DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES!
Hey guys. Just a quick warning, this chapter has loads of
mistakes cause I kinda wrote it in one breath and don`t have
time to check it. If you want to, I'll fix it tomorrow, and you can
read it then. I wanna say a HUGE "thank you" to the amazing
Eil0een or emacsweeny for pushing me to write this chapter. 3
see you all down there!
8. Time Passes
Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
Ill be watching you...
~ Sting, Every Breath You Take.
It's been days.
Weeks even...
Things were weirdly, settling and calm…
As the days passed, she went into some kind of routine she was getting comfortable with. She was far from feeling content or even remotely okay, but the practice of any kind of control - even if it was a silly routine - made her feel so much better.
Control freak and all.
Unfortunately, things weren`t looking very hopeful for our hero or rather heroin. She had made a plan A to escape, and it failed. Then a plan B, failed. Plan C, failed. Plan D…
Well, I`m sure you have a pretty good idea what happened to that plan too.
The first plan included taking Stefan with her, that was a major mistake. It seemed that Klaus had him compelled not to leave him without asking permission first, so when she snack out in the middle of the night to pay a visit to a certain Ripper that lived not too far down the aisle, in hopes of making their dare escape happen she was swiftly disappointed. Stefan had thrown his head back and laughed at her, before waking Klaus up to tell him about her little conspiracy plan.
Bastard!
She wondered why wouldn`t Klaus compelled her not to escape. Did he considered her so irrelevant and powerless that he didn`t dim a little compulsion session worthy of his time to ensure she wouldn`t escape?! Was she really that irrelevantly powerless? Or did he just enjoyed watching her fail each time she tried? Not that she was complaining, she hated compulsion more than she hated him. Okay, fine, she hated him more! Compulsion came second best though!
The plan B was a complete fiasco. She had managed to sneak out of the room for second time in a miraculous way she couldn`t explain it herself. Maybe she should've suspected that Klaus wouldn`t be so naïve as to believe she wouldn't try to run again or that he would leave her unguarded as he slept. He took the term "Control Freak" to a whole new level she could never reach no matter how much she tried to. But still, it's unlikely to stop and think why things are going suspiciously your way when your plan is working amazingly right. Blame the adrenaline or her excitement at thinking she almost got away, but whatever was that robbed her from her vampire senses overnight, it was her downfall. She didn`t noticed Stefan trailing her. He had stalked her till they were far enough from the hotel they currently stayed in, and when she got into the garage and readied herself to run the miles that separated her from home, Stefan whooshed in front of her and attacked her. She struggled with all her vigor and she managed to escape him actually managing to knock out a vampire that was at least a century older than her. Though, to her bad luck it seemed their struggles woke the wolf that slept not too far from the garage. He had all but dragged her back into the motel by her elbow. And now she had a new jewelry on her wrist that forbade her from leaving a room without Klaus`s permission. He had called Felix to enchant the beautiful bracelet. She hated that ugly thing! What if it was golden and shiny and she would've totally love it if someone else, say Matt for instance, had gifted it to her. All that was completely irrelevant.
Her so called plan D was simple; sneak up on Klaus while he was sleeping and steal his phone. Her plan C had failed when she tried to compel a girl to bring her a phone and realized she was already compelled not to. She tried compelling her to call her friends and tell them that Caroline Forbes was captive in Texas. Again, it hit a wall just like her attempt to make the girl go to Mystic Falls by herself so she could tell her friends about her captivity. That bastard knew what he was doing! So she came up with the plan D the same day. She compelled the girl to forget she ever tried this on her and unlike everything else she had tried, that had worked. Or so she thought.
She looked at the sleeping original feeling a little sheepish considering what she was about to do. She was trying to catch the beast in his sleep. Somehow it felt the most dangerous thing she had ever done before. This had to work, or else…
It was disturbing how he slept like he wasn`t the most hateful beast on the face of the earth! He should be tossing and turning, tormented with nightmares, not sleeping like a baby. She somehow managed to fool the monster that she was asleep – he never slept before she did, ever – and when he did sleep first that night she had that nagging feeling that he was fooling her. So she studied his heartbeat, his breathing, his face that was so close to her she wanted to scream. After carefully untangling herself from his strong embrace, trying really hard not to freak out from her anxiety, she reached the damn thing. It was password protected! Of course it was! She tried to guess what could the three numbers of the password be. She pressed three 6s inwardly growling when it didn`t do the trick. She tried again pressing 123 in a row. Wrong again. This time she did growled.
"I believe you have one more try left." She had heard his hoarse voice call as his head slowly lifted, not too far from the pillow. It would seem he had just awoken. "though I wouldn`t try it if I were you!" he warned as he sat up on the bed and grabbed the cell phone throwing it carelessly on the bed. She stood awkwardly, hovering above him on his side of the bed, not daring to look him in the eye.
"I thought you were sleeping…" she murmured in a low voice.
"I was!" he growled back glaring up at her.
