Because some people complained: Yes, this chapter is written in Caroline's point of view and I know this might be strange at first or seem like an excuse to write cheesy Klaroline scenes, but this actually has a purpose: The reason I chose to write from Caroline's point of view is that not everything important happens at Hogwarts and I really wanted to show what Klaus is up to at this point in time. And while writing from Klaus's point of view might be fun, it would give away too much and I probably wouldn't be able to write that to sound convincingly like him anyway. So while this is not supposed to be a Klaroline fanfiction, the two of them are actually important for the plot, so they will show up from time to time.
Now enjoy the chapter =)
Chapter 6: A busy day
Venice - Tuesday, 1st of October, 1995
Caroline:
I felt the sunlight tickle my face and slowly opened my eyes. The big suite was bathed in sunlight, which fell through the huge windows. I was still slightly tired, so I decided to cuddle up to the person lying next to me on our king-sized bed. He stirred a bit and changed his position slightly to wrap his arms tightly around me. I smiled contentedly, closed my eyes again and just enjoyed the feeling of the soft bed and his warm arms around me.
Suddenly I jolted and looked at my clock. Oh no! We had overslept!
Quickly I peeled free from the arms around me, ignoring the unhappy growl accompanying my actions. I jumped out of the bed, called the room-service to bring us some breakfast to our room, rushed into the gigantic bathroom and got ready in vampire speed. Once I was satisfied with my look, I returned to the bedroom.
"Klaus! You have to get up! We're already behind in our schedule! So get out of bed already and hurry up! And what is she still doing here?" I ranted and he smiled amused.
"Good morning to you too, Caroline. I thought you might want a warm breakfast, so I left some.", he gestured towards the girl, who had brought a tray with coffee and breakfast for us, not knowing that Klaus would prefer another kind of drink. He licked the blood from his lips and smiled teasingly up to me. I snorted, went to our mini-fridge and ripped into one of the blood bags, that I had brought with me.
"Are you sure? I suspect we have a very busy day before us. We wouldn't want you get hungry and fall behind in our schedule." He told me with a serious face, but then lost the fight with himself and started chuckling. I started grinning too and playfully threw the empty blood bag in his face. That was one of the best things about him. He didn't complain about my neurotics and try to make me lose them like all the others did, but instead he'd told me weeks ago, that it was something he found very cute and loved about me. And that he would never try to change me.
"Oh shut up! We have to follow the plan or we will never manage to get everything done. So. GET. UP. NOW! And let her go!" I told him resolutely and, still chuckling, he compelled the girl, while I started picking up our clothes, which were still scattered on the floor from last night. I didn't want the room-service to find it like that. I heard the girl leave and Klaus getting out of bed. Then I felt a pair of lips kissing my neck softly.
"Seeing as we're already late, I sure it won't hurt much if we enjoy another half hour in bed, don't you think so, love?" He whispered seductively in my ear and a pleasurable shiver ran down my spine. I turned around.
"Don't even think about it! I just got dressed and did my hair! And there is so much we have to do today! Visit the piazza San Marco, drive around with a gondolier, see the-" He shut me up by pulling me into a gentle kiss.
"We have all of eternity, Caroline." He whispered against my lips and I sighed. He broke the kiss and looked at me with a mischievous grin. Before I could react, he had sped us over to the bed again and started kissing me again. So much for my schedule. Oh well, he was right, we had all the time of the world. I returned his kiss.
xxx
I watched in awe as our little boat passed the beautifully lit alleys of Venice. It was already dark and the city's flair was even more intense at night. I turned and noticed Klaus watching me with a smile and I leaned against him.
"Thank you for taking me here. It's amazing." I whispered quietly. He smiled and wrapped his right arm around my shoulders.
"Thank you, Caroline, for letting me show all this to you." He kissed my cheek and looked at me with a loving expression. I cuddled up to his chest and looked at the city again.
And I was happy. More happy, than I had been in a long time. When Rebekah and Kol had shown up in Mystic Falls half a year ago, I never would have expected this.
xxx
When we heard Damon grunt in pain, Bonnie and I rushed down the stairs in the Salvatore house as fast as we could. We arrived downstairs and saw Damon standing at the open door, holding his head in pain. I quickly turned to see the witch who was causing it.
In the doorway stood a good looking guy around twenty, which I had never seen before. When he noticed us, he stopped giving Damon a headache and smiled.
