Author's note: I was going to update last month but due to the sensitive content of this chapter and because of what happened in Florida I decided against it. There are no words to express my horror and sorrow over that tragedy. I am so sorry.
Please before reading take under consideration that this chapter includes very violent theme and a graphic scene of a shooting that I had written more than a year ago for this chapter. And exactly because it was so hard to write I considered putting this story in permanent hiatus.
If you believe that such a content will be traumatic and harmful to you please do not proceed with reading the following chapter.
Songbird
Summary: She asked for his protection. He gave it to her. But with Klaus Mikaelson everything came with a price and into his web Caroline Forbes went. However that was only the beginning. Mafia!Klaroline AU/AH.
Chapter VII: The Brute Divine
Added warnings for this chapter:
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Graphic scenes of violence. Attack. Mass shooting. Character death.
If you cannot manage such themes please do not read.
...
I have never loved a darker blue
Than the darkness I have known in you, own from you
Know that my love would burn with me
We'll live eternally
.
.
….
I once kneeled in shaking thrill...I chase the memory of it still, of every chill.
The song had ended. Gunfire had ceased.
Bodies had hit the floor and were scattered in smoke and pools of blood. Somehow this silence was far more deafening than the sound of the explosion and of the machine guns that had fired relentlessly at them. There was no more screaming. No more furniture and bottles breaking. No more bullets ricocheting. No more people running away scared.
The moment after chaos Caroline realized was far more terrifying. Everything seemed to be suspended in time and no one knew what would happen next. The ringing in her ears still vibrated strongly even as she had scrambled for cover with Klaus behind the bulletproof bar.
Her eyes were tearing from the smoke and she tried to breathe and not to cough. Her knees were bleeding through the white skirt; endless glass shards had pricked her skin. Adrenaline had taken over but now it flowed in her veins slower making her legs tremble as she bunched up her gown. She broke the heels from her shoes and waited ready to run whenever Klaus would tell her to do so.
"Keep your head down."
Klaus' barely audible command was cold. He was already armed with a 9mm handgun and Caroline saw him reaching at the hem of his trousers getting one of his spares out of his ankle holster. He gave her the gun and she took it. Surprisingly enough she was not trembling. She unlocked the safety softly.
Ice ran through her veins when Klaus hoisted his body up and started shooting. More noise. More fear. More rage. More breaking glass.
Caroline turned her head to the side feeling the gun heavy on her hand. She wanted to shut her ears and block out the sound but most of all she wanted to close her eyes. Stefan's broken body was lying in a pool of his own blood some meters away from them and she wondered if he still breathed. Rebekah's screams were still echoing in her ears.
Klaus kept ducking down and then again firing back at the men from the rival gangs that were hiding behind the turned over couches giving just enough time for Marcel and Kol to move and reach them.
Caroline held her breath as the firing bullets cut through the air grazing the surface of the bar and barely missing Klaus who fell back down and changed the clip of his gun.
...I confessed the longing I was dreaming of some better love, but there's no better love…
Beckons above me and there's no better love…That ever has loved me, there's no better love…
…
Chicago
March 2014
Caroline laughter echoed all around Klaus bringing flame into his heart. An emotion he never considered it would be something he would ever get to feel. Hell, he doubted he even had a heart to begin with.
And yet watching Caroline, bathed in the soft lights of the chandeliers, all carefree and happy made his heart soar reminding him he still had one.
Caroline twirled around and looked at him with sparkling eyes. Her golden gown caught in its embedded crystals and in its long train, all the reflections from the hanging lights in their living room; her hair flowed with their natural shine and the sparkle from the diamond pins that kept her locks elegantly braided and beautifully falling on the one side of the long curve of her neck. The artist inside him rejoiced for he knew that this would be an image that would be etched in his memory. An image he would get to draw over and over again. He knew that if he had to choose from his memories the visage of genuine beauty then this would it. This moment. Her.
Caroline's excitement was still vibrating in her every move. Her eyes had shed tears and her hands had clapped when they saw Euryanthe in his private box in the Lyric Opera; the entire time she was sitting next to him allowing him to cherish her every reaction between champagne sips and soft caresses.
"Did you like the opera love?" he asked her amused by the way she still hummed her favorite parts. He knew that for a singer like her tonight was nothing less than heavenly. She was thrumming with excitement in their return in the limo and hours later she still did. He loved seeing this side of hers. Her light. Her beauty. Her fearless abandon.
He loved seeing her embracing art and taking in everything he could give her and then more. She made him feel alive and through her eyes, everything seemed brighter and more beautiful. She was reigniting his hunger for life.
"I loved it! Thank you for taking me," she thanked him with a soft voice full of gratitude and he beamed at her while his eyes shone with wonderment. Didn't she know that he was ready to give her the world should she ask?
"I'll take you wherever you want sweetheart. All you have to do is ask," he promised her and saw how the wheels in her head started turning as she was just realizing all the possibilities his offer actually held.
He saw the eagerness and the astonishment in her eyes. The wanderlust. Caroline was a restless spirit that could not be contained in walls and by trivial conventions. She wanted her freedom and she was curious enough to want everything life could give her. Everything he could give her. Caroline wanted to travel and see the world and she knew that together they could even reach the ends of it and get soaked in its numerous cultures and miracles. And she wanted it. He could see how this tempted her and ignited her greedy side as all the possibilities that could now come true weaved new dreams in her.
However, she did not ask. He could see that no matter how much she wanted it she was not ready yet for that step. And he was willing to wait for her until she would be. Until then it seemed he would be the one that would do the asking.
He reached for her and his fingers slid over her arm slowly until he got hold of her palm. He felt the goosebumps that rose on her skin and saw how her cheeks fired up with a lovely pink tint that was growing more crimson with every passing moment.
He smiled at that and twirled her around bringing her closer to him as if both of them were dancers on stage.
"Dance with me?" he requested, his voice low and quiet as he wrapped his hand around her waist making their bodies crash into each other.
"No music," Caroline rasped as she looked at his lips, but her body was pliant. This was not a refusal he realized when she lifted her head up and stared at him with eyes clouded with need. The same need he was feeling. The same desire that drove him mad every night ever since she came to live in his house. Knowing that she was so close and yet so far away. So many months. So much time. He was losing his mind.
His hand skimmed the outline of her jaw and Caroline gripped his shirt. Both of their breaths caught in their throats as their bodies brushed against each other. The grinding motion causing stifling moans to get lost between them. Their feet started moving and their slowly dancing figurines cast shadows spinning on the walls.
"Sing for me then," he whispered as he bent down his head and caressed the edge of her lips with feathery kisses. His hand on her back heated the skin over the silk of her gown and the heat that made her skin tingle was pushed back and forth between them electrifying the air and charging the atmosphere. It was as if the lights around them danced and flickered with every pattern their footsteps were making.
When Caroline wrapped her hands around his neck he found himself dangling between insanity and the warm sensation that lulled him closer to her. His hand traced her spine and curled around the nape of her neck. Her hair cascaded around his knuckles as he did so and Caroline blew out her breath over his lips that still trailed her face reverently.
"For you?"
The hoarseness in which she voiced her question made every muscle in his body tense. Tension was building inside him and he felt as if he was on the brink of the abyss. This time it was not the thrill that only the blood of a fresh kill on his hands could give him. This time the adrenaline was pure bliss and torture. It was leaving him vulnerable. In her hands. He drew his head a few inches away just so to level his gaze with hers.
"Will you?" he asked her allowing himself to appear weak for the first time in years. Time stopped as he feared her rejection and hoped for just one word that would make his heart soar.
Instead, he got three. And the world stilled and bristled in color that broke through the shadows and the blackness. The blood that stained his soul dissolved and the only thing that was left was the light Caroline carried with her.
"I want you," she finally said giving in to her desire for him after all this time of their hide and seek games and her lips touched his. She was claiming her kiss and his mouth parted giving her what she wanted. What she commanded and what he could not deny. He was falling and he could only hold on to her. His hands gripped her waist tight and lifted her up until her feet rested on the top of his shoes. He deepened the kiss yearning for more but managed to pull back just before he lost all control. The soft moan of protest that escaped Caroline's lips made him heave. It destroyed him. But he had to know. He what waited for so long. He could wait more. Even if it killed him.
