Author's Note: Glad you guys are enjoying this. Thank you so much for letting me know! I have been having a blast writing this on my tumblr and I hope to continue it there soon (as well as Uneven Ground). You all make me smile with your support for my work!
The Balance of Things
Part Four
Once she is in a moving vehicle with the lights of the campus fading in the rear-view, Bonnie takes a moment to go over her options. She can't very well jump from a car in motion (besides she thinks he would jerk her back in before she even pushed the door open enough to do so). She can hurl aneurism after aneurism at him, set him on fire, set the car on fire - but with those ideas comes the risk that the car will crash into a something. Worse, crash into someone else. She already has one death on her hands this night.
The car is probably not the best location to mount her escape.
"I love it when you calculate," Klaus muses from the driver's seat. It is the first thing he has said since getting into the car. It pulls her from her thoughts and she glances toward him with furrowed brows. "Assessing the situation, compiling the solutions - you have always been one to refuse to see the inevitable even when it is staring you in the face. I bet if I chained you to the wall, drained to the point of death, you'd still believe you had the upper hand…"
Bonnie swallows.
"Oh don't look so doe-eyed, love," he orders, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. "I can assure you that that is not my plan for you."
"What is, then?" Bonnie counters. "I think I should be privy to the last hours of my life."
"I believe I already explained that I have no desire to kill you." Klaus is focused on the road again, weaving through the streets of the college town like he knows it. The reality is - he probably does, at least better than her. She has always stuck close to the campus, rarely venturing too far for fear of what might happen. The stone buildings and rolling commons are a safe zone to her.
Of course, he has violated that now.
She wonders just how long it will be before the blonde is found.
She figures she will be gone before then. Already she has lost track of just how far they are from the campus. The roads are nearly empty and he is using that to his advantage by speeding at an alarming rate. She has her fingers curled into the seat.
They fall back into silence.
She is amazed that an hour passes before either speak again. She has all but bitten into the tip of her tongue to prevent from bombarding him with questions he won't answer - and he has watched her out of the corner of his eyes expectantly.
Finally he pulls into one of those motels that populate horror films and switches off the engine.
"This is far enough for tonight," he tells her as he gets out of the car. He watches her as he walks around the hood of the car, almost as if he expects her to try something.
She knows better - she is still at too large a disadvantage.
Bonnie steps out when he opens the car door and then eyes the motel. Perhaps she will get a better chance soon.
He mistakes her curious look for one of disdain. "Not the best accommodations I am afraid but we will make do." Klaus walks at a slow pace waiting until she has caught up to pull a key from his pocket.
Of course he has planned this in advance.
Room 28. Well - she hopes 28 is her lucky number.
Bonnie gets the distinct impression that she shouldn't touch anything when enters the room. She makes a face and then turns back to see him shut and lock the door.
Why bother trying to keep the monsters out? The worst is already standing in the center of the room.
"Drink?"
Bonnie shakes her head. She would rather get down to business. Still she has to wait as he raids the mini bar and dumps what he finds in a glass that has seen better days.
"I paid a visit to our old stomping ground the other day – it's amazing how things change but at the same time stay the same. Elena, still playing both the Salvatore brothers, sweet Caroline, still thinking Tyler will be enough…"
Her breath hitches at the mention of her friends.
Friends she hasn't seen in months.
Friends that she talks to every other week at best.
Friends she would still die for.
The thought of him near them has her narrowing her eyes. She puts a crack in the glass he holds in his hand. It starts at the rim, splintering off as it makes its way to the bottom.
He grins.
"Right," he says as he sets the glass aside. "You are too curious to play catch up."
He lowers himself until he is seated on edge of one of the beds. He looks up at her. She has her arms crossed tightly, waiting for the worst.
"I should think this will be very simple," Klaus drawls, his eyes hinting at the amusement he is feeling. "You took eight months of my life, Bonnie…"
She wants to argue that eight months is a blink of an eye in his life span. But she doesn't dare.
"Therefore, I will take eight months of yours."