showed in her face, and Klaus caught onto that. Looking down at Tyler, he suddenly she saw new option. A way to win their little game that would also enable him to punish Tyler for meddling with the sire bond.

"You know, I might just let you go and get out of here alive." He said to Tyler, with an evil grin on his face.

"In exchange for what?" Tyler knew Klaus had an agenda; that much was obvious.

Klaus got up and walked towards the liquore cabinet that stood on the wall in the space between Tyler and Caroline, and helped himself to a drink. After the first sip, he turned to Tyler and simply said.

"Help me help her."

Tyler looked confusedly first to Caroline, then to Klaus. Caroline's face was worried, Klaus smiled. "I don't…."

"It is rather simple, mate. You see, you can't take her from me and I am more than insisting on her continuing presence here. So she will just have to stay, because you cannot help her. And you know you can't. But she needs blood. Badly, soon and her time is running out. You can see that. However she keeps on refusing and refusing blood."

"Yes, because she is not feeding off humans."

Klaus studied Tyler for a second. "Good news mate, you will leave this place alive. But before that you have to make a choice. Caroline is staying here, that is a given. Now you can either leave her with me alive or sign her death sentence."

"What do you want me to do?" Tyler was at a loss.

"Well… first answer a simple question. Caroline here has informed me that me starving her might actually be okay for her, if it means no feeding of humans. Personally, I have my problems with her view, but tell me honestly… amongst pals… would you be okay with that? Would you permit her to kill herself that way, in order to save random strangers?". Klaus had him there. He knew, after all the trouble and anguish Tyler went through in order to break through the sire bond for Caroline, he would not be okay with her death. The interesting question was how ruthless he'd be in making sure she'd survive.

"No."

"Great, let's drink to that", Klaus responded, handing Tyler a glass with amber liquid. "No remedy the situation".

"What do you mean.?".

Klaus patted Tyler on the back, chuckling at how slowly the wolf was processing all of this. "Drink up and then save her."

"How…?" Tyler would do anything to get Caroline out of this mess, but he did not understand what Klaus was insinuating.

"Well… as she seemingly has objections to feeding off strangers… "Klaus looked at Tyler pointingly.

"You want me to… feed her?"

"Smart boy." Klaus teased. "Unless you just want to leave her for dead…"

Tyler felt trapped. There was no good way out of this. If he just left, she would let herself die, she was almost dead right now, he could tell by glancing at her. But if he forced his blood into her, he'd sell her out to Klaus. There was a reason she had pushed herself this far, and he knew how hard she was working her self-control and her blood-thirst. She had tried to teach him too, right after Klaus had turned him. But still, it was Caroline. His Caroline. He could not let her die. Not like this and… not with him.

Klaus could sense that the boy had reached a decision. "So what will it be?", hoping to get the answer he wanted. Tyler drowned the liquor, and calmly let the glass drop from his hand and crash onto the floor. He did not disappoint Klaus, who suddenly felt a rush of glee come over him.

"I'll do it." He whispered, apologetically looking at Caroline.

Until then Caroline had been quietly but fearfully observing their conversation, trusting in Tyler reaching the right decision. But he didn't. She knew why, she knew how much he loved her, but now he was – albeit not by any real choice – turning on her. He was helping Klaus.

"Tyler, don't." Her throat started to hurt, but she had to get through to him.

"I am sorry, Caroline.", after that he could not look into her eyes anymore, knowing that she would wind up hating him for this, just like Klaus probably had anticipated. Defeated, he bit into his own wrist. "You need blood."

Klaus watched with delight as Tyler slowly walked up to Caroline. In his foolish attempt to take her away from, Tyler had wound up helping Klaus. He was sure that once the boys blood was on her throat, she would no longer be able to control it, and the panic that was in her eyes right now only confirmed that. The fact that Tyler out of all people would be delivering that final blow, at Klaus' behest even after breaking the sire bond, was just the cherry on top of it all.

"Tyler, no, please". She needed a plan, she needed something and she needed it fast. The smell of Tyler's blood came nearer and blurred her mind more and more. She felt an adrenaline rush coming over her, giving her just enough energy to look around herself frantically for a way out of this.

"Don't fret, love, Tyler is only trying to help you out." Klaus cooed from his position, leaning against the door frame. Their eyes met, and for a second he was startled by the amount of hate and disgust she blew at him.

Tyler stood in front of her no, she refused to look at him, tears running down her face.

"Please, look at me".

She refused, and looked at those damned chains instead. If only she could get away, she thought.

"Caroline, please." Tyler and his blood were now inches away from her face, even though she still refused to look at him. But the blood was now almost everywhere in her head. She needed it, she wanted to bite into flesh, she knew she did, and looking up at her chained wrists did not help… it was then, that she knew what she had to do.

Tyler reached to gently draw her face towards him. "Don't touch me", she said in an ice cold voice. Slowly, she turned her face.

"I am so sorry." He said, gathering just enough courage to look into her eyes once more.

"So am I" was all she said.

Then it all happened incomprehensibly fast. She only had oh so little energy left and she used it all for her final move. She kicked up at Tyler, using pushing him away while also effectively using him to propel her body a little higher. At the same time she pulled herself up on her chains.

When Tyler looked up he saw her. Her teeth biting into her left arm as she was slowly draining herself. Suddenly, blood was everywhere.

So far, thank you to everyone who told me to continue this story, I sincerely hope I did not disappoint any of you.