Hello, my lovely readers. There's a whole lot of drama in this chapter. On with the show…

Chapter 8: Party of Eight?

Tensions still ran high hours after Caroline's arrival. Hayley and Stefan disappeared to Hayley's room. They could hear Klaus talking Caroline into staying a little longer. Elijah was heard in the hallway but he did not attempt to talk to Hayley or Stefan. Josh's and Davina's voices were heard in the hallway followed by Klaus' shout of pain and a series of curses, a muffled argument and then Elijah's loud sigh.

All the Ripper wanted to do was to find Caroline and mount her head on the nearest wall. Her presence would do nothing but ruin all of his plans. He was enjoying himself. He had Hayley and a new life. Who in the hell did Caroline think she was butting into his life?

Hayley sat on the edge of her bed, her body stiff and Stefan wanted her to calm down. "Why is she here?" Hayley growled, her eyes moving around the room.

Stefan paced the length of her room, thinking about what they could do to get rid of Caroline before she tried to make him flip his switch. "We'll just have to kill her." He felt certain of his plan but Hayley looked less so, her eyes searching the rug for answers.

Rolling her eyes, Hayley shook her head. "Stefan, he's not going to allow you to hurt her."

Stefan smirked at Hayley. "Whoever said I would be doing the killing?" He felt amused at Hayley's sudden case of short-sighted vision.

Hayley's eyebrows rose. "And who do you plan on letting kill her?"

"One of Klaus' enemies. Like the Guerra woman, or Marcel Gerard, someone like that. Someone who wants to hurt Klaus." Stefan came to sit beside her. "Look, Hayley, Caroline is just a girl from a tiny town. She has no idea what kind of horror show she walked into when she came down here. It's likely she'll be killed by a day walker tomorrow. If not, I can help speed up the process." The possibilities seemed endless to Stefan.

Hayley frowned as Stefan kissed her on the lips. "Stefan, I don't like this."

Stefan stood up and offered her his hand. "Come on. You're just getting cranky because you haven't fed. Let's go find a tourist to pair with a nice red wine."

Getting to her feet, Hayley took Stefan's arm. They left her room and went downstairs. "Where do you think you're going?" Klaus snapped as they moved to leave the compound.

Turning around, Stefan looked at Klaus who smirked back at him. "We're going out for dinner, would you like to join us?" Stefan inquired lightly. Klaus' eyes narrowed as Stefan offered him a fake apologetic look. "Sorry, man, I forgot, you're grounded. Must really suck being drained of all of that nasty Original Hybrid energy." Smirking, Stefan held up a hand and waved good-bye. "We'll bring you back a nice kid from the mid-West. And don't worry—I'll sever their spine so it'll make it easier on you—in case they try to run away. I know you can't really deal with fast food anymore."

"Stefan!" a high-pitched voice cried and Stefan rolled his eyes, turning to find Caroline come down the stairs. She wore a dress that Klaus must have given her. She looked nice and Stefan wished she were still human, he'd love to sink his teeth into her pale flesh and listen to her death cries.

"Where are you going?" Caroline cried out, her eyes widening and her mouth setting into a firm line as she glared at Hayley.

Sighing, Stefan sped in front of Caroline and grabbed her by the shoulders. "I'm going out; you're not invited. Have a nice night. Try to keep your pants on. Or don't. Maybe Klaus will make you loosen up. Hell, Klaus," Stefan wrapped an arm around Caroline's shoulder and turned to Klaus who glowered at him, "do us all a favor and make her flip her switch. I dare you!" Shoving Caroline in Klaus' direction, Stefan grinned at Klaus.

Caroline stepped away from Klaus. "Please, don't!" she cried when Klaus sped in front of her.

"Caroline," Klaus began when Stefan rolled his eyes.

"You're chickening out, aren't you?" Stefan shouted at Klaus. Klaus' eyes flicked to Stefan who chuckled. "Man, you have changed. You're whipped now!" Laughing, Stefan sped to Hayley's side and moved to leave when another vampire sped in front of them. "Elijah, come to give us your two cents?" Stefan inquired.

Elijah did not bother to look at Stefan. "We're having dinner, Hayley. And I would like it if you'd join us." He held out a hand, and Stefan's eyes moved to the table set up for eight people to dine at.

"Great. A dinner party," Stefan sighed. "Tell me we get to kill someone."

"Not tonight," Elijah replied, his eyes moving from Hayley to Stefan. "Of course, that might change over the course of the meal."

"Elijah!" Hayley snapped, folding her arms over her chest.

"Please, let's sit," Elijah waved to the table again and Stefan looked to Hayley. She gave Elijah a look that might burn through a steel wall before she stomped over to the table and sat down.

"Caroline," Klaus said, offering his arm.

Caroline huffed and went to sit down. She sat as far from Hayley as she could get. Stefan sat down next to Hayley, wrapping an arm around the back of her chair. Caroline's eyebrows knit together as she looked at them. Klaus took a seat at the head of the table, at the end that Caroline had sat at. The baby vampire groaned and stared at the seat next to Stefan.

Josh and Davina came downstairs. "Hey, everyone!" Josh greeted them with a friendly smile.

Davina glared at everyone assembled. "You're going to serve human food, not humans?" she demanded, her eyes boring a hole into Klaus' head.