"Are you sure Caroline?"
He looked into her eyes seriously. There would be no turning back from this. He would not let her go after this. Not ever and he saw in her eyes that she knew it. Their deal meant nothing when it came to this. This was the step leading to the point of no return for them. He would not be able to bask in her light and then return back to the shadows. If he had to do that he would take her with him.
So when she smiled and nodded leaning in for another kiss his eyes widened in surprise and then the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. His hands roamed over her sides until he buried them in her hair.
Their kiss went on forever and when Caroline hummed against his mouth Klaus felt as if she had breathed new life into him. Her complete abandon was enough to drive him crazy but instead of ravaging her senselessly he did not get lost in wild mindless passion. He wanted to savor this moment. He wanted to worship Caroline. Every inch of her. Every secret her body hid from him. To take her slowly and to give himself to her piece by piece until the only thing she would be able to utter from those sinful lips would be his name; until his name would be her only thought. He wanted her to feel safe in his arms. He wanted for once to not destroy and torture and seek instant gratification. He wanted to give. To cherish and adore her.
Her lips were like a drug and he did not stop kissing them as he lifted her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck while her tongue danced with his and Klaus was lost in that long kiss as his legs led them to his room.
When they slowly dipped on his bed his hands wandered over her body. Exploring. Feeling her curves under his fingertips. Teasing. Memorizing every contour. Worshipping. He slowly skimmed her thigh and raised his head to see her swollen lips and her hooded eyes. Eyes full of lust and wanting and…trust. His breath was caught deep in his lungs when she buried her hands in his hair and pulled him closer for one more kiss. Her moans drove him crazy as he detached his lips from hers and let them cast a heated path over her neck and shoulder.
Caroline arched her back and pushed herself on her elbows when he gently took her knee in his hands and slid out her shoe slowly caressing her foot erotically. He kneeled for her. Down on his knees, he wanted nothing else than to worship her. His hand traveled up; without any hurry, he pushed up her gown revealing the smooth skin underneath and caressed her thigh. Reverently. Soaking in her heat. Her legs parted for him but his hand did not move further up. His nose followed his fingers over her long leg, up to her thigh, taking in her delicate scent and her softness, before he picked up his head to see her.
His eyes darkened at the way she bit her lower lip and he saw how she panted erratically when he did the same with her other leg; this time his eyes stayed on her. He took in every reaction. Every missed breath. Every tremble. Every shiver. She wanted him.
He wanted to take it slow and to be in control but his ritual was cut short when Caroline pulled him on her body and turned them around so to straddle him. There was no choice to make. He gave in to her. Not even realizing how this had been the first time to surrender to a woman and allow to be dominated instead of forcing his control.
Caroline slowly unbuttoned his shirt and her fingers threaded the cords of his necklaces. She pushed her body up with her legs on each side of him; her hands reached the back of her dress pulling down the zipper of her gown, her eyes never leaving his. Her breath hitched when Klaus' hands cupped her breasts slightly pinching her taut nipples and she rolled her hips over him enjoying the way he immediately hardened. His touch was filled with adoration and he closed his eyes for a moment as if he could not believe that she was in his hands like this.
Klaus reached for her hair and unpinned them. Her locks fell around her face in waves and he smiled tenderly at her. That tenderness made her stiffen and it was something Klaus instantly noticed and stopped moving. His palm cupped her cheek.
"Tell me to stop and I will," he whispered and all tension left Caroline's body getting replaced by nothing but desire. She shook her head and his smile got lost when her mouth crashed on his.
…
Present time
A few hours prior to the shooting
The heating system worked perfectly but cold had infected the walls and the air. Caroline sat on the chair opposite to Klaus' desk and watched the cloudless day that expanded beyond the windows. The winter sun was breaking through the opening of the curtains, pale with dusted rays, trying to battle the winter inside the room.
'So cold,' she thought, 'right down to the bone.'
That was what she felt the last days whenever she was around Klaus. Something that was a rare occasion since he was avoiding her ever since her confession. He was hardly speaking to her or even paying any attention to whenever she was trying to reach out to him. And she hated it. She hated his childish behavior because she missed him. She missed his smile and his smirks and the way he held her at nights.
Right now Klaus was sharpening his knife and was putting up his walls. Caroline didn't know if this was his way of punishing her or of not showing weakness and protecting himself from the pain. Surely this was a way to show her his displeasure. Maybe even his hurt beneath all this selfish grim dismissal.
She had hurt him. She knew that. But she was not going to stand around and allow him to treat her like this. Not when he had asked for her honesty. Not when she had spoken from the heart. Klaus was not going to get a pass when it came to how he treated her.
But damn it! She missed him. She hated this distance and ached for what they had. She never believed they would get there but here they were.
She was out of words. Out of solutions.
All she knew was there were times their connection could not mend wounds. The only thing it did was create more and both of them already had more than enough.
So she responded to his rejection in kind. She did not go to find him at nights no matter how much she wanted his embrace. No matter how much she knew that he was sharing the same sleepless nights.
She thrashed and turned in her bed every night kicking the cold sheets and punching the pillows refusing to admit how much she missed Klaus' lips on her hair mumbling goodnight to her.
Caroline watched the winter sun on the horizon and the distance seemed smaller in comparison to the one between her and Klaus now.
She was waiting for Klaus to finish his phone call. She could tell he had not slept the last night. He was overseeing the illegal liquor shipments and Caroline was used to his irritability whenever he had to play chaperone. But today was different somehow. Ever since their talk, Klaus had been more withdrawn. Especially with her. And yet he called her to his office today.
She frowned when she saw how his jaw clenched before he ended the phone call. His gaze landed on her. Grave and urgent.
And there was also hesitation in the way he looked at her. As if he was hesitant before landing a blow on her.
"There is something you need to know."
His tone was controlled and Caroline understood. She didn't need him to say the words. She knew. She could feel it. She had been Logan's prey for way too long and she knew that feeling in the pit of her stomach all too well. Logan was near.
"He is here isn't he?" she asked quietly.
"Yes."
Klaus' words held finality.
'Cold. So cold.'
She tensed and the heat of her instinctive fear battled with the ice in her heart at the sound of that small word. There was no turning back anymore. She could feel it. Logan shouldn't have the power to evade Klaus for that long and more so to come to his city. And here he was.
"Kol tracked him here," Klaus told her and she gulped down feeling trapped once more despite the spacious impenetrable surroundings, "we will need to increase security but it won't take long now."
Klaus unyielding demeanor proved to Caroline that time was indeed ticking backward. She would come face to face with her nightmare again. Even with Klaus at her side, it didn't change anything. The terror was creeping in.
"He is counting down his last days, Caroline. That I promise you."
Caroline nodded and forced herself to breathe.
It was one thing to face a nightmare defenseless and another when she had the worst nightmare of them all by her side. And just maybe she would not even need Klaus this time. Just maybe she had turned into a different nightmarish shade herself.
She would not hide anymore. She had survived Logan before and she would again. No matter what it would take. This was why she had locked herself in Klaus' gilded cage and this was why she had let him train her.
But despite how every path she followed brought her here somehow she found herself worrying not about her past that was about to make its return again. This time she also feared of what would come after that. Because she gave more to Klaus than just what their bargain demanded and she did not know where this left them now. With Logan and fear out of the picture, everything would change. They both knew it.
"And what happens after that?" she wondered and flinched at the way Klaus' lips curved into a twisted smirk. The kind she had not missed at all.
Klaus leaned back against his leather chair and his gaze pierced her armor daggering the last remnants of any hope she might have had for better days to come.
"And then they all lived happily ever after," Klaus drawl was nothing but bleeding sarcasm. The bitterness in his voice turned the atmosphere around them colder still.
Agent Galen Vaughn watched his clock and waited. He had filed the paperwork ensuring that his name would not appear anywhere. The last leading member of the gangs that still opposed the Mikaelsons was released today. On a technicality of course but it would be a shame for one of the most brutal gangs of Chicago to miss tonight's party.
It would be the perfect birthday gift for the King of Chicago.
Galen Vaughn checked his phone messages and promptly deleted them. He would have to get rid of any evidence. Phones, contacts, digital traces. When the time would come he had to appear clean. Civilians would probably become collateral damage too and his name could not be connected with that.
