AN: Happy Klaroline anniversary and a wonderful 2015 for everyone.
I hope this year makes you smile as much as you all make me smile with your enthusiasm and constant support.
Much love, Ad
Elijah remained out of sight in the balcony, he could see and hear what was happening in the courtyard but none of them could see him.
Marcel was arranging something with Thierry and he looked boastful about the news that the other arrived with, he finished that conversation with a few orders and went back to where Elijah was.
"You seem secure about this plan." Elijah greeted him with a hand inside of the pocket of his noble attire and a quiet reservation.
"Today will only be a warning, the real strike will come when he is expecting it." Marcel handed Elijah a drink.
"You intend to have a face-off with Niklaus when he sees you coming? That takes some gallantry." Elijah accepted the drink.
"I'm not afraid of anyone." Marcel complacently said. "I will take Klaus down before he messes up with the party that I've been putting together for the last 30 years."
Elijah was still uninformed about that part of the plan and Marcel was too guarded about that to share more than he should at this point. "Did the blood I gave you yesterday guarantee an invitation for that party?"
"That blood was used on another very delicate spell."
"Performed by Caroline?" Elijah noticed the apprehension in Marcel when he mentioned her.
"No. I don't want her near this house while you are here." Marcel was clear with his answer but omitting the bigger details.
Something worthy of value but Elijah had the centuries to perfect his gift. "You're not being truthful."
Marcel dryly sneered. "Was your gift malfunctioning when Klaus said that he would honor the bond that exists between the two of you?"
"I wanted to believe him." Elijah sadly came true.
"Well I'm still pissed that you attacked my daughter and if you ever touch another golden hair of hers, I will find a way to get my hands on that missing Original stake and I will kill you."
Elijah's lips played with a valiant smile. "Are you really playing a protective role when you make blood deals with the beast that attempted to drain her already?"
"It's called being a Mikaelson and old habits die hard."
"Marcellus…" Elijah quietly had a longer breath. "Where was your family wit when you introduced Caroline to Niklaus? Did you not foresee how easily my brother would be fascinated by such a captivating young woman with a mind of her own and the bravery to be outspoken?"
Marcel gritted his teeth irritated. "I was relying on her personality to turn him down and I still don't know what was it that made her change her mind, because she initially refused to do any spells for him."
"Niklaus has dimples and enchanting eyes, it's been a hassle for centuries now." Elijah joked.
"It's going to be easier for Caroline to stop liking him, if Klaus dies." Marcel suggested a solution to all of his problems.
"How do you deem possible to rule this magical piece of land if you die as well Marcel? Because that's what's going to happen as soon as you kill Niklaus."
Marcel's smile was as big as his personality. "Are you talking about the Original bloodline?"
Another company was about to join them and Elijah recognized the pretty girl from the party once she came inside of the room, the way she looked at Marcel and chose to stand by his side was a statement of how close they were and Elijah deduced that it wasn't just a simple ally relationship the one that united them.
"Do you remember Sophie? She gave me your casket after she won it during a Poker game with Klaus." Marcel laughed a little.
"I gave him the Hope Diamond in exchange for your body." Sophie's eyes wandered a bit, Elijah was really good looking when he wasn't desiccated.
"I had no use for the diamond." Marcel laughed louder and narcissistic, enchanted with his own schemes.
"If you would stop admiring yourself in the mirror for one second, I would like to be acquainted with the reason behind your blasé attitude." Elijah demanded at least one answer to his questions.
"I broke the sire bond that linked Marcel to Klaus a long time ago." Sophie claimed attention to herself. "And I've successfully severed any other ties that forced Marcel to stay connected to Klaus."
"Anyone Klaus ever turned, will still die along with him except …" Marcel parted his arms. "Handsome old me and anyone I ever turned with my blood. Welcome to a new era Elijah." he grinned with arrogance.
