a/n: Thank you again for all of the wonderful reviews. I'm glad you guys are still interested in this story. I hope you guys like this one. Shit is about to go down! I had the worst writers block with this chapter so hopefully it doesn't suck!
Happy reading :)
Burning. There was a burning sensation in Caroline's throat as she awoke the next morning. Each intake of breath stung as if someone was throwing a match down her throat.
Moving her hand to massage her throat, she realized that it was pressed against a warm chest. With a small gasp, she opened her eyes to see Klaus in front of her. Sometime in the night she must have turned to face him because her forehead was pressed against his collarbone. She pulled back slightly to see his peaceful state. He was still sleeping with his arm wrapped around her back. She had never seen him look so serene with his lips parted slightly open and his eyes drooped shut.
What was I thinking? Caroline thought as she turned to lie on her back. She stared straight up at the ceiling trying to recall what had happened last night.
She remembered being delirious and feeling hopeless as she lay on the bed by herself. Wanting nothing more but to be comforted like her parents used to do when she was a little girl. And in her state of vulnerability, she wanted the person to comfort her to be Klaus. She remembered wanting to be comforted by him and only him as he stared at her with hopeless eyes that probably mirrored hers. That she panicked as he started to leave. Her thoughts circling around the fact that she could die in the middle of the night and no one would know for maybe hours.
His arm laid heavy across her stomach now and she moved her fingers to trace circles on the back of his palm. She was confused as hell as to why he was willing to be there for her, but thankful nonetheless. Happy even.
"I just need to check on Caroline first." Elena's voice echoed outside of the curtains and Caroline panicked.
She looked at Klaus who was still sleeping peacefully and then back to the curtains. She saw Elena's shadow behind the curtains. Caroline looked back at Klaus and pushed him with the little strength that she had hoping he would either wake up or fall off of the bed. He hardly even budged and she scoffed. He was a vampire. Wasn't he supposed to have heightened senses?
She began to think of ways to explain this to Elena and shut her eyes. Maybe she wouldn't say anything if she saw that Caroline was still resting.
Hearing the rustling of the curtains, Caroline's skin began to crawl from nervousness. She could hear the curtains open completely and she heard a quiet sigh escape from Elena's mouth. What would she say? "Oh Care." She whispered quietly. Elena moved next to Caroline and shook her softly.
Caroline slowly opened one eye and waited to be met with Elena's scolding glare. Instead she was met with light and worried eyes. Turning to look beside her, she saw that Klaus was no longer next to her and breathed a sigh of relief. She was known for breaking rules out here, but that didn't mean she wanted to be caught.
"How are you feeling?" Elena asked as she reached for the thing, glass thermometer.
Relieved. Caroline thought as Elena moved to place the thermometer in her mouth. She opened her mouth slightly and breathed in a cool breathe of air that soothed the burn in her throat for just a mere second before it began to burn again. "My throat." Caroline croaked out. Her eyebrows scrunched with worry as she heard her voice. It was gone. Just like the others. How long would she have now? A week? A day? She didn't know. But what she did know was that her condition was getting worse faster than the others who had been diagnosed with the unknown disease.
"No." Elena shook her head adamantly. "I know what you're thinking and no Caroline."
Caroline pushed herself up to sit up straight as Elena peered at the thermometer. The movement sent a pain coursing through her body as her limbs ached and her head throbbed. She felt dizzy from the throbbing pain and shut her eyes. "I know the statistics, Elena." She whispered because that was all her voice could take.
"102. They should be coming around with tea. That should help soothe the pain in your throat. I'll get you some aspirin."
"Elena." Caroline sighed. She looked down and began playing with the hem in her blanket. "My parents. I need to write them."
She coughed once, twice, and it soon turned into a fit that lasted minutes as Elena tried to comfort her. When she calmed down she looked back up at Elena. "Please."
"I'll find some paper." Elena sighed. "The doctor is making his rounds around the patients. You get some rest now. I'll be back in just a moment." With a small smile, she turned and closed the curtains behind her leaving Caroline alone with her thoughts.
She thought of her parents and how they would feel after losing their only daughter. Often times it felt like she was the only one holding their family together. What would happen to them if she was gone? She couldn't give them the embraces that she wanted to give them but she hoped that maybe she could give them words of comfort.
She stifled a soft cry and reached for the handkerchief beside her to wipe the tears that she shed. You will not cry. She tells herself. You're strong. She says. But at this moment, she's not sure if she believes it. And it didn't help either, when the doctor came in moments later with a pained expression and gave her the news that she knew was true all along. That she was diagnosed with the same mysterious illness. She hugged her knees tightly after he left and tried her hardest to hold back the tears that threatened to fall again.
"Bonnie, I will not stand and watch these innocents die on my behalf." A voice she recognized as Elijah spoke outside of the curtains. She looked behind the white curtains and saw the shadows of him and who she assumed was Bonnie.
Bonnie sighed and spoke quietly. "I understand. I'm trying my best."
"I do hope that you will try harder." He spoke slowly as if it were the easiest solution. "Ah, Niklaus, our dear Miss Bennett has-" Elijah stopped short for some reason and she watched their shadows behind the curtains disappear.
Klaus stepped in moments after and frowned at the sight before him. "How are you feeling?"
Caroline shrugged and narrowed her eyes at him realizing that he was going to avoid conversation on Elijah and Bonnie. He sat down in a wooden folding chair next to her and eyed her carefully.