He tapped his foot on the dirty tiles of his small office.
It was starting. Tonight. What he had wanted for years was about to get handed to him. The only thing he had to do was wait out the storm.
He always loved a good irony. He had tried to fight Klaus with legal and illegal means but never managed to outsmart him. Klaus Mikaelson was always at least three steps ahead.
During all those years of constant failures, that almost cost him a demotion and surely tainted his career, he realized there was a pattern to the madness and it stretched back generations.
There was only one poison that could bring the Mikaelsons to their knees. Burn them from the inside out.
Klaus had overthrown Mikael and before him, Mikael had stolen the crown from his father and on and on the spikes of the wheel turned and turned. For all their talk of family, there was no loyalty among thieves and mobsters it seemed. Not where the throne was concerned. The Mikaelsons had always painted Chicago in blood with Klaus' and Mikael's reigns being by far the bloodiest but as it would seem Mikaelson blood was the only weapon that could take down a Mikaelson.
That was Klaus' Achilles heel also. The only thing that could destroy Klaus Mikaelson was his family. Castles always fell from within after all. And the only one that could take down Klaus was a member of his family.
It was almost poetic.
Galen Vaughn stared at the wall where he had pinned the photographs of the Mikaelsons along with all the evidence he had gathered in his attempts to solve their crimes and get down to the bottom of at least one case in order to bring their mafia family down for good.
He had to cut his losses. Chicago was always meant to be ruled by a Mikaelson but that didn't mean that the Mikaelson in question had to be Klaus.
Galen Vaughn raised his glass in mock salute, his eyes glued to the picture of Niklaus Mikaelson.
"Happy birthday mate," he celebrated with a laugh and truly enjoyed his drink.
The dim lights were filtered with dark blue and white flashes that surrounded Caroline Forbes on the stage of Loup Noir as she delicately held on to the microphone and sang.
Like she had done a countless times before but this time felt different. As if she was counting time backward and was storing memories. Memories to keep, to hold and maybe even one day try to forget.
She knew better than that.
Some memories were unforgettable. As some people were.
…You, whose heart would sing of anarchy…You would laugh at meanings, guarantees, so beautifully…
Music played, people danced. Caroline could tell which ones were lovers. Those that gently swayed and held on to each other. Those that were coming closer and closer.
Lovers had a way to look at each other. A joyous gentle way or a dark one that could cross across oceans and strike deep from one soul to another and break hearts.
Klaus was looking at her tonight. And so did she.
When our truth is burned from history…By those who figured justice in fond memory, witness me….
Tonight there was an ocean of smoke, flowing alcohol, and whispering as Klaus' gaze followed even the slightest twitch of breath that left her lungs.
He was casually drinking his scotch but there was nothing casual about the way he stared at her from his table across the crowded club. When she sang for him he was hers. Ever since the first night he had laid eyes on her he became enchanted by her song as if she was his siren.
She drew power from that knowledge.
She changed the tune. She changed the tempo. Slowly the song became different in her lips. Slow. Jazz. Acoustic and melodic.
Seduction streamed from her lips. The pianist played along to her slow breathy piece.
She had dressed for Klaus tonight. One more night playing the mistress of the King. In display for public consumption but a part of hers hadn't dressed like this for the role she was playing.
She had dressed for him.
The slip of silk draped over her body showing off her curves and gleaming in the dark. The appreciation she had seen in Klaus' eyes was enough to warm the cold out of her skin and in return she couldn't take her eyes away from him. His black jacket was unbuttoned on the top and the collar of his white shirt beneath was open revealing his necklaces. The way he looked weakened her resolve and made her need to stay true to what she had told him so hard. Her body responded to his sight but more so to the way he looked at her tonight. So did her heart.
…Like fire weeping from a cedar tree…Know that my love would burn with me…
More than anything else she wanted so much to believe that everything would be alright. That she was singing for her love and not as the mistress of the King. That she was just a girl and he was just a man and they cared for birthdays and wanted to hold on to the promise of a thousand more to come when they would blow their candles together and where their wishes would come true. Where Klaus could love her and put her first. Where she could be free to love him back.
….Cause there's no better love…That beckons above me, there's no better love….That ever has loved me, there's no better love…
Some songs were easier to sing than others. Singing had been her passion but as a job, it had become a constant. A constant that kept her sane and saved her over and over again from mentally drowning in memories that still hurt.
But when she sang for him the world was changing its colors. A knot was forming in her throat and her stomach would fill with the constant flatter of thousand butterfly wings. It was not easy. It was not easy to pour your soul into lyrics and sing.
How much more tonight when there was a coldness and a distance between her and Klaus.
She stepped closer to the microphone but didn't close her eyes as she usually would. Her voice carried a sensual tint and she caught his gaze to hers. She wanted to chase away the demons and the ghosts that plagued them both and she wanted to let him know how she felt. No matter how corny and cheesy it was to confess her love with a song as if she was nothing but a silly schoolgirl.
That naïve shallow girl she used to be. The one that would actually do that for her high school crashes had died long ago. The woman that stepped up into her place was far more confident and cynical and strong and Klaus was part of the journey that made her all these things.
So she had to make him understand. Despite what would lie ahead there would be no regrets. She did not regret knowing him, caring for him. Falling for him. Because she had. She had fallen for him. And it terrified her.
…So darling, feel better love…'Cause there's no better love….That's laid beside me, there's no better love…
And she knew it by the way he looked at her tonight. It terrified him too.
…That justifies me, there's no better love…So darling, darling, feel better love….
…Feel better love…
The last notes died out. Her fingers slipped away from the microphone just as the crowd cheered and raised their glasses. She saw nothing else. She heard nothing else. Not the applaud. Not the whispers. She waltzed through the crowd moving closer to Klaus, one certain step after another, just as he held a hand out for her.
When their fingers touched a flux of electricity rushed inside her body right down to her core and when Klaus kissed her palm she felt that same electricity exploding inside her. It was intoxicating.
His eyes were locked on hers and his kiss warmed her knuckles before she sat on his lap. She couldn't resist and neither she cared for anyone else present as she tasted the alcohol on his lips. People rose their glasses again and champagne flowed. Everything was perfect tonight. Or at least it looked that way on the surface. She had made sure of that.
When they broke their kiss Caroline's gaze lingered on Klaus' face. Despite the distance that existed between them lately, she found herself relaxing. Pretenses or not they were close now and it was a chance to break the ice. Maybe this was the first and probably the last time she didn't mind playing the role of his mistress.
"How bored are you really?" she asked him knowing all too well that despite being his birthday, and him surprisingly loving birthdays, such affairs were something Klaus hated. People kept sucking up to him at such gatherings. Everyone was asking for favors after supposedly giving him their best wishes. And Klaus tolerated them because for every favor he gave he gained far more leverage and profit in the long run. He always played the long game and such nights were no different.
"I'd rather take a bullet than spent one more second playing nice with the riff-raff," Klaus groaned snobbishly and Caroline laughed and looked around only to see Klaus' older brother enjoying the same thing Klaus hated. Playing the politician flawlessly. Elijah Mikaelson was already making deals with other uptight – as would both Klaus and Kol call them – bosses from other known mob families allied to the Mikaelsons.
"Elijah seems to enjoy it," she commented and Klaus rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Of course he does love. Every fossil loves its natural environment."
Caroline tried not to laugh but couldn't help it. Just as she couldn't help enjoying the envy of other women that wanted to have a shot at gaining Klaus' interest that belonged to her alone. As she couldn't help the spark of possessiveness that ignited inside her. It was almost overwhelming.
She wrapped her hands around Klaus' neck and made it clear that he was taken.
Klaus was always possessive over her but at such events, she had come to realize that so was she when it came to him and when that realization was catching up to her it always knocked the air out of her lungs. She would never admit it out loud but something in Klaus' eyes told her that he knew exactly how she felt and he didn't mind as long as she understood that such feelings were going both ways. He was ready to kill for her and at some twisted shades of similarity they were the same and it was frightening to feel that should she need to claim him she would be capable of using the exact same weapons as he would if need be. But that wasn't healthy. It couldn't be.
Caroline shook her head and forced herself to return to sanity and to refuse to spare even a glance at the provocatively dressed women that always tried to seduce her man. Instead, she played along with Klaus' irritation and turned her attention back to Elijah who was speaking to two very old men. Fossils indeed.