A light sleeper then, she thought all to herself still not daring to look down at his eyes to see his expression. It was a good thing she didn`t. His reaction would scare her. He never really reacted nicely to her little escapades…
She gulped at his sudden grip on her little wrist, and in a matter of seconds she found herself pinned under an angry wolf. Klaus hovered over her inviting body, and relished in her fear. She was watching him with guarded eyes, so she had noticed the subtle storm that raged in him. It was remarkable how she, in this little time they`d spent together, had learned to recognize his mood swings and reactions, backing down right before he did something impulsive and harmful. She would, of course continue the fight - over whatever it as they disagreed on - another day, but this little blonde angel knew a lost battle when she saw one.
He leaned in closer, too close for her liking. His mouth brushed against her ear sending shivers of fear and something else she couldn`t place, down her spine as a ghost of his warm breath tingled her neck. She tried to suppress a whimper, but it escaped her treacherous mouth pleasing the devil.
"Run all you want, my sweet Caroline…" he whispered sensually in her ear before drawing back to look in her eyes showing her exactly how frustrated he was with her. "You will never escape from me…"
Caroline tried to swallow and she almost chocked on her own saliva. She blinked rapidly and tried not to shiver from her fear. She was Caroline-Freaking-Forbes, she would get through this, she would…
He grabbed her lower lip which was trembling without her permission. She felt his harsh teeth against her soft lip and the shivers she was so gallantly trying to suppress were on free reign now.
"You are mine, Caroline!" he growled in a low voice she could barely hear. But she did hear. His hand gently grabbed her delicate neck and squeezed not painfully but with enough force to make his point "You belong to me and you will remain so until I decide otherwise…"
His seductive voice had no longer any effect on her as her anger took over and the familiar feeling that was ever present whenever she was in the same room with that arrogant sod boiled in her. And that was the only logical explanation to what she did next. She flipped them over and released true nature. The dark veins were visible under her eyes, while her pupils dilated into a bloodshot look. The predatory fangs were pointed venomously at him as she growled a wordless threat, with menace she never thought she was capable of. But then again, she never hated anyone that much, so I guess it was justified…
"I hate you!" she screamed in his face as he smirked up at her arrogantly. "I always have, and I always will!"
"You will learn this the hard way, love…" said the smirking beast underneath her. To her dismay, he looked like he was enjoying himself "But when you`re a vampire, always doesn`t last forever."
It was Caroline`s time to smirk.
"We shall see!" she challenged. "I will never be yours Klaus!" she growled again as she stood up before heading to take a very early and unnecessary shower to calm her nerves. Before getting into the bathroom she stopped and looked back at him making a small pause to say. "NEVER!" again, emphasizing on every letter.
He remained suspiciously calm and composed as he waited for her to enter the bathroom. She should have suspected something was off when he smirked at her and got comfortable on the bed before nodding agreeably. She should have known.
She should have guessed that he would not grant her the freedom of not knowing everything she was doing while he was absent.
The first sign was the smell. The barely-there bitter taste it left on her mouth, like salt and metal. The smell of blood and death were evident in the small bathroom, and the sight wasn`t any better. Red liquid pouring from two gaping wounds on the once beautiful blonde`s delicate neck. The red river had drained on her pale skin making it look disturbingly tainted.
To be more accurate, the entire bathroom looked like a bloody grave, with the literal meaning of these words. The white bathtub was painted red and the girl that was unthoughtfully thrown into it looked uncomfortable. Not that she would feel it. Her beautiful green eyes looked up at her with fear and pain, the last expression that had painted her face before life was drained out of her so unfairly early on.
Yes, as you have correctly guessed by now, the beautiful young girl that lay in the middle of the bathroom lifelessly was the very same Caroline had compelled to help her escape the Devil. And this was her punishment.
She brought her hands on her mouth to cover her sob. She felt the familiar pang of guilt on her stomach. She was the reason a young and beautiful life was taken in such an early age.
No! It was Klaus`s fault! It was all his fault not hers. He had killed her! He was trying to guilt trap her.
Don't let him do this to you Caroline! She advised herself. Don't let him win!
But she already felt guilty.
That bastard!
She turned around and found that he was standing right behind her, leaning casually against the door frame and watching her as if nothing had happened. What tipped her over the edge was his mocking smirk. He dare to laugh at her?!Without thinking it through she brought her hands up and pushed his chest with all the force she possessed, actually managing to make him move a couple inches. Which was a success if you asked her.
"You…" she choked with blurry eyes as she emerged towards him "You manipulative, selfish, little bastard!" she yelled landing a hateful blow with every insult she released. Klaus`s cold smirk and calm demeanor only worsened her mood and some drastic measures were in order. "How could you!" she yelled and let the tears drop before slapping him hard against the face with all the force she could manage to command.
Klaus saw red the moment he felt her weak slap collide against his chin. The pain itself was helplessly faint but the gesture was strongly insulting. It was becoming a habit of her to do that lately. Although she had the good sense not to do it after their little incident in Mystic Falls, it seemed though, she yet again needed a reminder of her inferiority in front of him. She was only lucky that Felix had warned him not to kill her, she would undoubtedly be a pile of blood and bones right now if it wasn`t for that particular warning. Plans of punishment be damned!