Klaus smirked up at her. "If you insist."

Scoffing, Davina looked at Hayley and Stefan before taking a seat in the seat on the opposite end from Klaus so she would be closet to Hayley. Josh took the empty seat next to Caroline which forced Elijah to sit next to Stefan. Yeah. This would be a fun night.

"What brings you to town, Caroline?" Elijah asked Caroline as wine was served.

"Ah!" Klaus called when the woman who had been serving them started to give Davina a glass of wine. "She's a child. Please, serve her a glass of orange juice. It's fresh-squeezed."

Davina rolled her eyes. "And now I have to do this sober."

Grinning, Stefan picked up his glass of wine. "To everyone at this little party; may we all survive in this city." Lifting his glass, Stefan allowed his eyes to linger on Caroline who shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

"To old friends," Klaus said, lifting his own glass.

"Are there any friends here?" Davina looked at them, her gaze skeptical. "Other than Josh and me?"

"Yes," Klaus replied. "The Ripper and I used to be old pals. Weren't we, Ripper?"

Rolling her eyes, Caroline turned to Klaus. "Are you talking about the time that you compelled him to be your murder buddy or the time that you compelled him to forget about being in love with Rebekah?" she snapped.

Hayley looked at Stefan. "You and Rebekah were a thing?"

Klaus let out a chuckle. "I see that someone has not been entirely forthcoming."

"And you're just full of honesty, Klaus?" Stefan placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward to look at Klaus. "Tell me, Klaus, what's it like knowing that you kept how many secrets from the woman that you're in love with?"

Narrowing his eyes at Stefan, Klaus avoided Caroline's gaze. "Stefan, I have no idea what you're getting at, mate."

"Like the kid that you and Hayley had? That ring a bell for you?" Stefan inquired, picking up a knife and pointing it at Klaus.

Elijah took the knife from Stefan and laid it on the other side of him. "What year is this, Niklaus?" He held up his wine glass.

"1922," Klaus snapped, leaning closer to Stefan so that Elijah had to sit back. "I shared my secret with Caroline."

"Oh, really?" Stefan looked at Caroline who blushed. "When was that?" Stefan inquired.

Caroline picked up her glass of wine and took a long sip. Klaus looked at her. "I believe you already know the answer to that, otherwise you would not be asking me."

Hayley looked from Klaus to Caroline. "You screwed him?" she asked Caroline, laughing in shock.

Caroline glared at Hayley. "So did you," she snapped darkly. "Either that or you kept him here for no reason, at all."

"Excuse me?" Hayley snapped.

"Here is the first course," Elijah called out. No one seemed to be listening.

"Me?" Hayley continued to stare at Caroline who sat with her arms crossed. "You think that kept Klaus here? Why would you care?"

Now, Caroline's eyes drifted to her plate. "I don't care. Wow! This looks really delicious. Elijah, you're going to have to give me the recipe."

Klaus leaned closer to Caroline. "Did you want me to stay, love?"

Caroline choked on her food. "No!" she snapped.

"Liar!" Stefan said, holding his fork and pointing it at her. Elijah took Stefan's fork. "Hey, what do you want me to eat with?" Stefan demanded, glaring at Elijah.

"Your hands," Elijah snapped at him.

"This is great. It's like a reality TV show," Josh whispered to Davina.

Blushing, Caroline finished her wine. "Can I get another glass?" The woman who served them poured Caroline a second glass.

"I did not keep Klaus here. A bunch of witches made her stay until the baby was born. Klaus could come and go wherever the hell he wanted to," Hayley told Caroline. "So if he told you that he had to stay; he lied."

Klaus banged on the table with his fist. "I never told her anything of the sort!"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Hayley snorted, picking up her glass of wine and taking a sip.

Rolling his eyes, Klaus turned to Caroline. "Tell us, Caroline, is Stefan the only reason you came to our town?"

All eyes moved to Caroline whose eyes widened. "Umm… Yes. I got a lead. From a witch. Since my best friend, Bonnie, you might remember her, you used to make her life a living hell, well, she's dead –"

"We all know that," Stefan interrupted her with a long sigh. "Speed it up to the important part, like where this is all about you, as usual."

"What?" Caroline's mouth dropped open. "Stefan, that is so not true!"

"I am sorry about Bonnie's passing." Klaus placed a hand over Caroline's hand.

Caroline jerked her hand away from Klaus. "Don't touch me."

"But it's okay for him to touch you when you're all alone and you think no one will know and judge you?" Stefan questioned Caroline, picking up Hayley's fork and pointing it at his former best friend.

Again, Caroline just stared at him. "You flipped your switch. Is it because of Da—" The last word lodged in her throat when Stefan jumped over the table and stabbed her in the neck. Caroline's eyes widened and she began to choke on her own blood.

"Ripper!" Klaus thundered and then Stefan was on his back. He kicked Klaus who went sailing across the courtyard. Within seconds, both Klaus and Stefan were on their feet, fangs out, ready to fight to the death.

"Stop this! Now!" Elijah warned them, stepping between them. "Niklaus, attend to Miss Forbes'. Hayley, take Stefan and do not return until tomorrow."

"Thank God!" Stefan cried, grabbing Hayley's hand and speeding out of the compound.

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Peace,

Jessica