"Hello, ladies. What a sexy sight." He greeted us and winked at me playfully. I noticed, that I was only wearing a nightshirt and quickly wrapped my arms around me. Damon growled.
"Who are you? You better start running now, before I kill you." He threatened.
"That's not very nice of you, Damon. That's no way to talk to old friends. But then again, we never were." At this moment his phone started ringing and he answered.
"Sister, what is it?" … "No, she's here at the Salvatore house." … "Don't always be such a spoilsport. Damon can't hurt me. Now leave it and get over here." He put his phone away and looked at us again.
"We have to talk. My sister will be here soon." We all watched as he entered the house, went into the sitting room and got himself a drink.
"I'm sorry, but do we know you?" Bonnie asked him. The confident way he moved around the house told us he'd been here before, but Damon didn't seem to know him.
"Now you hurt my feelings, darling. Don't you tell me you don't remember me! We got along so splendidly until your boyfriend killed me." He pouted at her mockingly. Suddenly, we heard someone else enter the house.
"Oh, stop this nonsense, Kol. We have more important things to do than messing with them." Rebekah Mikaelson had just entered the room and we were all staring at her.
"Rebekah? What are you doing here? Wait, did you say Kol?" I turned to the unfamiliar boy and he smiled at me mischievously.
"Like my new body, love?" He asked me teasingly and Damon growled again.
"Shouldn't you be dead? The other side crashed! And what do you and Blondie want?" He asked them angrily.
"We need Caroline to come to New Orleans with us. We want to stop the war." Kol informed us and I got angry.
"And what exactly makes you think that I want to come with you?" I replied and he smiled.
"I wasn't asking, darling. Thought it would be much more pleasant for you to come willingly and convince Nik to agree to a peace contract, I could just take you as a hostage and kill everyone else in this city." He explained cruelly. Rebekah seemed surprised by his suggestion, but didn't object.
"Since when do you want peace?" Bonnie asked him, genuinely surprised.
"Oh I don't care about peace, love, but Nik and Elijah are trying to kill my girl and the white oak stake is gone, so peace is the second best option."
"And you think I can convince Klaus to stop the war? I haven't seen him in years!" That was crazy!
"You're the only one who has any chance at making him see reason. If Kol talks to Davina and I manage to make Elijah agree to a peace, we might be able to end this war before there is truly nothing left of the city."
xxx
"Caroline? We're at the restaurant." Klaus ripped me out of my thoughts and suddenly I was back in reality. I got out of the boat and followed him to one of the tables from which we had a fantastic view over the sea.
"What were you thinking about?" He asked me curiously, as we sat down.
"The day your siblings came and took me to New Orleans with them. And how glad I am they did." I told him truthfully and he smiled when he heard that.
"I still remember the day you showed up there, as if it was yesterday." He seemed lost in thought now too, but took my hand and slowly began to draw circles on it with his thumb.
xxx
Shaking I walked down the empty street of what used to be the French Quarter, hiding in the shadows, careful not to attract attention. Kol and Rebekah had send me off alone, saying it would be too dangerous to stay with them, as everyone here knew them.
I quickly hid behind one of the ruins surrounding me, when I heard footsteps coming around a corner and waited until the four men had vanished into the next street, before I snuck closer to the big house that Rebekah had described, my heart racing in my chest.
When I had finally reached it, I found the big entrance door locked and decided not to knock. Klaus wouldn't open it himself and who knows what the werewolves would do if they found me standing outside it. I mentally cursed Rebekah and Kol again for involving me in this horrible war and wished I would have went with Stefan to Ireland, when he started a new life there five years ago. We were still on good terms, despite our breakup and right now I wanted nothing more than be as far away from this city as possible. Half of the buildings were destroyed, either burned down or smashed in during a fight and I had not seen a single living human yet. Only two corpses with ripped out throats. I shivered and just wanted to run back home.
Instead I took a deep breath, tried to get my courage together and went around the building. I promptly found an open window in the second floor and after a quick look around me, I jumped up to it and climbed in as quietly as I could.
I quickly covered my mouth and nose to suppress a coughing fit. The room was dusty and looked abandoned. It seemed to have been a room for a little child once. There was a little bed and a teddy and on the wall was a beautiful painting of the city with a full moon shining down on it.