"Don't be mean," she playfully scolded Klaus before she looked at Kol that was sitting between two scathingly dressed women that seemed to be enjoying his company way more than they should in public, "at least your other brother has fun," she noticed and Klaus shook his head but the back of his palm caressed her thigh. Slowly.
"Maybe I should start having some fun too," his husky voice sent shivers skittering down her spine.
"Maybe you should."
Her tone was bold and shameless causing Klaus' eyebrow to lift. Desire flickered in his eyes. Bright only for her to see. They hadn't had sex for days and it was already wearing them out.
His nose skimmed her neck and she held back a moan. His breath tickled her ear but it was the husky cadence of his whisper that ignited the fire inside her. She hardly cared for putting up a show like that tonight. A part of her wanted others to see the power she had over Klaus too. She was not just his possession. She was his drug.
"What do you propose sweetheart?"
Caroline's expression turned from bold to promising and she laced her fingers with his causing his hand to still on her leg. Her thumbnail teased his skin and Klaus licked his lips slowly with his tongue looking entranced by her spell.
"Well," Caroline smiled at him, making sure to entice him ever further, "if the King is so inclined to escort me to my dressing room. I have your gift waiting for you," she proposed seductively and Klaus' eyes darkened.
Before she could even blink he had gotten up and pulled her with him causing her to laugh. The glares of envy that were directed towards her were an added bonus.
Just as Klaus wrapped his hand around her waist his sister got in their way and scowled at them. Caroline pressed her lips amused when she felt Klaus' tensing next to her and she gripped his hand making sure to calm him down before he would snap at his sister.
Rebekah glowered at them but when she opened her mouth to protest for them going away Klaus was fast to dismiss her.
"Go play with you boy toys sister. I need a break," he told his sister without giving her any room to object and Caroline only shrugged at Rebekah when she glared at her.
"Do not miss the cake!" Rebekah pointed a finger at them and Klaus rolled his eyes before he led them away.
The dim lights of her dressing room and the closed door allowed Caroline to take a break from all the constant performance she had to give as Klaus' sidepiece. The chatter and the noise from the club diminished somewhat and that allowed her to relax. It seemed that she needed this moment far away from everyone just as much as Klaus did.
She craned her neck and her hand massaged the tense muscles but when she glanced up she noticed that even though she was no longer under prying eyes she was facing a different kind of scrutiny.
Klaus' penetrating gaze was roaming all over her, from head to toe. She squinted her eyes feeling somewhat self-conscious under his intense stare.
She half expected Klaus to say something but instead, the silence between them was prolonged and she mentally forbade herself from squirming.
"What?" she finally blurted out running her hands over the silk of her gown inspecting herself to see if something was wrong.
"Something seems to be missing," Klaus said and Caroline tilted her head confused just as he pushed his hand under the lapel of his jacket reaching for his inner pocket.
Caroline's hands stilled on her stomach at the sight of the elegant red leather box.
Klaus sauntered closer and opened the lid of the box slowly, making her breath hitch in her throat. Over the velvet, the light bounced on the white shine of the diamonds.
Klaus took out the bracelet and Caroline gave him a challenging look.
"You know you are the one that is meant to get gifts today right?" she joked and Klaus huffed a chuckle. He put the box aside, mirth dancing in his eyes before it dusted to melancholy.
"Don't deny me this pleasure sweetheart," he told her sounding sad somehow and Caroline narrowed her eyes and tried to decipher what his expression actually meant until a slow smile appeared on his face again.
He extended his hand to her waiting for her to offer him her wrist. Caroline pressed her lips trying not to smile but it was a lost battle. Klaus' boyish challenge seemed to be contagious and slowly the ice between them started to thaw.
"Well it is Cartier so the pleasure is all mine," she giggled and pompously gave him her hand. Her fabricated pretentiousness was almost comical but as Klaus clasped the bracelet securing it on her hand Caroline bit her lip.
Klaus always showered her with gifts but this particular one carried a heavy weight this time and she hated dancing and tiptoeing around the issue that troubled both of them.
She looked at the repeated infinity design hanging on her wrist and then she stared at Klaus decisively.
"You can't repair what is broken with expensive gifts. You know this don't you?" she quietly asked him and saw how he froze. She refused to feel regret over her words but then Klaus drew her closer to him pulling her by her hand. He delicately kissed her wrist just above the glimmering diamonds.
"I know," he admitted and Caroline let out a shaky breath and tried to find the right words.
Instead, she withdrew her hand and cleared her throat. Klaus' pushed his hands into his pockets somewhat awkwardly. It was if all the communication they had been building the last months had shattered.
She let out a sigh and composed herself.
"Okay, that is a discussion for later," she eventually relented and Klaus nodded seriously.
She finally checked out the bracelet on her hand again and pouted.
She turned around and went to her vanity. She opened the top drawer and took out the present she had stored there for Klaus.
"Well this really makes my gift seem crappy in comparison," she complained and Klaus laughed as she handed him his gift with a sullen look.
They went and sat on the sofa and Caroline fidgeted with the diamond bracelet on her wrist as Klaus tore the gift wrap.
"It is nothing expensive or anything," she blabbered quickly, "I mean what do you get to the man that has everything?" she mumbled feeling her cheeks heating up.
Klaus inspected her gift in his hands with baffled eyes before he schooled his face into a neutral expression.
"So you got me a …diary," he said impassively as he examined the pink flower pattern on the yellow notebook. He refrained from saying anything as if he did not want to offend her and Caroline laughed half worried half excited.
"Well, look inside!" she urged him and Klaus laughed at her childlike impatience but then he frowned. When he shuffled the pages of the yellow flowery notebook she had given him he saw her handwriting. He seemed baffled as he eyed her and Caroline gave him a shy look.
"You know how we read books and poetry? Well, I have been writing down quotes and things I like in here and I also wrote down some of my thoughts about them. And I want you to have it," she confessed and expected from Klaus to say something. Anything. She had poured her heart into those pages and she wanted him to know that despite everything that had happened between them and anything they might have said she cared for him. She cared for what they had even if they could not give it a name yet. Maybe not ever. But the sentiment was there and no matter what she would never regret it. No matter what they would face in the future. No matter where that future would leave them.
Instead of giving her an answer, however, Klaus remained speechless. His fingers ran over the dried ink on the papers.
"Are you sure Caroline?" he whispered, the low decibel of his tone struck with an emotional tint. He held on to the notebook. No one had ever given him something like that. Usually, all the gifts he got, even those from his family were christened with blood and ambition. They all had hidden motives or were meant to coddle his ego. People always wanted to gain something out of him and the gifts he received from them always saw to that.
This one was different. This one was priceless. This one was personal.
His throat bobbed as if trying to swallow a breath that refused to reach his lungs.
'To the man that has everything' Caroline had said but Klaus before her had nothing and now was afraid that he would lose her. Women like her never ended with men like him. He always destroyed everything he touched. He would finally push her away as he did with everyone else. Then he would be truly left with nothing.
A part of him hated her gift. He hated the hope Caroline's gift gave him tonight. He hated knowing how his life would be without her. And all that would be left from her would be those pages. Her heart was in those pages. The heart she would take away when she would fight for her freedom again. And he did not know if he would allow her to ever leave him. Even if she would want it. And she would hate him for it.
This was why he felt as if he could not breathe. Because Caroline's gift was one more proof of who she was and of who he was.
He did not deserve her.
In the end, it was Caroline's bright smile that pushed oxygen inside him again. So violently that it burned him. And he drank it all in just as Caroline wrapped her hands around his neck reaching for his mouth.
"Happy birthday," she let the words graze his lips with her kiss and the echo of her laughter encased them into a tight embrace as they fell on the sofa lost in a touch they had never shared before. It was brutal and heartbreaking and comforting.
It was intimacy.
They danced. Close. Their bodies blended together in slow rhythm with Klaus' fingers pressed on her exposed back.
Caroline glanced up at him and she couldn't resist his boyish smile. She smiled back and moved closer still until her lips brushed against his cheek; she felt his body tensing for only a second before he relaxed in her arms. He leaned down and inhaled her in. They swayed together. His fingers skimmed patterns on her back sending shivers up and down her spine.
