2162, Transylvania
Dust fell from the ceiling crevices of the old castle as brother and sister faced off.
"Rebekah Mikaelson, if you do not calm down this instant, I will personally rip your heart out," Elijah roared.
"Calm down?" she shrieked. "Calm down?! I specifically - specifically, Elijah - told the florists that I wanted cerulean lillies for my bouquet - look at these, Elijah - look at them!" she screamed, shaking the now-mangled bouquet in his face.
"Are these cerulean?! Well - are they?! I told them, Elijah!" she wailed. "My wedding is tomorrow and it's ruined!"
She sped off, leaving the destroyed bouquet at Elijah's feet. Moments later, her bedroom door slammed and no one needed vampire hearing to hear her loud sobs.
Elijah turned wordlessly to face his brothers who had remained silent during their sister's most recent bridezilla moment.
"Daggering her and and killing him doesn't seem like such a bad idea now, does it?" Klaus remarked, taking a sip of his brandy.
"Even I have to admit that daggering might have been the better way to go," Kol said.
"At least tell me the guests have begun to arrive and are getting settled into their rooms comfortably?" Elijah pleaded.
...
"You're telling me Rebekah Mikaelson's dream wedding takes place in Dracula's castle?" Damon asked.
"This is actually Hunyadi Castle. Apparently her family took possession of it back in the late 1500s," Stefan responded.
The Salvatore brothers, along with Caroline and Elena, stood in the castle courtyard while their luggage was unloaded from the car.
"Why are we here, again?" Elena asked.
"Technically, we did go to school with her - she wants to gloat," Caroline said, grinning.
"Well, at least I don't see any elephants," Damon smirked.
Elena and Stefan burst into laughter.
"I don't get it -" Caroline said, looking at them strangely.
Stefan stopped laughing long enough to try to explain. "Ah, man, we were in Singapore, and there was this wedding with elephants -"
"Oh my god, Care - the smell - it was awful," Elena interrupted, still giggling.
"Made worse when they started -" Damon started.
"Got it," Caroline said, smiling stiffly. "Sorry I missed it."
"Caroline!" Klaus came striding into the courtyard. "Hello - Stefan, Damon. Doppelganger," he finished, with barely veiled disdain.
"Hello, to you too," Elena said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, Klaus," Caroline said. "Wow - some castle."
"Do you like it?" he asked eagerly.
"Well, it's - it's big."
"Come along, I'll show you to your room," Klaus said, taking her arm and leading her away.
"I guess we'll just find our own way," Stefan muttered dryly as Klaus and Caroline disappeared into the castle.
...
After eleven hundred years - give or take - Rebekah Mikaelson was married. Her cerulean bouquet lay forgotten on the dining table as she danced the night away in the arms of her groom.
The party was now in full swing. Damon and Elena were lost in each other's eyes; while Stefan and Elijah were in some sort of drinking competition with a pack of wolves. Kol was flirting outrageously with a pair of witches - twins.
Caroline wasn't sure where Klaus went. The last time she saw him, he was holding court with a small crowd of admirers while she danced with a wolf from Saudi Arabia.
She wandered outside, onto the castle balcony and stood in the cool night air.
"Having fun?"
She smiled as Klaus approached.
"It's not the worst party I've been to," she lightly teased. "Rebekah's happy - and Royce seems really nice."
"My sister is always happy when she's in love," Klaus said, rolling his eyes. "And what the bloody hell kind of name is 'Royce'?"
Caroline laughed. "You don't like him?"
Klaus shrugged. "I don't dislike him."
"But?" Caroline prompted.
"He's not the one for Rebekah," Klaus said. "I give it 6 weeks, tops," he whispered.
"Klaus, that's horrible, she's your sister -"
"Caroline," he interrupted. "I'm standing alone with you, on a castle balcony under the stars - I do not want to talk about my sister - or any of my family members. Tell me about you- how have you been?"
"I'm fine - great. Traveling," she said, smiling brightly.
He stood silently for a moment, taking her in.
"What's wrong, love?"
She tilted her head and considered him. "How do you do that? How do you just look at me and - know?"
Because I know you.
Because I'm lonely too.