But now there was no child living in it anymore. Everything was covered in cobwebs and hidden under a layer of dust. The open window seemed to be only a pitiful attempt to get the musty smell out, but it didn't help much.
I tiptoed out of the door, which led into another dusty bedroom, then out onto the hallway. On the other side big windows opened up towards the inner courtyard and I carefully stepped closer to one of them, so I could look down.
In the yard there was a big group of people, all surrounding three guys in the middle. And in front of them stood Klaus, a cruel grin on his face.
"Now tell me again what were you doing, sneaking around the French quarter? You know this is werewolf territory. Did Elijah send you to spy on me?" He asked the guys, who apparently were vampires and one of them, a dark haired guy with a purple shirt stared at him, frightened.
"Elijah didn't send us, I... I only c-came here to... I... We'll just leave now?" Klaus laughed, amused, then he jumped up and in a flash, the heads of the other two vampires were falling to the ground.
"I don't think so, Josh. You see, I know you wanted to visit Aiden, but he's one of my werewolves and I don't want him to spill our secrets and tactics to you. But I'm sure you know what Elijah and Marcel are planning, so if you tell me, I might let you live. And I might consider not executing Aiden for treason." He offered him as I watched the scene unfold, horrified. That was the person Klaus had been when he had come to Mystic Falls and killed Jenna, not the charming guy who had fallen in love with me. I would never be able to convince this guy to agree to a peace.
The guy, Josh, looked down to his dead companions and then something seemed to snap inside him.
"You know what, Klaus? Do whatever you want, I'm done being caught up in the middle. You and your brother and Davina have fought for years and I can't even say who I want to win! I don't care anymore, because whichever side wins, I will lose two of the three people I care about. So go on, kill me, I'm just so sick of it all!" Josh told him with a desperate and slightly crazy look in his eyes and Klaus' eyes turned yellow and his werewolf fangs showed up.
"Wrong answer." He sped to him and grabbed him. Okay, come on, Caroline, it's now or never.
"Klaus?" I called out softly and stepped out of the shadow, dizzy with fear. If Rebekah was wrong, I was going to die. I never imagined I would one day wish for Rebekah to be right about something.
Klaus froze, let Josh go and slowly turned around. When his eyes found mine his eyes turned normal again, then they became soft and a hopeful, happy look reached them. His fangs vanished and a genuine, beaming smile broke out on his face. He completely seemed to have forgotten Josh.
"Caroline? What are you doing here, love?"
xxx
"You know, when I called out to you that day, I was so convinced that you would just kill me." I told him honestly, after we had ordered our food. "I never would have imagined that you would actually give up all of your revenge and war, just because I asked you too." It was then, that I had realized how stupid I'd been all along. All my life I had tried to be perfect, to make people love me and admire me, but had never really succeeded. Sure, I had friends and a couple of boyfriends, but I never was their first choice. There was always someone or something more important than me. And when I had finally found someone who put me above everything else, I had sent him away, making him promise to never return. That day, when he had given up his city and his home, just because I asked him, I had vowed never to make such a mistake again and had suggested to travel the world with him, until he finally got his daughter back, with whom I had to share being his number one now. But that was alright. It wasn't Elena, or some stupid revenge, or something like that. He was allowed to put his daughter up there with me.
"Do you really think Elijah will keep his promise?" He asked me, sounding sad and resigned.
"You just have to trust him, he always keeps his promises, you know that."
"I still can't trust him Caroline. Not after all he's done."
"You will get her back, Klaus, I'm sure of that. If Elijah doesn't keep his promise in two years, we'll find another way. Maybe Bonnie could help."
"So many witches already tried to find her and didn't manage, I doubt Bonnie will be any better. And I don't want to wait, love, I want to get her back now, not when she's an adult, however much sense it would make." He explained frustrated and I tried to cheer him up again.
"You know what? Someone just told me this morning, that we have all eternity, so what are another two years? Elijah only wants her to have a chance of growing up normal. It would be mean to go to her now, rip her away from her friends and the people she thinks are her family. Trust Elijah on this, please. And, in the meantime, you'll just have to spend your time with me." I quickly bent forward and kissed him lovingly and when we broke our kiss, he was smiling again.
"I guess you're right, love. So what does our schedule say for the rest of the evening? Don't tell me we have a free evening?" He teased me again and I stuck out my tongue at him.