It was an illusion she knew but Caroline felt as if she was where she was meant to be. As if the cage of his embrace was what she truly wanted. The darkness, the music, the proximity. She hardly remembered what she had wanted before that moment. How she had asked him to give her everything or to set her free. Would be that bad? To settle into this? To let go and be happy for once? To pretend this was enough? That she was enough? Would it be such a mistake to forget all her doubts and insecurities and just be with him?
It would be so easy to get lost in him.
'Dangerous territory', a voice inside her mind warned her. Lightning was striking inside her heart turning that voice into a whisper. But it wasn't enough. Her past carried the screams and the broken bones and the nightmares. She could hardly breathe when she remembered the price she had paid when she had allowed herself to be less for a man. To want less. To demand less. To be less. Until she was left with nothing. Until she was nothing.
Klaus wasn't Logan but she was still burning in the old embers of that horror. She wouldn't allow herself to become a shadow again. For no man. For no one. Not ever. Even if that moment felt right. She wanted more and as her gaze settled on Klaus' face she realized that she wanted more both from herself and him. She wanted him. Truly. But she wanted him to want her. Without holding back.
She wanted it all or not at all.
"Klaus…About what I told you the other day-"
The air between them became tight again. Whatever he had read in her face it was enough to put him on edge again.
"Not tonight love," Klaus breathed and Caroline met his gaze fully.
She was indecisive for a moment but then she relented and pressed her body more against his allowing his warmth to ooze into her. His scent seeped into her skin and when his arms embraced her tighter she felt that for tonight at least there was nothing wrong with admitting there was no other place she would rather be. In that moment. She was where she wanted. That moment was theirs. It was not a deal or a promise or an exchange for protection. It was honesty and trust.
That moment was just them. Dancing. Together. And this was a birthday gift she could definitely give him with all her heart.
"You are right. Tonight is all about you," she smiled softly at him and relaxed more when he smiled back at her.
His features showed genuine relief but then his expression turned skeptical. His eyes roamed over her with longing and she felt his anticipation. It wouldn't be just this moment tonight. It would be the whole night and her body throbbed.
She let her hands wander over his shoulders and gripped the lapels of his jacket. She hummed and the intensity of the sound that escaped her lips mirrored the yearning that reflected in his eyes. The hunger. The ravenous need to devour each other.
"I can't wait to get out of here," Klaus complained making her laugh.
"We still haven't cut the cake," she reminded him and Klaus chest rose and fell with a deep sigh. Caroline tried to push back her amusement more so when Klaus' gave her a stubborn glare full of indignation and annoyance. That alone had her breaking into a contagious laughter because Klaus' irritated impatience turned to a low chuckle.
And here he was. The King of Chicago. The Nightmare. The Terror. Acting like a bored insolent boy that could actually have fun and laugh with her. And she actually loved seeing that side of his. It was so very…human.
And it belonged only to her.
"Don't you want me to sing happy birthday to you?" she teased him wrapping her hands tighter around his neck and Klaus smirked at her but then his gaze changed.
It became deep and Caroline frowned at the emotion she saw there.
There were so many strangers around them. So many people. But they were alone. And Caroline's heart clenched. Time ran backward. She knew. She knew that whatever Klaus would do next would set their course.
They stopped dancing. They stood in the shadows.
He licked his lips slowly. His hands cupped her face.
"Caroline…what I really want-"
Silence.
Crude terrifying silence.
All the commotion and the noise and the terror blended together in what seemed to be the static from an old silent movie. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Something was holding her down. The weight that had trapped her on the floor was not leaving her room to move or even breathe. It was the same weight that kept her alive and cocooned in safety.
She smelled fire. She smelled strong alcohol. She smelled blood.
Caroline blinked. Over and over again. She tried to focus when she realized she wasn't dancing anymore. She wasn't standing before Klaus. She wasn't on the precipice of joy anymore.
The song had ended. It got replaced by the loud crashing sound of the explosion. The blast wave had thrown them away as if they were nothing but ragdolls. Klaus had covered her body with his just as they crashed on the floor. He was still covering her. With all his body and Caroline whimpered beneath him weakly.
Her eyes snapped open and she moaned in pain. Blast wave?
There was pressure in her ears. There was blood everywhere. Smoke. The silence was ebbing away by an annoying buzzing. The deafness was slowly going away leaving in its wake a constant ringing and Caroline realized that it was not just the remnants of the bomb. It was the sound of gunshots. They were in the middle of an attack.
Bottles were breaking. Glass was raining down. People were screaming. She barely registered what happened. What was still happening. One time she was looking at Klaus and the next there was an ear-splitting noise followed by a blast that sent them tumbling down.
The world was disappearing and appearing in front of her blurry eyes. Her ears were ringing. People were crying, screaming and stepping over others. They were stepping over bodies that were scattered on the floors. In pieces. People were still getting shot down. It was mayhem and hysteria.
In the pandemonium and despite the hazy state she was in she realized she was staring at someone she knew. Just a few steps away.
Stefan. His body was twisted at a grotesque angle and he was not moving. Blood and soot had covered his face. She tried to move closer to him. To help him. But Klaus was not leaving her room to move even an inch.
There was so much screaming. People were screaming and running around them while others had already taken out their guns.
Bullets flew everywhere. Broken glass erupted and more furniture got overturned.
Klaus covered her head with his hands when a few of his men surrounded them and started shooting back. More blood splattered. They were not on the dance floor anymore and the guns were aimed at them. At everyone.
The same phrase was yelled at her over and over again. She looked up and saw Klaus' lips moving.
"Are you-?"
" -you hurt?"
"- hurt?"
She frowned and Klaus pulled her to the side behind a sofa that was riddled with bullet holes.
"Are you hurt?" he demanded and the sheer will in his voice broke through her confusion. Caroline shook her head lost. Was that blood dripping on her dress? It wasn't hers. Or was it?
There were cuts on her arms and face. The glass shards had pricked her skin leaving drops of blood to dribble down.
Her hands pressed against her body, checking for wounds. All that blood. Where did this blood come from? It wasn't hers.
Stefan's. It was Stefan's. Through the distorted memories, she remembered him shielding her and Klaus and she had heard the thud of his body as it had fallen to the floor next to them. Everything had happened so fast and Caroline was now replaying the attack in her head as the aftermath of the explosion dissolved and the burst of the adrenaline woke her up completely. Everything was happening too fast and too slow all at once.
She gasped when she saw Klaus. Blood dripped at the side of his head.
"Can you move?" he asked her again and despite her shock, she found herself nodding. His voice was now clear. Everything was clear and they ducked down more. Machine guns were firing relentlessly at them. They were in the middle of a war zone.
Klaus held her close and Caroline realized he was already holding his gun. He stared at her. Telling her with his eyes not to move. She nodded and looked around. Bodies had hit the floor and were scattered in smoke and pools of blood. Klaus' siblings had taken cover behind and beneath broken furniture and dead bodies. Klaus' men were trying to find the source of the ongoing attack and to protect the Mikaelsons when everything stopped.
The gunfire ceased. Caroline held her breath. Somehow this silence was far more deafening than the sound of the explosion and of the machine guns that had fired relentlessly at them. There was no more screaming. No more furniture and bottles breaking. No more bullets ricocheting. No more people running away scared. The moment after chaos Caroline realized was far more terrifying. Everything seemed to be suspended in time and no one knew what would happen next.
Caroline realized this silence meant nothing good. They were recharging. Klaus knew it too and she saw how he signaled at Kol and Elijah to follow his lead.
Klaus fired at the remaining lights creating a distraction for them. He pulled her with him and his body became a shield as they dodged another round of gunshots. The distance between the sofa that barely provided them any protection and the bar seemed small but in this constant chaos, Caroline knew it would become endless.
As Klaus and his men were warding off the attack Caroline saw from the corner of her eye, Rebekah. She was hysterically trying to get to Stefan's unconscious body but Marcel was pulling her back and managed to shield her behind the couches. Elijah soon joined them.
Caroline held on to Klaus and tried to keep her panic at bay. Kol was shooting his way towards the bar too. The ringing in her ears still vibrated strongly even as she scrambled for cover with Klaus behind the bulletproof bar.