He grabbed her wrist with one hand and her neck with the other and in a matter of second pinned her against the nearest wall making it hurt as he crushed her back against the wall. She however seemed like she didn`t feel any of it and continued to thrust against his grip without any hope of succeeding to escape.
"How dare you!" he didn't have to scream, his low growl was just the same threatening, if not even worse.
"Why did you have to kill her?!" she screamed.
"Listen very carefully Caroline, I won`t say this twice…" the fact that he used her name instead of any other endearment sobered Caroline up, as it was an indication of exactly how mad he was. She might have been right about everything, but picking a fight with a thousand years old vampire wasn't exactly a smart move. "This is the last warning you`ll ever get. Next time you will raise that nasty little hand of yours I will fuck you against the nearest wall with that very hand on my throbbing member, am I making myself clear?"
"You`re despicable!" Caroline spat.
He smirked a dangerous glint present on his mischievous eyes. His fury and desire for her burned through them, awakening a fire deep within her alongside with fear and vulnerability. He cupped her face – not so gently, but neither brutally – trapping her jaw between his powerful, yet gentle fingers, while forcing her lips pop open with the gesture. He caught her bewilder and disgusted eyes, pinning her down with his scrutinizing gaze.
"Do you want me to tell you what I want to do to this disrespectful mouth of yours too?" he whispered against her lips, though this time he seemed more playful and less vengeful.
"I`ll pass!" she growled, or at least tried to.
He released her but didn`t move, neither did she. After all, she still wanted her life. Caroline leaned her head against the wall and held his gaze, refusing to back down.
"She didn`t do anything!" the blonde vampire protested in a low but strong voice after awhile "Why did you end her life?!"
"You had to be taught a lesson sweetheart!" he shrugged dismissively as if she was making a big deal out of nothing.
He studied her for a couple of seconds. She was one of these 'heart of gold' girls, even if she could burn anyone at her wake with simply one disapproving word or a fiery remark. Maybe Stefan was right, maybe it really was impossible to make her see things his way. He had tried this in the past. He had met many women with fire and pride. The only difference was that they usually either succumbed to his charms eventually or ended up dead when crossing an invisible line. And that was what made Caroline so special. She was dancing on the line perfectly well, keeping him intrigued and frustrated and at the same time amused.
"You are not going to run now," he explained not knowing why he needed to. He was pretty convinced she had understood the warning. "not when you know what`s at stake. I tried to warn you the first two times you dared to think you could escape me." He leaned forward invading her personal space again. "What`s mine, is mine Caroline. And you are one of my possessions now. Either you like it or not!"
"I don't like it!" she spat through her teeth not honoring him with a mere glance. "I don`t like it one bit!"
He grabbed her by the elbow and carelessly her along before throwing her on the couch - again, neither too gently nor brutally. She had to admit in the entire episode he hadn`t hurt her once. That immediately piqued her interest cause usually the Klaus she knew would do anything to hurt someone. It was a demonstration of power or something like that, to him.
He hovered above her looking down at her intensely. She could literally feel his glare and impatience. She knew exactly what he wanted, what was expected from her but refused to please him and boost his ego further. But as we all know, Klaus was not to be denied anything he wished. And he sure as hell wouldn`t be denied by a baby vampire that was turned yesterday and knew nothing about real power of respect. So he once again grabbed her face with one hand and forced the girl to look up at him, hurting the maiden for the first time that night.
"Learn to!" he commanded looking down from his throne.
His voice held such authority and finality that Caroline almost quivered under its weight and determination. She sobered herself up at the final moment. She was Caroline Forbes, she bowed down to no self-proclaim authority. The only authority she answered to was her beliefs and sense of justice. Well, maybe even her pride played a role.
"I`ll never be yours!" she answered fiercely, looking up at him with the same unyielding finality and confidence.
His vicious smile was anything but encouraging but she held her ground passionately.
"Oh, but you will!" he whispered before storming out of the room and sending Stefan to clean after his mess.
...
That was three weeks ago.
And that was the last incident she saw the monster in Klaus. After warning her to forget about her plan of escaping and successfully jeopardizing any possibility at her being saved, he had become the picture of a perfect gentleman. As if the monstrous Klaus she knew and loathed didn`t even existed anymore. As if it was in her imagination. But she was not a mindless teenager – as many wanted to believe she was – she knew a beast when she saw one and she wouldn`t fall prey to Klaus's deceit. She knew he was up to something. She only needed to figure out the "What".
Well… easier said than done!
Meanwhile, it`s essential to be noted that they have traveled across US always staying close to Texas for some reason, going back and forth from one motel to another. Klaus and Stefan usually left after breakfast and she was left alone. She could not escape from the motel and thanks to Klaus`s little power demonstration, few weeks back, she had lost any will to come up with plan E. It was in the charts though. But first, she had to get an ally, she had to have someone she could trust with her life. She had to get Stefan back, somehow. She wasn`t giving up. She was just waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Like a cobra, or something…
Never the less she enjoyed that she was left alone most of the time. She only had to suffer Klaus – and his newfound fascination on wooing her. At mornings, when they all took breakfast together, Stefan's lingering glances didn't escape her notice and she once more found herself wondering how could Stefan leave her alone at times like that by turning off his humanity. She eventually concluded that Klaus had forced him into it so he couldn't interfere or delay his constant attempts to bed her.
