A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter! Review if you want me to continue :)
To say that Stefan was furious would be an understatement. He didn't feel any particular emotional attachment for Caroline, but she was his and nobody was allowed to change that. The first night she was missing he spent the whole night searching for her. He couldn't find her anywhere, much to his disappointment.
The second night was when he started getting really mad. He trashed their hotel room out of pure frustration.
While all this was going on, Klaus' hybrids were also searching for Stefan. It was a miracle, really, that they hadn't found him yet. Klaus knew that it was only a matter of time, especially since Stefan was oblivious to the danger that he was in.
-x-
It was day four and Caroline was slowly growing weaker. She hadn't had any blood since she had arrived, and it wasn't because Klaus was denying her the very thing she needed to survive, no. It was because every day before 8am, Klaus would bring someone to her. Usually a young girl, always looking very frightened and confused. She had ignored it, refusing to do the very thing Klaus wanted to do. Caroline had sworn that she would never hurt another human again, not if she could help it. But since Klaus was refusing to give her blood from a blood bank, she was starving, and Klaus was enjoying watching her struggle. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her break. She would die before she fed from a human. If anything had stayed intensified during her time as a vampire, it was her strength.
One night Caroline was drifting into sleep, if you would even call it that. Since Klaus had taken her, her sleep was plagued with nightmares of Klaus killing her and Stefan together. The worst one would have to be when Klaus made her watch him rip Stefan to shreds in front of her eyes. She didn't sleep for a long time after that, despite being more tired than she had ever been in her life.
Her sleep was interrupted by a loud clang coming from outside the door. Cursing. And another bang was heard before the door was kicked open, revealing an angry looking Stefan on the other side. Relief flooded Caroline's whole body. Finally this would all be over. They would get out of this place and run away, never having to see Klaus or his hybrids again. Stefan ran to her, briefly noting how awful and weak she looked. He would get her some blood as soon as they got out of here. He grabbed her ring from its place in the sunlight and slid it onto her finger. He took her gently into his arms and lifted her. She let her head rest on his chest as she clung to his neck, desperate not to fall. He froze as he turned to leave, his grip tightening on Caroline in his arms.
"And what do you think you're doing?" the British accent came from the doorway.
"Taking back what belongs to me," Stefan shot back.
"I don't think that's going to happen," Klaus said, moving into the room and shutting the door behind him. "You see, you have something… A few something's, actually, that belong to me. And I want them back."
"You can't have them back," Stefan said angrily. Since he had left Mystic Falls, only two things mattered to him; having Caroline by his side and getting revenge on Klaus. And in the state he was in now he had no idea what meant more to him.
"Here's the deal, mister Salvatore," Klaus said calmly as he made his way over to Stefan. Klaus' arm swung out, hitting Stefan in the head, causing him to stumble sideways and lose his grip on Caroline. She fell to the floor with a thud, and when he glanced down to see if she was okay, her eyes were shut and she wasn't moving.
"Caroline," he said before trying to go to her, but suddenly Klaus was in front of him.
"You give me those coffins back within the next 12 hours, or she dies. Do you understand me?" Klaus said, his voice angrier than Stefan had ever heard. Stefan swallowed, glancing down to the helpless blonde girl on the floor, and back up to the seething hybrid in front of him. And before Klaus could do anything else to Stefan, he fled the room at inhuman speed, leaving the door open in his wake.
-x-
An hour later he found himself pacing the trashed hotel room. He was running out of time, and the pressure to make a decision was weighing on him. He didn't know what to do. If he gave Klaus the coffins back and saved Caroline's life, it didn't necessarily mean he would live or he would get her back. If he let her die… No. He couldn't think about that. The thought didn't cause him pain, as such. All he felt was an uncomfortable sort of niggling near his heart, and quickly shook his head to get rid of the thought. If he gave Klaus the coffins back, then what was the point? He would never have the satisfaction of destroying the monster that ruined his life. That took everything from him that ever mattered. And now he was left with nothing. Nothing except revenge and the blonde ray of sunshine that accompanied him wherever he went.
So what was it going to be? An eternity alone and revenge on the hybrid that ruined everything? Or no revenge, but having someone that would always be there for him?
Stefan didn't know. All he knew was he had to think fast, or the choice wouldn't be his.