Past the scattered bodies on the floor, they finally shot their way towards the bar. It was thankfully bulletproof and Caroline remembered how she had joked about it but now she felt grateful for Klaus' insanity.
Not so insane after all, it seemed.
Klaus made sure her whole body was covered beneath the bar before he focused his attention back to the attackers.
Shit! Did she smell gas? There was fire and smoke everywhere. They had to get out!
Caroline felt as if hours had passed and now they were counting down minutes. She realized that despite the fact that everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and despite feeling frozen in time in truth all happened in a matter of minutes. So fast. So many people had died in the blink of the eye.
Klaus had kept his calm but her heart was beating wildly. Klaus men were covering them. Lights were shimmering out. Kol finally made it behind the bar despite the bullet that grazed his arm. Blood. More blood.
Caroline looked down at her hands. They were coated with blood. It was still warm. It wasn't hers. Damn it! How many people had died?
Who would dare to attack them at Loup Noir and more so at a night like this? This had to be personal and orchestrated. Whoever they were they had just declared war.
"Kol take them out of here!" Klaus yelled at Kol who was crouching down next to them, cursing at the gang members that were attacking them. Gangs as in plural.
Caroline saw Klaus pointing at Rebekah who was closer to the exit and was taking cover behind an overturned table with her guards surrounding her. Marcel was shielding the Mikaelson sister with his body.
Kol nodded grimly and the next thing Caroline felt was his hand on her back ready to shield her away towards the exit but instead of following his lead she gripped Klaus' knee.
"Klaus-"
Whatever Klaus' heard in her voice was enough to give him pause and the next thing Caroline felt was his lips on hers. He kissed her roughly and she tried to breathe all the life and all the love she had in that kiss but it wasn't enough. The world was falling apart all around them and the background music was nothing else but ricocheting bullets.
Klaus' eyes shone and Caroline faintly heard Kol's voice prompting them to move. Klaus' youngest brother tried to pull her away but she fought back. It was that fight that brought Klaus back to reality. The change was instantaneous and Caroline realized that distracting him right now was as dangerous as shooting him straight in the heart but she could not help it. She couldn't leave him. Not like this. Not here. Would she even see him again if she would leave him here?
Klaus took out another gun and gave her a curt nod. As if he could read her thoughts, her fears. This was why he was training her for so long. For this moment. But nothing mattered anymore. All that mattered was the feeling in the pit of her stomach. As if she had swallowed led.
Kol tried to force her to go with him but he wasn't able to pull her back with him. Not with people shooting at them and her not cooperating. Struggling and resisting was a death warrant but she was set on terror and worry. She couldn't leave. She wouldn't see Klaus again. She somehow knew it.
And it was in that moment she realized that she would stay with him. Through thick and thin. It was not about their deal. Or about anything else. She wanted Klaus. Alive and hers. She wanted a life with him. A future. She wanted to fight. With him. Not leave him back. Not leave him at all.
"Go with Kol."
Klaus' command was unyielding and cold. Nothing like his kiss.
"But-"
Klaus made sure they would remain covered. Rebekah's men were already moving her. Kol was ready to leave too without her.
Klaus' fingers wrapped around the nape of her neck and his tone was nonnegotiable. She could feel his breath warming her face.
"You go with Kol and you do not look back," he fiercely told her but she refused.
"Klaus-"
"I'll be right behind you," he promised. His voice now soothing but instead of easing her worry it felt like a placating lie and Klaus' never lied. He manipulated the truth but he didn't lie. Not to her.
She went taut and then frowned.
"You lie," she whispered and clutched his shirt in her fingers. Klaus looked down at her hand and then at her face. His fingers ghosted over the dribble of blood that ran down her neck before he looked straight into her eyes.
"Fine, I lie," he admitted with a sigh and his lips curved into a ghost of a smirk, "it might take me a while."
He tried to sound smug but Caroline shook her head. It was not as easy as he was trying to make it seem. This was not a game.
They had attacked him here, tonight. This was not a simple dispute or retaliation. This was a declaration of war and they were after all of the Mikaelsons. They were after Klaus. Things would not go down like this if his enemies were not prepared to fight. And win. They were after him.
"I won't leave you!" she refused to go even though rationally she knew that she should not cause him more problems right now. She was a liability. But logic had gone out of the window now.
"Caroline-"
"I am not leaving!"
"Don't argue with me now!" he yelled at her angrily and she pressed her lips.
Klaus wanted to buy her and his siblings time to run to safety but what would happen to him? She could not leave him back like this. What is she never saw him again?
"As much as I delight in your stubbornness this is not the time for it. It is me they want and I can't worry about you right now my love," he shut her down and Caroline felt time stopping. Hell had broken loose and yet it was two simple words that cut her breath.
It was the first time Klaus called her 'my love'. At least in that way.
Words spilled without second thoughts as if he truly meant them and Caroline felt tears brimming in her eyes. She knew she was being childish and that this was not a moment to cause more trouble but that nagging voice screaming in her head for her to stay by Klaus' side would not shut up. It was instinct. It was her gut warning her for something but she shut that voice down. She had to. This was her fear talking and nothing else. It had to be. Klaus would be fine. She could not lose him and he had to focus on what was important right now. Distracting him was a mistake.
One deep breath. One more. She would see him again.
She inclined her head holding back her breath and she saw relief in his eyes before he kissed her.
She didn't want this to be her last memory of him.
"If you die I'll be really pissed!" she lashed out at him, her voice coming out small and childlike fueled with irrational anger and Klaus smiled as if this was actually amusing and they were not in a life-death situation right now.
His comforting smile was chocking the life out of her more than the rising smoke of the explosives and the alcohol that poured from the broken bottles. She wanted to shout. To get it all out.
To let him know. The words that always seemed to get stuck in her throat.
To let them all out. To shout. To whisper. To let him know. Just this once.
"Klaus I-I-"
Their eyes meet but she couldn't say it. Not like this. Not like a farewell.
Klaus kissed her forehead. His lips hot on her clammy skin. The blue of his gaze that pierced her eyes turned a darker shade reminiscent of black before he looked at his younger brother that had crouched his way near them and covered them with his gun.
"Keep her safe, brother," Klaus' voice was grave full of threat and something akin to pleading.
"With my life," Kol promised him as his fingers wrapped around Caroline's elbow and Klaus nodded.
Caroline searched for some reassurance in his eyes. A promise that he would be safe. That they would get out of this alive. That she would see him again.
Bottle shards fell down on them.
The smoke from the fire that had burst and licked the alcohol on the floors and the walls engulfed them. Flames ate the curtains and the furniture and reached for the bar. The reflection from the fire bounced on the strobe lights that flashed erratically burying the faces in shadows and fading harsh light.
Caroline felt Kol pulling her back, away from Klaus. Elijah had already gathered more men and were shooting back at those that had broken into the club making their way towards them.
Bullets bounced on the walls and glass rained on them and Klaus slid his body upwards ready to shoot his way out of the corner he was backed at. Plaster fell just as Kol pulled her towards the hidden door at the back of the bar, with Rebekah and Marcel hot on their tail.
Caroline had only seconds to look back at Klaus for one last time. She saw him pulling the trigger. The spark from the bullets that left the barrel of his gun shone amidst the smoke and Caroline prayed they would find their targets.
When she was watching Noir movies with her mother as a child she never believed that one day she would star in a real one. And here she was trudging the narrow underground passage from the club that lead to the old abandoned sewer pipes. Her broken heels were dipped in the dirty sewage water that reached up to her ankles. Her bloody dress now caught the reek of the muck as she followed Kol and Rebekah closely.
She kept looking behind in fear and hope. The security guards were on their tail, guns in their hands, and Caroline hoped that it would all be over soon and Klaus would join them.
Klaus and Elijah had stayed behind and not knowing what was happening was worse than being the middle of the shooting. Caroline shivered and gritted her teeth. Klaus would make it. He had to make it. They all would.
When they reached a rusty metal grate door Kol pushed it open and gestured at the two pathways ahead.
"We need to take different routes," Kol said and there was no more youth in his posture or appearance.
Rebekah staggered and reached for his hand. Her appearance was disheveled and she was shivering but the hand with which she held her gun had a firm steady hold. Caroline still remembered Rebekah's scream as she struggled to get to Stefan's broken body. God, was Stefan even alive?