So every day she was stuck in her motel room watching bad TV or reading a list of old fashioned books Klaus had gifted to her in hopes of earning her favor. She had finished five or six books in the past two weeks and was debating whether or not she should pick a new book; as she looked at the sun sink into the black ocean. She stood at the window watching the view and bringing the last few weeks in mind. The wound had completely healed, leaving nothing that reminded you of its existence, except a little faded black scar, as if an old and faded tattoo, on her belly. Really small and hardly noticeable half-moon. Other than that, nothing remained that could remind her of what had transpired between her and a certain vicious Original Hybrid almost a month ago. Not that she would ever be able to forget that night. He had tainted her with reputation that was hardly repairable in her mind.
Safeties to say she was far from okay. She felt like a freaking china doll sitting around waiting for her captor to return and play with her, so she could have a proper conversation with someone. Even if the moment he was in front of her with that terrible smirk and devilish attire all she wanted to do was tear him apart.
"Missed me?" he would ask her whenever he returned and she was up waiting for them. She would have no sleep these nights, tossing and turning, knowing that the devil himself slept right next to her, within arm's reach, literally.
The first night she slept on the bed, she had woken up next morning to find the self-made barrier between them thrown on the couch and as if this wasn't enough Klaus slept in the same bed embracing her in a kind a backwards hug. That didn't sit well with Miss Mystic Falls. That didn't sit well with her at all. Forgetting once more who Klaus truly was and letting her anger and frustration reign her, she let her vampire face come out and play. She sank her canines into the wrist that held her chest captive to him and smiled viciously when he woke up startled and gasping. Her smile soon faded and was replaced by fear.
It took Klaus less than five seconds to realize what exactly was going on and act on it. In a blur of a second, he had her pinned against the head board, his hand crushing her neck his body straddling and suffocating her.
"My blood is not yours to take, little girl!" he growled as he tightened his grip. It was as if his eyes were spitting fire.
"And my body isn't yours to hug whenever you want to, old man! If you need a teddy bear, go get one!" she spat back.
Fire against ice.
What could go wrong?
Ah... Well... Literally everything...
Klaus stood there for a moment glaring at her menacingly. She lost count of how much time had passed watching his inner debate about killing her or not. Eventually he decided against it and stormed out of the bed getting dressed and disappearing. Leaving her with one lingering threat or was it a warning?
"Do that again and you'll regret the day you were born."
After that Caroline had made it her purpose not to grant him the pleasure of her presence in bed. So for the days that followed she slept mostly on the couch. Well, at least she tried to. To no veil though cause every morning she would wake up to find herself on the bed and in similar position as the first day. Her reaction was to kick him awake to which he would respond with a growl at first that was so soon followed by some kind of sexual innuendo about how he got his kicks from violence and how she only managed to arouse him each time instead of actually hurting him.
"Nobody likes a tease, sweetheart..." he said one day when she woke him in the usual violent way. "Besides I'm already... happy to see you every morning. You don't have to arouse me further..."
She growled with frustration and tried to hide the usual redness on her face by turning around and storming into the bathroom. She could hear him laughing at her as he went out to do whatever the hell it was he was doing with Stefan every day. Of course he had invited her to go with them but judging by the bloodied clothes and hands with which they returned, she was fairly certain she wouldn't like what they were doing.
What was worse of it all, was that every night she closed her eyes, her worst nightmares and fears played out in the form of nightmares. And every time, she found Klaus was watching and interfering just when the things were about to get ugly, sulking her into a different kind of a dream. She would usually find herself in the archaic column full room and he would help her sit on the huge stares where they'd watch the beautiful blue water sparkle as the golden sun slowly sunk into it.
"Is this place even real?!" she asked one day, while playing with the hem of her blue gown. The dresses he imagined her in, were so absolutely breathtaking. But she would never admit she loved every single one of them. She had a sneaking suspicion he already knew, though.
And she was right.
"Yes..." he said smiling and watching her as she absorbed every inch of the beautiful landscape.
"Where are we?" she whispered with wonder in her beautiful blue orbs.
"Greece... some couple hundred years ago..." he answered shrugging indifferently. He couldn't help the smile that played on his lips when Caroline's head snapped at him. The way she looked at him, with wonder and aw instead of loath and hatred... He had managed to impress her for once and this gave him a strange feel of contentment and satisfaction he had long to feel.
Caroline was surprised at the revelation. It was easy to ignore how much wiser and older he was when you focused on how much like a monster he acted. The things he must have seen... The places he must've visited. The times he had lived through...
Suddenly she was aware of how much like a naive school girl she looked in front of his immense knowledge and wisdom.
"What is this place...?" she finally asked. "You seem quite fond of it..." Her curiosity outworn her loathing and she cracked, finally asking the question.
"It's called Delphi..." his quiet and husky voice was the only other tune heard over the calming waves that occasionally broke the silence in a soothing way. "It is a cathedral dedicated to the God of sea, Poseidon... One of Zeus' brothers..."