"You wish! I have planned another two hours for our meal and then we go for a walk and visit some monuments by night!" I explained excitedly and Klaus chuckled and shook his head amused.
xxx
"So which city do you want to visit after Venice?" Klaus asked me curiously while we were walking over the piazza San Marco, looking at the basilica, which was beautifully lit.
"I don't know, I've never been in Europe. You've lived in Italy once, didn't you? You have to know which other cities are great. But I don't think it can be better than this."
"You said the same after Barcelona and Paris too." Klaus teased me and then continued. "We could go to Verona next and watch an opera in the amphitheater, if you would like to. Then we could visit Rome and Florence and ..." He was asking me excitedly, his eyes glittering. But suddenly he was interrupted by a loud bang and we turned around. In the middle of the nearly empty plaza a group of twelve people had suddenly appeared. They were all looking really strange, with no sense of fashion at all. Seriously? What was that they were wearing? Some kind of cloaks? In that weather? That must be very hot...
Even thought it was nearly one a clock at night, it was still so warm, that I was really comfortable in my short blue summer dress.
And what were they doing with the ridiculous sticks in their hands?
They all seemed to search the place for something and when the gaze of a creepy black-haired woman met mine, she said something to the others and they all went in our direction, raising their sticks threateningly. Oh really? Fashion ignoramuses, with hideous haircuts and wooden sticks, plopping out of nowhere in the middle of the night! Great! And that woman definitely needed a straightening iron!
I groaned. I wasn't even traveling with Klaus for a month and there was already trouble.
When they were standing in front of us, a guy with long, blond hair spoke up.
"I'm assuming you are Klaus? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lucius Malfoy." Recognition came over Klaus' face, he obviously knew who this was supposed to be.
"Yes, that's me. What do you want?" He looked over the group, not really friendly, but not threatening either.
"The Dark Lord says you are to come to England and work for him again." Another guy ordered him haughtily and Klaus chuckled. The blond dude and the crazy haired woman looked horrified.
"Dolohov! Shut up and let me talk! He is not someone you can order around!"
"What's your problem Malfoy? Scared of those two little lovebirds? They are completely outnumbered, so they either come with us, or we force them." He said arrogantly. I got angry. I would not let my holiday with Klaus be destroyed by this idiot!
"Excuse me? Who do you think you are! We're on holiday, and I don't plan to go to England just because some lunatics show up and babble something about a dark lord, what kind of stupid nickname is that anyway?" I told them angrily and they seemed outraged.
"I will not let you disrespect the dark lord like this!" One of them screamed and then pointed his stick on me and muttered something.
A pain, like I've never felt before hit me and I started to scream. The last thing I heard was Klaus' furious growl, then everything went black.
...
When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting on the floor, Klaus holding me in his arms. There was still a dull ache in my whole body, but the blinding pain was gone.
"Caroline? Caroline? Are you okay?" He asked me, concerned, and I looked up.
The place was a mess. All around me were bodies, ripped off heads or hearts and a lot of blood on the floor. It was silent except for distant screams of some hysterical humans.
Only the blond man and the woman were still standing in front of us, looking slightly weary, but not sad that Klaus had killed the rest of the group. I wasn't exactly sad either. While I would have preferred for Klaus not to slaughter ten people in the middle of Venice, I couldn't blame him, especially after they attacked me.
"Yes, it's okay now. Can we just go back to the hotel?" I finally replied quietly and snuggled deeper into his safe arms. He kissed my temple, picked me up and stood up slowly. He thoughtfully looked at the two humans in front of us. Then he seemed to have an idea and his eyes lit up.
"You two know who I am, so you better go back to England now and tell Tom that, if he wants my help, he better comes personally. If anyone else bothers us, they will end up dead too. I don't follow anyone's orders, tell him that. If I help him, I expect something in return." He told them threateningly and they nodded silently and with a plop they were gone.
"What was all that about? You already have something in mind, don't you?" I asked Klaus tiredly. By the confident way he stood right now, I was sure he had a plan. He wanted something from that Tom guy and I had no clue, who that even was. Maybe the guy with the funny nickname. 'Dark lord'... now that I thought about it, it did sound like someone Klaus would be friends with.
To my surprise, my question made Klaus smiled hopefully, his eyes glittering devilishly.
"I might just have found a way to get my daughter back."