Because I love you.
He simply smiled and waited.
She sighed. "I'm a hundred and fifty years old," she confessed.
"I know," he said softly. "But you don't look a day over eighteen," he quipped.
"Seventeen," she shot back.
He threw back his head and laughed.
She smiled briefly before continuing. "And -" she shrugged. "I'm alone. Bonnie, Tyler, Matt - all my friends, people I grew up with - they're all dead now. Their great grandchildren are running Mystic Falls now."
"Mm-hm."
"You're lucky, you know? You have your family - you'll always have them."
He rolled his eyes, thinking back over the past year filled with Rebekah's wedding tirades.
"It's true," she said softly.
"I know," he said sincerely. "But you still have Stefan - and Elena and Damon."
"It's not the same," she confessed. "Those three stick together no matter what. They have their inside jokes and stories that always end with, 'you had to be there.'"
"No room for Caroline?" Klaus asked.
"That's not it - they wouldn't mind at all if I joined them. But there's always so much - drama that surrounds Elena."
"Curse of the doppelganger."
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, Stefan comes to visit sometimes, and I have friends -"
"But it's not the same as family - or friends you've grown up with," Klaus finished for her.
She nodded.
"God, it seems so stupid to complain, especially tonight - let's do something fun," she said impulsively.
"Fun?"
"Yes, fun - surely you remember how to have fun, old man," she teased.
"Only one place I know of where to have a bit of fun in Transylvania," he mused. "Alright, let's go."
...
"Where are we?" Caroline whispered.
"No need to whisper, love," Klaus said. "We are in a small forest that offers midnight ghost tours."
"You're taking me on a ghost tour? You just think I'm going to get scared and cling to you," Caroline scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"That's where you're wrong, sweetheart. We are not here to be scared," he smiled devilishly.
"What -"
"We're here to do the scaring," he said, letting his eyes glow yellow for just a moment. "Come on."
He led her on a well-worn path, avoiding the current batch of tourists being led through as well as the actors portraying the murderous monsters of legends.
"What's she supposed to be?" Caroline asked disdainfully, noticing a young woman, wearing a dress with an artfully ripped bodice, her brunette hair in careful carefully disarray, and fake blood from her mouth.
"Ah - one of Dracula's many brides, I suppose."
"Hmph."
"Over here - we can wait here for the next group to come though."
"Are you sure we should do this," Caroline asked anxiously. "This isn't really my idea of fun."
"You're idea of fun involves color-coding and bossing people around," Klaus dismissed. "Caroline, they want to be scared - they paid money to be scared."
"Well -"
"We're doing them a favor and they'll have a wonderful story to tell their friends back home," he said convincingly. "They should be paying us."
She looked at him doubtfully. "We're just scaring them, right? We're not going to actually hurt them?"
Klaus looked scandalized. "Of course not, sweetheart. We're just going to scare them."
"Okay," she grinned. "What do I do?"
"Hmm - I think you'd better be the victim - the beautiful damsel in distress," Klaus said, eyeing her thoughtfully. "You distract them from the real danger - me."
"What - why do I always have to be the distraction," she complained.
"Because you're so good at it," he said. "Now, we need a bit of blood on you to make it convincing - you're sure you can do this?"
"I was a drama major," Caroline said proudly.
"Uh-huh. From Whitmore," Klaus muttered to himself.
Half an hour later, Caroline grinned shamelessly as a batch of tourists ran screaming from her. Klaus was right - this is fun! she thought and chuckled lightly.
She walked back to rejoin Klaus, who was waiting for her. His back was to her and - why do I smell blood?
"Klaus! You promised!"
Klaus lifted his head guiltily from the young woman's neck and turned to face Caroline sheepishly. Caroline recognized the girl as one of the actors playing Dracula's bride.
"What? She's fine," he said.
"You said we weren't going to hurt them!"
"She's not hurt - ask her. Sweetheart, are you in pain?"
"No," she said dazed. "I mean, I should be, but there's no pain."
"There, see - she's fine. And I was feeling a bit peckish."
Caroline stomped off.
"Caroline - Caroline! I thought we were having fun," he said to himself.