"I know..." she interrupted not being able to contain herself. She hated it when she had to conceal her knowledge in order to make the boys she dated look smarter. But something told her, Klaus was the kind of a man who preferred his women smart. Not that she cared about that (yet). Just an observation (at the time).
"I had a thing for Greek mythology... Actually... I had a thing for all kinds of mythologies around the world..."
Klaus raised his eyebrows. Expecting more. For some reason she let herself open up a little bit.
"My dad's grandpa had all kinds of weird collection books about myths from around the world. It's been passed down from generation to generation. I used to spend all weekends reading and playing with my father pretending to be the gods of Olympus... My dad usually was Zeus..."
She smiled fondly at the memory.
"And who were you, if I may ask?" Klaus felt kind a like he was pushing his luck with her. This was the longest and most civil conversation they had ever had. And it was a dream. But he would take what he could get for now. At least it was progress.
"Athena..." she said smiling shyly at her silliness.
"Ah... The goddess of wisdom..." Klaus said chuckling. "Why am I not surprised?!"
"She was the only one that was interesting..." she moped. "Who else would I choose?" she wondered.
"Most of the girls would've chosen Aphrodite..." he stated mocking her with his smirk before he suddenly went serious. "But you weren't most girls now... Were you...?"
The aw in his voice made her blush and reminded her who they were and where they were in the real world. It was as if a bubble had suddenly busted and she was left wondering why did she opened up so easily.
"Anyways..." she said sobering up as she stood up. The sun was almost gone by now. Only a thin line remained of that perfect golden star. "I know who Poseidon is and I know this place. I had just never seen it like this..."
"Well, that is because time hasn't robbed it from its magnificent aspects just yet... This is some centuries ago, Caroline…"
"Whatever... I got to go back to sleep..."she said at last. "You can go now..."
"Sweet dreams sweetheart..." he replied placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand like a gentleman would do.
She snorted not caring how unattractive and unladylike this was.
Leave it to Klaus to act like a complete asshole at one moment and the perfect gentleman at other.
When her nightmares started turning into dreams shared with Klaus, more often than not, she started trying to avoid it. She only managed to stay awake for two or three days. She usually found herself falling asleep on the crutch as she read and finding herself on the bed in the morning. Finally, she gave up on staying awake, knowing it was in vain and made her weaker against Klaus. It was better to have every ounce of strength she had against that monster. Not that she could overpower him or anything, but still.
So now she had a new strategic. She slept earlier to avoid meeting him at night at all. But she could never avoid meeting him in the soothing dreams he gave her.
...
"Was that really necessary?!" Stefan complained playing around with his ring nervously while Klaus drove maniacally fast, as if they were haunted. The trees passed by them in a blur of green and brown and he found it soothing that they had put great distance between them and that place with every second that passed. As if by distancing himself from it would make it all look like it never actually happened, or at least that he wasn't the one doing these terrible things to these poor souls.
What he did tonight was absolutely monstrous and the fact that he truly enjoyed every last one of the kills he made was deeply disturbing too. He was capable of more torturous ways, his ripper part was dying to explore all these unexplored ideas and he was glad Klaus couldn't hear his thoughts cause his ideas might have been used to every one of them to extract information.
He didn't get it; why didn't he just compel them to tell him what he wanted to know?!
Oh yeah, that was right, because he wanted to have fun before taking what he wanted and was his for the taking anyway, his words, not Stefan's!
He was glad that Caroline wasn't there to witness the mess they've created. She would know, no doubt she would, after seeing him. He was covered head to toe in his victim's blood. It was hard to miss what he had done. Even though his human remnants despised everything about him for what he had committed, he had to admit Klaus was right about the guilty pleasure of having so much power over someone, to literally hold their lives in your hands. He was sure Caroline would hate him. She was forgiving, but he was pretty sure she wasn't that forgiving. And all to get one simple name! He had no idea what it meant, who the guy was.
Klaus spared a glare at him as he pressed the speed pedal more intensely clearly annoyed by his ripper machine's sudden morality attack. He couldn't have that now. He needed a torturer, not a conflicted soldier. The doppelganger was dead, so what the hell was Stefan holding onto so badly that he forgot his true nature for and refused to let go of his pathetic human morality values?! He was pretty sure that Damon wouldn't mind seeing the Rippah at his true element, he was actually fairly certain, the elder Salvatore would enjoy and be proud about his brother's impeccable skills. No one would judge him.
Except...
Yeah, sweet little Caroline, she would go judgie and Stefan wouldn't want that. They shared a deep connection he couldn't understand or place. It was infuriating knowing they had feelings for each other. He wasn't one to share, Caroline was his and he would NOT share her with Stefan or anyone for that matter. He stared ahead at the road and when he spoke his voice was low and deadly.
"It is times like this that I wander why won't I compel you to truly shut your humanity off!" he said drily. "You know; it would be so much more fun if you weren't complaining every five minutes about the human casualties! When will you realize they are just means to ends?! Humans are nothing, they exist to serve us and that is their only purpose and meaning!"