Marcel next to her instructed the men around them in a hushing voice just as Caroline tried to focus on Kol's and Rebekah's interaction instead of dwelling on the thought of the people they had left behind. She kind of felt as if she was intruding. Rebekah seemed lost and in need of comfort. One that only family could give her. One that she desperately needed from Kol and Kol now provided if only by just sharing a knowing look with her.
"Brother."
Kol smiled at her and gripped her hand in return.
"You know what to do Bekah," he encouraged her and kissed her forehead.
Rebekah stared at him and Caroline saw for the first time her resolve crumbling in fear but it did not last long. Soon enough Rebekah Mikaelson lifted her chin and wore her armor again. The scared girl was gone and the fearless mafia boss was back. She nodded at Kol and even turned her attention to her and gave her a steady look.
"Be careful," Rebekah said to both her and Kol before she snapped her fingers at her men, "Marcel with me."
All sentiment and hesitation were now gone from Rebekah. Her tone was authoritative and she led Marcel and her security towards the dark stones of the right separate entrance.
"Come on Caroline," Kol pointed at the left path and took her hand. Caroline found refuge in his hold and followed him. His men were around them as they walked through the mud and the black waters until they reached a wall with pipes and industrial steps that led up.
Kol helped her climb the stairs and Caroline tried to not lose her grip or her balance as their pushed the lid over the road and got out from the sewers to one of the alleys far away from the club. Caroline could hear sirens in the distance.
Kol cursed and Caroline barely had time to react when he pushed her to the side and shot towards the people that were once more shooting at them. She heard one of Kol's men swearing at the Locos and the Red Cobras.
Hadn't Klaus told her they opposing street gangs? When did the ally against the Mikaelsons and why?
Kol's men created a shield around them as they run for the escape cars but the bullets bounced at the bricks and more bodies scattered in the alley.
Kol was still keeping a hold on her just as his men fired back. Blood rained all over her face when one of Klaus' men fell in front of her and Kol threw his weight on top of her. He was shielding her and shooting back and Caroline realized that they were still moving.
In all the commotion she managed to get into the passenger's seat of an old black Sedan and Kol scurried to the driver's seat and quickly turned on the engine.
The car swerved at the corner and Caroline held on the dashboard as Kol ran over two of the leather clad men that were shooting at their windshield that somehow held on and didn't shatter. Their bodies got mangled under the tires just as Kol stepped on the gas harder and the gunshots became a distant noise. Her heart was beating so fast she could hear her blood pumping in her ears.
She looked back and saw three cars following them. Kol's men were in them. She tried to keep her calm.
The gang members waited for them in the alley. They knew their escape routes. That meant they knew Rebekah's too. Kol was already trying to call his sister while driving. He cursed again when there was no response and threw a gun in her lap.
"You know how to use it?" he asked and Caroline felt the weight of the led in her palm. She had left the gun Klaus had given her back to the club knowing he would need all the ammunition he could get. And now so would she.
"Yes," she answered.
Her voice did not waver even an inch. She stared at the dark road ahead.
"It can't be Logan," she whispered and Kol gave her a solemn look.
"No it's not," he curtly agreed. His tone was cryptic and the lines of his jaw spasm as he looked in the review mirror.
Two of the cars of their guards split in different directions providing a distraction for them. Only one followed. All their lights were turned off. But it was not enough.
Caroline's eyes adjusted to the darkness and when she looked back she saw the motorcycles that stayed on their tail.
"We are still being followed," she informed Kol knowing all too well that he already knew it. He maneuvered the car and Caroline tried to keep her panic at bay. He was dangerously speeding up and taking swift turns leaving the traffic behind for what it seemed to be an abandoned highroad.
Caroline yelped when she heard gunshots. Kol's men on the car behind them were already hanging outside the windows and were shooting back.
Klaus' brother was pushing the car to its limits. They were outmatched. The gang bikes kept coming. More and more kept gathering in a mad chase. Was the club shooting just a distraction to divide them?
Kol pointed at the drawer in front of her and told her to get out one of the security phones. He was still trying to call Rebekah and she was not answering. His face was a mask of worry when he told her to call the second number in the list of the phone she got in her hand. Elijah.
Caroline did as she was told but the phone almost dropped from her hand when the last car that followed them exploded. Her eyes widened as she saw the fires from her car mirror. The bikes that chased them had shot the car that got out of course and exploded.
Kol barely managed to avoid the collision and Caroline realized the bikes were now aiming at them. Kol hit the bike in the left with his car and send it off the road.
"Put him on open speaker," Kol ordered and Caroline punched the phone buttons obeying him at once. There was no time for fear. When Kol lowered his window and shot the tires of one of the bikes Caroline forced herself to compartmentalize. She just had to make the phone call and to keep her calm. To buy some time.
Time seemed to pass slower with every waiting beep as they waited for Elijah to answer.
"Hold the wheel," Kol ordered her with a wink making her gape at him.
He barely gave her time to reach for the wheel as he opened his door. Caroline's eyes widened when Kol leaned outside and started shooting the bikers using two semi-automatic firearms.
Caroline was barely able to keep the car under control. Another bike tried to block them but Kol's aim didn't miss.
Soon the hooded driver was shot down and the motorbike broke into fire on the concrete creating momentarily a obstacle for the rest that followed them.
This crazy pursue was making her stomach roil but Kol seemed weirdly calm as if they were calmly driving towards their destination and were not about to become road kill.
When Elijah answered Caroline gripped the phone tighter. Kol sat back in his seat, closed the door and took back the wheel.
"I am out but I lost Klaus," Elijah told them and Caroline's heart skipped a bit, "where is Rebekah?"
"Marcel took her to see Casablanca but her line is dead. I have Caroline. We lost our buddies. We are now going to Cincinnati boomtown… on our own, but…we have company," Kol told him talking in code.
Caroline screeched as bullets hit the car and Kol pushed her head down. She leaned over and closed her eyes.
"I need back up brother. Now."
The urgency in Kol's voice made her wince. He wasn't as chill as he pretended to be. The car made an abrupt left to a curve almost tumbling over and Caroline heard the thunderous booming sound the tires of the bikes were creating near their car.
"I will be there in twenty minutes," Elijah said in a grave tone and the line was cut off.
Kol grimaced. Did they have twenty minutes?
Caroline pressed her lips and lowered her window.
"Bloody hell!" Kol yelled at her but her finger was already on the trigger of the gun he had given her.
She heard his chuckle as she aimed at the bikes.
Her mother was the Sheriff. Klaus and Stefan had also trained her too. It was not the first time she was handling a gun but never like this. She didn't want to kill anyone and aimed for the tires but when she heard the loud crash she caused she felt no guilt. Only relief. And…excitement.
Just as she bent over to reload her gun with one more clip the phone in her knees rang again and Caroline felt life rushing back to her when she saw the caller on the screen. She knew the number by heart.
"It's Klaus," she breathed relieved and Kol nodded and turned the wheel all to the right. The sharp sound of the bullets on the metal turned her blood to ice. This time the bullets were not just grazing the car. It was not distant. It was death.
She glanced at Kol and his eyes said it all. The phone kept ringing. Kol tried to keep the control of the car. The bikes blocked them. The tires screeched.
She answered the call knowing there was no more time. Just as she heard Klaus' voice and said his name the blast from the windows knocked the phone out of her hand.
Klaus' voice became a distant sound. Her whole body was propelled to the front as the world turned upside down over and over again. Metal twisted and screamed.
The car's roof glided with sparks on the concrete and the unrecognizable shape of what the car was turning into dragged on the pavement and fell over the ditch right down the cliff.
…
Caroline's body was jerked one more time. The seatbelt cut her front. Her chest was on fire. She looked to her left and saw Kol's body hanging upside down just as hers was and getting yanked violently back and forth taking in the same force from the collision that didn't seem to end.
Everything shook and turned and the crashing noise was lost as her head hit something hard.
...
Mystic Falls
2008
Dead.
Caroline held her mother's hand tightly and cried. She shook her head. This couldn't be happening. She just needed a little more time. Just a few more moments. She couldn't do this alone.
Liz's body was hooked on the ventilator and the smell of the hospital was the last thing she would carry with her. Her last heartbeat was a beeping sound that became a straight line in the monitor.