"You know, next time you're so worried about Elena Gilbert walking in on us, all you have to do is ask me to move. There's no need for shoving." Caroline laughed and brought up her knees. Of course he was awake the whole time. She frowned and hugged her knees as she realized the implications of his words. Next time. And she knew that there wouldn't be a next time. "What's wrong, love?"
A nurse walked in and interrupted her answer. The nurse, Abigail Weathers, was never fond of Caroline. She wheeled in a cart with a stoic expression her face. She poured the tea into a small cup and placed it on the stand beside Caroline's bed and left.
"What's wrong?" He asked again, this time more pressing. She turned to grab the tea beside her and drank it in slow sips. "Answer me, Caroline."
"My voice." She whispered hoarsely.
He scowled with an angry glare and she watched the way he swallowed as he clenched his fist. The glare wasn't directed at her though. His eyes were aimed at the bars on the bend behind her.
"I'm sorry it took so long." Elena said as she barged into the room with a paper and clipboard in her hands. "This should do." She handed Caroline the pencil and paper and took the tea from her hands. Her eyes glanced towards Klaus who was now standing.
"Thank you." Caroline said and smiled at Elena. She glanced between the two and looked back down at the paper in her hands.
Klaus stared at what lay in her hands. "For your family?" He asked and she nodded.
She reached for her chest and grabbed the necklace that her father gave her, holding it in a closed fist. "I need to help them somehow." She said softly.
"You're not dying, Caroline." Elena said as she shook her head. She would have argued. But she felt too exasperated to even try.
"Niklaus." Another voice said. "May I come in?" Klaus looked at Caroline who nodded.
"Yes, Elijah?" Klaus said as he kept his eyes locked on Caroline's.
Klaus waited for Elijah to speak but when he turned to look at him he saw that he was looking past him at a certain raven-haired girl with what looked like to be a stunned expression.
Caroline stared on confused as to what was happening. She looked to Klaus for answers but he walked towards his brother and put a hand on his shoulder. "Elijah, this is Elena Gilbert."
"Hello." Elena smiled at him and reached for his outstretched arm.
"It's a pleasure, Miss Gilbert." He said as he glanced back at Klaus who was watching with a hard look. "A word, Niklaus?" He said as he released Elena's hand. Klaus walked out of the room with his hands folded behind his back as Elijah followed behind him.
"They're brothers." Caroline said meekly. Elena turned to raise her eyebrow at Caroline who simply shrugged.
Klaus had flashed into the woods the moment he was out of any human's sight and Elijah followed behind him. They were in the woods outside of the base where Klaus and Caroline had been just two nights ago. When he slowed, Klaus felt Elijah's hands wrap around his throat.
"Did you somehow forget to inform about the doppelganger?" Elijah said as his fingers wrapped around Klaus' throat. Klaus grabbed Elijah's arm and twisted it back away from him and moved his free hand to grab Elijah's throat instead.
"I reckoned it wasn't much of your business." He said through gritted teeth before releasing Elijah and pushing him back.
"Katerina has been missing for centuries." Elijah said as he straightened out his coat.
Klaus glared at him and scoffed. "The doppelganger is not my first priority at the moment. But rest assured, I have someone keeping an eye on her. Now if you'll excuse me." He said as he walked to push past Elijah.
"Don't, Klaus." Elijah said firmly. "If this is what we think it is, we can't risk it. We don't know the consequences. "
Klaus stopped for a moment before walking away without another word to do just the opposite of what his older brother warned him of.
When he returned to the infirmary he saw that Caroline was handing a folded letter to Elena. He walked closer to her and slipped past Elena behind the curtains leaving him and Caroline alone.
He sat on the edge of the bed next to her crossed legs that were beneath the thin blankets. "Everything all right?" She asked.
He nodded. "Nothing I'm not used to."
She coughed a few times and leaned her back onto the bars of the bed behind her. "I'm getting tired." She whispered and closed her eyes.
"Caroline, what have you learned about vampires?" He asked suddenly. The question woke her up from her exhausted state and she looked up at him. He turned to look at her and watched her eyes fill with worry.
"I don't understand. Haven't I told you enough?" She croaked out.
"I'm afraid you haven't."
She sighed and contemplated on how to word her next few sentences. Wondering whether or not she should really be saying this. "My parents always said that vampires were creatures of the night that were to be feared. Monsters feeding on the blood of humans."
"Evidently you didn't listen. You don't seem to be afraid of me."
"I don't think you're a monster." She looked up at him and saw that dangerous glint in his eyes that she saw the first day she met him. She reached her necklace and was reminded of the night he found out about it and how he let her keep it. The reminder of that night was the reason why she said her next words. "You're good." She whispered softly.
He scoffed and shook his head. "Well maybe I'm a bad person." His words were dangerous. Predatory. But even in spite of it all, she saw the truth behind the dangerous gleam in his eyes. She saw the fear that he tried to hide and then- then she felt that fear as she witnessed his eyes gleam a dark gold. His veins swelled below his eyes, and his fangs protruded from his teeth as he bit into his wrist and pressed it quickly to her lips, stifling any screams. Her eyes grew wide with fear as the blood touched her lips and he reached behind her to hold her neck against his wrist. His thumb moved slowly along the nape of her neck and he shushed her softly as he waited for the blood to hit her system.
a/n: I hope you enjoyed it. I know that it's short I wanted to get this one out to you guys. I know I kind of jumped perspectives a little bit but I really needed the right conversations in there. Please review and tell me what you thought!
Happy holidays! :)