"I don't think you'll win any points with Caroline if you go at her like that!" Stefan mused attempting to take his mind off of the predicament for a little while. "She will find your approach a little...well... repulsive!"
He could actually imagine her scoff and furrow her nose before storming off or staring at him as if he was some kind of a dirt she found in her bad-ass boots as she fired one of her spicy little insults.
"Yeah, well it's not like any one of your advises are paying off anyhow..." scoffed the hybrid "She's cold as the iceberg!"
"I waned you not to expect anything less from her. You're the enemy Klaus..." Stefan reminded him. "You killed Jenna, her best friend, almost got her and Tyler killed and then played with her like a toy, to top it all you kidnapped her and raped her. What did you expect? For her to fall at your feet at your sudden attempts to woo her?! She's smarter than that!"
"If she was smart she would've held off her tongue and comply to my demands. I've killed people for only one percent of what she had done and said these past couple of weeks. She should be thankful she's still breathing air. Or that I haven't compelled her to respond at my every whim!" Klaus seethed.
"Would you be thankful in her place?" Stefan turned the tables on him and the original hated him for it! "Look, I told you it would be mission impossible. Caroline is a very proud and self righteous person who values her humanity above all. She may have turned into a vampire but she didn't become a monster... Unlike the rest of us..." he added bitterly looking away to face the window. "I will try to help you, but I doubt she will ever look at you as something more than an enemy, a monster that hurt her family. And she will never cross family..."
Klaus remained silent as Stefan dwell more and more into the psychology of what was Caroline Forbes. That was something he could relate to, he would never cross family either. One thing he'd never bring himself to do.
"If you want her to trust you and open up to you, you need to open up to her..." Stefan continued. "Show her that you have... redeemable qualities... apologize to her about what you have done... but don't go too far with the lies. If she figures out that you are lying, she'll be furious! And any slim chance you have with her will go straight out of the window that very moment."
Klaus smiled at the thought. Something about the way she unraveled when she was angry made him desire her like a thirsty man in the desert. Was that little vixen a witch or something? Why couldn't he erase the desire of having her from his mind?!
Stefan remained silent for a fair amount of time but at the end his curiosity won off and he found himself asking the question
"You said you wanted to compel me to truly become a ripper for real... So why won't you?" His voice was calculated and deprived of every emotion. He was good at concealing his feelings and he did it as much as he could. It was an advantage when you had to deal with someone like Klaus but it was in vain none the less. Klaus already knew that Caroline was one of his huge weaknesses and he was using her against him every chance he had.
"Don't press your luck Salvatore!" the hybrid warned.
"It's two hours long ride till the Motel, if you want to ride in silence for the next 120 minutes then be my guest!" Stefan snorted looking back at the road deciding to let Klaus decide what he preferred.
For a while the only sound they heard was the noise the car made as it tore the night in two when flying on the road. Stefan thought he wouldn't answer after a handful of minutes passed.
"You will learn the answer soon enough Stefan..." Klaus spoke surprising him.
They both went silent once more after that. Then the younger Salvatore decided to speak up again.
"Did you really rape her?" he asked in a low voice staring at the road ahead with tightened jaw. Klaus stared ahead without glancing at him.
"None of your business-" he started saying but was cut off.
"Please..." Stefan begged and looked at him through almost teary eyes leaving the thousand-year-old vampire completely dumbfounded. "Tell me you didn't put her through that again... Tell me you haven't made her suffer what my...ohm..." he trailed of and bit his tongue not believing what he almost did. The 'what my brother has' part almost went out of his mouth and that would ruin everything he had fought for. If Klaus learned what his brother did to her...
No, he doesn't want to know how this sentence ended.
Klaus stared at him waiting for him to continue. Stefan didn't.
"I... just..." he started saying, trying to fix his mistake. Klaus kept looking at him as he waited for it "I don't want to fail her again... The way I did before..."
Klaus wasn't convinced. He knew Stefan was about to say something else and change it in the nick of time. But what could he possible want to say? Or why was he so set on figuring out if he had truly raped Caroline. It looked as if he didn't want to believe it. As shocking as it would seem he wasn't a complete stranger to the concept of friendship and Stefan`s reaction, his protectiveness was unforeseen. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he had feelings for her. the kind of feelings you couldn't ignore even if you wanted to. For some reason it bothered him and he would make sure to never leave the two of them alone. Especially when he knew that his ripper self would take any kind of advantage from her.
"As I said..." Klaus started saying "none of your buis-" he trailed off too as Stefan did before. If he was in the mood for jokes, he would've laughed at how neither he nor Stefan were able to finish a sentence today. But he was in no mood for jokes as the realization of what he was missing sunk in.
Of course, he was an idiot! How hadn't he made the connection earlier?!
He remembered Caroline's reaction from the day before. She was trying to sneak out and was completely terrified when he whooshed in front of her, she recognized the lust in his eyes when he cornered her at Alaric's house and the terrified look in her eyes.
Damon...
He had done that to her...
He had raped her...