"Mommy! Please don't leave me," Caroline cried and fell over her mother and hugged her. Elizabeth Forbes was dead.
She was dead.
Dead.
Was she dead?
Caroline stirred. She groaned and then coughed. She felt dizzy. Something wet was dripping over her eyes.
Blood.
It was blood she thought and tried to blink it away. The constant banging was so annoying. She moaned and her foggy vision became somewhat more clear. She saw Kol kicking his door. She winced. He was being so loud.
Kol was lucid and had managed to rotate his body and break free from his seat. He kicked again. Once, twice. He broke the window and pushed himself through the opening. She thought she heard him groan but Caroline was not sure. The sound of the engine was still humming and what was that ringing?
She tried to concentrate before she realized that what she was hearing was the screeching of tires. The motorbikes were coming closer. She jolted up despite her dizziness and tried to get out of her seat belt.
It was stuck.
In her struggle she barely noticed Kol opening her door. God, she was upside down! The car had turned over. They had survived the crash somehow.
"Stay still," Kol hissed as his knife was trying to cut through the belt.
Time was running against them. Kol's nose was broken. Blood was pouring out of his nostrils and mouth. He was hurt Caroline realized but he kept working on her belt.
"Just go," she whimpered but Kol only growled.
Lights were coming closer. He frantically looked back and finally, her belt gave in to the blade.
Kol pulled her away from her seat. She fell down to the dirt. Everything was turning. Her stomach was churning. So much blood. Was it hers or Kol's?
Where was her gun? No phone either. Had she lost them or they fell in the car?
God, her head was killing her.
"Get up. We need to run," Kol ordered and pulled her up with him. She stumbled but followed and almost lost her balance but kept moving.
She fell down when bullets cut the air behind them. Some of those flew near their bodies aiming for the dirt and some were hitting the trees.
Mud splattered. Leaves fell.
Kol pulled her and pushed her forward trying to find cover for both of them when the gunshots got lost to the sound of another explosion that turned her blood to ice.
Their already destroyed car burst into flames that licked the ground. Fire erupted like a bonfire. The explosion was loud enough to hurt her ears more as Kol pushed both of them behind a strand of trees hiding them from view. The car had crashed deep down a rocky forest cliff that led to rocky ravines.
Caroline sat against the big trunk of a tree as Kol surveyed their surroundings and what was coming. He was also hurt. He was bleeding. Would they make it?
"Fuck," Kol grumbled under his breath when he reached for his spare gun.
Caroline realized faintly that it was not about the car explosion. They were coming.
The bikes had been parked but their engines were still turned on. Footsteps were coming closer. The foreboding feeling was replaced by the way she felt the earth drifting beneath her. She touched her temple. It was as if her head was weighing a ton. She looked at her bloodstained fingers. She felt as if she could barely breathe. Everything hurt.
She felt two hands on her cheeks.
Kol forced her to look at him.
"You need to run. Don't stop. Don't look back. Keep running," his croaking voice was made from steel and despite her disorientation, some clarity returned to her and Caroline found herself nodding. She blinked and the blurriness faded from her eyes. She touched her forehead and felt the cut. It was deep and it was bleeding. It was the blood and the pain that brought her back.
She was alert again and she realized what Kol planned on doing. He would provide the distraction. For her to run and he would stay behind to ensure she would make it. As he had promised Klaus.
No! This could not be happening.
"Go,' Kol commanded her as he crouched down and loaded his gun. The gunshots and the motors from the bikes were creating chaos. They were outmatched. It was suicide.
"I can't leave you," she whispered. This was not right. She could not do this.
Kol cast her a deadly glare and she almost stumbled back. Bullets ricocheted on their tree breaking splinters on their bodies. The noise was deafening.
"Run!" Kol screamed at her and she did.
She didn't look back. She heard noise and she knew Kol was killing people but she also knew he was already hurt.
She barely managed to get a few steps away when she tripped. Someone grabbed her from behind and every instinct of hers took over and she fought back. Her elbow broke a man's nose. She felt the bone breaking and heard the sound . The man cursed her. She kicked him in the groin and when he fell down she snatched his gun and ran.
She ran again. Everything was ringing, everything was turning. She had to go back. She had to help Kol.
Another leather-clad man that had a hoodie over his head tackled her down and the next gunshot that lit up the night was hers and shuttered his kneecap. He screamed in agony and she pushed his body away and tried to crawl away only for more hands to grab her this time by the hair. Someone kicked the gun out of her hand. Every lesson Stefan and Klaus had taught her pushed her body to its limits. She managed to twist the hand that was around her waist and what was left from her broken heel stabbed a shoe and went through flesh and bone. She kicked and clawed but the wind was knocked out of her lungs when someone grabbed her hair and hit her head on the ground with so much force that she felt her head splitting. Her nose opened and her vision was filled with stars and black spots. The pain she had felt from the car crash was nothing compared to this.
She had felt this before.
Logan had hurt her like this. She was living the same hell again and she couldn't stop it. It was not just the pain this time. It was the terror as the abuse of the past came back to haunt her. She froze. Everything froze.
She went limp. She screamed and was pulled by the hair; despite the pain and the chaos, two shots were heard. Two bullets surged through the air and shot the men that attacked her. The man that had grabbed her by the hair and kept pulling her towards the bikes fell on her. Blood splattered over her and she heaved. The throbbing pain and the dizziness had blurred her vision. She thought she heard Kol's voice again but she could barely move. There was an ear-splitting noise that was filling her ears. She was still reeling from the hits. Her whole body ached. She could barely open her bruised eyes that were starting to swell.
Someone pulled the weight from her body and she felt two hands shaking her. Trying to pull her and to make her move. A voice kept telling her to get up. To run.
It was Kol and he was in a bad shape. He couldn't save them both. He couldn't move her. His name was a croaky whimper in her lips. She could barely breathe.
She could barely see the figures and the shadows kept shifting. She tried to scream when rough hands pulled her up from the hair again and threw her on the ground.
She stared at the figures and willed her body to comply with what her brain was screaming at her. She had to move. She had to stay awake. She blinked again and again. She felt as if she was floating away but tried to reach for Kol.
Most of the hooded bikers went after him. They kept hitting him while he tried to reach for his gun to shoot them down.
The gun that was out of reach… and out of bullets.
The sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bones were so familiar. But Logan was not there tonight. It wasn't her bones breaking right now. It wasn't her skin tearing and her body bruising beyond recognition.
Caroline heaved. They were beating Kol to death.
She turned her head to the side and threw up. She vomited all the alcohol and all the blood and all the fear.
Everyone from the Mikaelson security was already dead. Everyone was dead except her and Kol.
Klaus was not here to help them. Klaus. His name alone gave her the power to come back to life. She pushed her body up to her knees.
She coughed blood and she thought she heard Kol's breathless scream yelling her name and just as she tried to ignore the pain and get up someone pressed a cloth against her mouth.
Chloroform.
She held her breath. The pain all over her body became worse.
No matter how much she struggled and how much she tried not to breathe everything started unraveling in slow motion. Rough hands pressed the cloth against her mouth and her bleeding nose harder. She couldn't hold on. Everything was turning and when the bullets crushed Kol's knees his voice became distant and his blood curling screams turned mute in her ears. Numbness encased her for her blood did not turn to ice. She was long gone for that. She could barely struggle.
She tried to hold on to Kol. To not faint. To not breathe. To keep her eyes on him. To fight. To save him somehow. But the world was nothing but a blur now that darkness fell. Hands carried her slumping body away.
Her eyes started fluttering shut and her lungs screamed in fire; she finally gasped breathing in the acid that took her away. Through the last blotches of her swirling hazy vision, she saw the flash of the light. She heard the finality.
The shot in the dark.
The night's last bullet.
Blood painted the ground and the nightmare settled in as Kol's lifeless eyes stared wide at the void, his body broken on the dirt. Dead.
The diamonds fell from Caroline's wrist and the red became black when she closed her eyes, succumbing to oblivion.
...
Chided by that silence of a harsh sublime
Blind to the purpose of the brute divine
Staring in the blackness at some distant star
The thrill of knowing how alone we are, unknown we are
Song: Hozier - "Better Love"