A terrible sound coming from the breaks tore the silence of the night apart. Stefan found himself holding onto the door knob to stop himself from being thrown out of the car. Not that a simple accident could do any harm to a vampire, but this jeep was brand new and beautiful. Stefan would hate it if the beautiful machine ended up with broken glass. After all he was a huge auto fan.
In a flash Klaus got out of the car wordlessly and rounded it with vamp speed. He opened the passenger door and grabbed Stefan throwing him against the car with a force that would surely bend the metal and holding him there. Stefan sighted. So much for preserving the vehicle in tact.
"Okay..." growled the hybrid, his iris almost turning golden with fury. He actually trembled from all the rage. "You have two seconds to come clean! What happened to Caroline?! What exactly did your brother do?"
Stefan gulped and shut his mouth, eyes wandering everywhere but where the hybrid was.
"Answer me Ripper!"
"If I tell you, you'll kill him..." Stefan said in a low voice that contradicted the wolf's growl.
"And if you don't, I'll kill the both of you!" he threatened with his husky voice. "SPEAK!"
"No!"
Klaus grabbed his throat, tired of playing it nice, we wondered why did he even bothered before forcing him to look him in the eye. "What did your brother do to my girl?!" he compelled forcefully and saw as Stefan went limp under the compulsion.
"I can only guess..." Stefan said in a daze "Caroline never came clean and she doesn't want to talk about it anymore. I know he fed on her frequently... manipulate her... abused her... But she never told us to what extent. I don't put it beneath him to have raped her. But I suspect he compelled her to comply and enjoy it!"
He let go of Stefan's throat and paced up and down the road. They were in the middle of nowhere and there was nothing but woods for kilometers.
If they were back in town, he would've taken the first plane to Mystic Falls and he'd go straight for Damon Salvatore. Promise or not!
"Why do you care?" Stefan asked as he was finally released from compulsion.
"I don't!" Klaus growled.
"Yes, you do!" he insisted.
"Mind your words, Stefan!" Klaus growled.
"Why do you care so much about what my brother did to her?!" he screamed back. "You have done far worse!"
"I never raped her!" the hybrid screamed back at him without realizing. As always, his anger got the best of him. He always had problems with controlling his temper but now that he had released his wolf self, it was ten times worse!
Stefan looked at him, literally open mouthed. He was relieved and equally astonished. He really thought he had failed Caroline again. That Klaus had put her through what his brother made her suffer. It was a relief to know that the beautiful and kind woman that the girlie little Caroline had become wasn't tortured by this psychotic monster again. He hadn't finished thanking whatever power was above them for sparing Caroline that pain, when he felt Klaus turning to him again.
"You better pray I never cross paths with him," Klaus growled not needing to confirm who was the 'him' he meant. Caroline was spared, Damon on the other hand... "or he's dead!"
Great! From Skyla to Haredi! Stefan thought bitterly.
"Why?!" Stefan asked in a desperate attempt to save his brother once more. "Why do you want to punish my brother?! You said you don't care about Caro-"
"Don't you dare reason with me!" he spat at him "I don't have to explain myself or my intentions! You have my verdict! Now get in the car, there's a girl I wanna see!"
Stefan silently complied not wanting to say anything else.
The rest of the car ride was silent. Neither of the two men complained though. They had so much to think over and plan, that the one and half hour car ride seemed too quick to both of them. Normally it would take at least two hours for them to go back, but thanks to Klaus's maniacal driving they arrived in record time.
...
When Klaus parked the car outside the luxurious Motel, well as luxurious a motel can be anyway, he went straight to 'their room' without exchanging so much as a glance with Stefan, let alone a word. He saw Caroline had crouched under the covers and was sleeping like a baby. At first he thought she pretended to be asleep but her even breathing indicated that she indeed was fast asleep.
He smiled down at her remembering her attempt last week to split the king sized bed in two parts. She had placed all the pillows in the middle of the bed creating a stern line leaving only two pillows out, one for the both of them. she had curved into a ball with both hands under the pillow and her hair surrounding her face like a golden hallow. She looked so vulnerable and pure he almost felt ashamed for everything he planned to do to her, and everything he had done to her as well. he took the pillows throwing them away. "King size" was relative when coming to a motel, he could tell she wasn't comfortable with the small place she had so he cleared the bed throwing the pillows on the little couch. He had one hell of an angered vampire to deal with the next day. But it was worth it having the entire night in his arms.
He smiled and shook his head to dissolve the memory. He settled on the bed getting comfortable as he watched her whimper and turn to his side of the bed. He watched from where he sat as she sighted and mumbled something. A name...
He didn't quite catch it the first time. It was Tailwind or Troyler...
"Tyler..." she cried again making him boil with anger. If she had whispered, it in any other way he would've been bothered that she whispered another man's name while being in bed with him. But she was pleading and he could tell what kind of a dream or rather nightmare she was watching. He knew exactly what she saw.
He sighted and picked himself up to settle next to her taking her in his arms and tangling a hand in her hair caressing her head tenderly as she cried.
He swiftly let himself in her mind passing her weak defenses easily and found himself in front of her house.
Tyler held her against the car and was growling something at her menacingly.
"I'm sorry Tyler, I'm sorry!" she cried out.
Before he could move to help the girl Tyler let her go and the scene changed. she was walking through a small aisle. He watched her from a hidden door as she stopped at the door.
"Keep Caroline away from me please!" he heard Liz Forbes say. "I don't wanna see her!"
"She's your daughter Liz!" Damon's voice echoed from the room.
He felt his blood boil wanting to run in the room and tear his insides out even if that particular Damon was only a fraction of him.
"Not anymore!" Liz said again. He heard Caroline cry out in her sleep on the real world.
"Mom..." she whimpered...
In the dream her face was one of true terror and sadness.
"My daughter's gone!" Liz said and it was the final straw for her daughter. Caroline threw the case she was holding and darted to the unknown with a sudden light the scene changed and she found herself in a small cage.
Klaus watched her as a werewolf tortured her. He could manage only two seconds of her screams before taking the matters into his own hands and ripping the wolf's heart right out of his chest. He then took control over the dream and took them somewhere, where nothing bad could happen to her.
What was that thing Stefan said to him today? Open up to her and she'll open up to you too? Or something like that.
He thought about the few times he truly felt happy and content and found himself in the little clearing deep in Myctic falls woods where a beautiful waterfall residented.
It still existed but in his age there weren't so many trees and the waterfall was actually a river that was simply falling in a three-foot tall distance. He and Henry used to go there to swim and Rebekkah would always complain that she couldn't tag along. Sometime they took pity on her and took her with them. She was usually picking flowers while they bay and sometimes due to Henry's kind spirit. They even allowed her to swim with them. Of course they hated it. Rebekkah's dresses would take forever to dry and they were stuck there till sundown. Not that it was so awful to be in such a magestic place filled with colorful flowers and warm sun, but they would usually catch a terrible cold and fever for a couple of days. Now that he thought about it, surely the only reason his siblings haven't died from the cold was because their mother was a witch.
Caroline seemed surprised to see him. he could tell. She probably was sleeping for awhile now and the dream had her deeply hooked, so she no longer distinguished it as a dream. He knew she had thought it was real. Just like he could tell that she had no idea where she was but loved the place anyway. Even though he knew she would never admit that.
"Klaus?" she breathed stunned. "I felt you entering my mind before, you need to stop doing that!"
"What? No 'thank you' for taking your mind from that awful trip down the memory lane?!" he inquired feigning shock and irritation. To his complete surprise he was at ease. He had for once thrown down his defenses and was simply planning to enjoy the girl's company. "That's rather rude of you love!"
"My apologies!" mocked the girl crossing her hands on her chest. "I didn't realize I've hurt your none existent feelings! You see it is really difficult for me to be kind to people that ruined my life! I'm not that evolved!"
Her smug and sarcastic tone that challenged his authority would usually put him on edge and make him want to punish her for her audacity. But this time it had the opposite effect. As much as he wanted to lash out on her, he found himself wanting to go deep. He wanted to know her and if Stefan's warnings were anything to say, he would have to get to know her.
"Come on!" he said playfully "Give me a chance Caroline. I know we started off on the wrong foot, but let me help you see past the monster you met in Mystic Falls."
Caroline raised her eyebrows in a manner of stubbornness.
"Ah... No and not possible!" she spat before passing by him and heading towards the water.
"Just give it a chance love!" he shouted playfully at her.
"Pass!" she shouted back!
Klaus whooshed in from of her raising a hand to stop her from moving forward.
"Don't make me compel you Caroline!" he warned in a serious tone but his smile remained in tact.
"What is the point in asking then?!" she complained seeming ready to cry from the unfairly of it all. "Why give me a choice if you're gonna force me do it anyway?! Is this a new game for you?! because I'm tired of playing!"
He raised a hand and tenderly caressed her chin
"I like your spirit love..." he stated "Your vibrant light has no mach and I do want to give you a choice..."
She ripped his hand away from her face before answering.
"But you'll never gonna respect me enough to really give me a choice?" she figured.
"This isn't about respect..." he started saying "It`s about...trust..."
"So I have to earn your trust?!" she half laughed at his surreal suggestion "Is that what you`re asking?"
"I want to trust you..." he said sheepishly.
"Why?"
"Because I like you..."
Caroline listened to the sounds of the nature admiring its unique melody. The clear noise the river made as it passed over the stones as it rushed into a short fall. The sound of some weird mocking birds singing around the entire place and the little songs the gentle wind sang as it traveled around her.
"You can't just ignore this thing between us!"
Caroline eyed him suspiciously.
"What are you playing at Klaus?!" she asked crossing her hands over her chest angrily.
"What could you mean love?" he started playfully but Caroline`s "No shit" face ruined the entire joke. He sighted, this girl took only "yes" for an answer, so much like himself.
"Cut the crap and answer the question!" she said again.
Klaus turned around and took some steps closer to the river before turning around to face her. His face serious, leaving no trace of doubt for his next words.
"What I want, is to get to know you." he said. "And I dare you to do the same!"
So how was it, guys?
Guys?
Hello?...
*Sights and leaves the room with teary eyes*
REVIEW... Pretty please...?