Caroline's notes were flying as fast as she was dealing with her coffee, she still had another hour before her first class started and she was trying to prepare for it with her usual diligence, she only slowed down because Bonnie was calling her. "Good morning Bon." she lively took the call.
"I was just checking if you woke up on time for school."
Caroline rolled her eyes with the tease. "Not only did I wake up early, I also read two chapters of the ever fantastic Anatomy of the brain."
"That's impressive of you…"
Caroline motioned the waiter for another cup of café au lait. "You don't sound awed, you sound doubtful."
"I don't know how you do it… three nights ago you were brutally used as a message and you came back swinging so hard that I'm inclined to call you Doctor Forbes."
"Marcel's party was a whirlwind affair…" Caroline tried to sound strong.
"Klaus hasn't called you yet?"
She didn't expect differently after her disastrous feelings' slip but Caroline kept that to herself. "I could use the change of voice because my ears still hurt from all the talking Marcel did last night over dinner." Bonnie paused on the conversation so Caroline sighed merely to mess with her friend. "If I have to hear one more time how green your eyes are, I'm going to hex him."
Bonnie's laughter was innocently delicious. "He was strangely very wordless after we left the restaurant."
"I know how much he wanted this to happen and for how long he has been waiting for a chance with you but I need to know that you're ok Bonnie."
"I like him Care but I don't think I'm ready to move as fast as he wants me to… he asked me to go back to his house last night after dinner and I cut him off before he even formed an entire sentence."
Caroline smiled, she could imagine how awkwardly Bonnie used college and ran down the street under the stare of a confused and frustrated Marcel, patience sadly wasn't one of his virtues but Caroline knew that Bonnie was perfect to teach him about the importance of waiting.
Finally her coffee refill arrived but Caroline frowned with an inquisitive look at the waiter. "I didn't ask for a beignet."
"The really hot guy in the grey shirt paid for it." The girl pointed at a table behind Caroline.
When she turned she already expected to see him and the reaction came easily to her. "Take it back, I don't want it." she pushed the plate away and also ended her call with Bonnie.
Caroline closed her books and gathered them in one arm to leave the table, she took the coffee with her and an unwanted company as expected.
"I touch a bit of anger in you." Klaus followed her closely.
She didn't stop or look back to answer him. "I didn't want to accept your bribe after two days of absolute silence."
"Many alliances were started during the Founders Party and many meetings followed that as normal procedure."
Caroline chuckled. "I told you that I had feelings for you and you handled that by disappearing for two days, that's normal procedure all right." she spat the words before crossing the street.
He waited for her on the other side, slightly startling her as he stoically stood there. "Should I remind you that you walked away sweetheart, not the reverse way."
Caroline brought her books closer to her chest and effortlessly smiled at him. "And I haven't changed my mind, I will keep the deal we have but I don't need to meet with you before the full moon so let's ignore each other until then."
He didn't move a muscle as she petulantly walked away with her bouncy curls taunting every scrap of his tolerance.
Kol dropped the stuff that was inside of the drawer on top of the bed, it was the last place he had left to look and he went through everything with the same annoyance that had been prickling for the last hour.
He threw over his shoulder a box that was unfortunately useless to him but when the noise of metal hitting wood didn't come he turned wondering why it hadn't fell to the ground.
Rebekah had caught it and was now inspecting it. "It's a nice box to keep a heart."
Kol wasn't enthusiastic about the guest during his search work. "You can have this one once I get back to my original body."
Rebekah closed the box with a cluck. "If I kill you now, no one will know that you were alive to begin with and assuming that Marcel will be pleased with the deed I don't even have to worry about my fickle conscience."
"Scruples apart... I broke your neck because I needed a one-way ticket back to Bonnie's coven."
Rebekah dropped the box on the ground producing a huge thud. "It's sad that I cannot trust any of my brothers, everyone always finds a subplot that wins over our family ties."
Kol had moved on to the closet, he pushed a few empty clothes hangers aside and stared into an empty structure. "You're beginning to grasp for straws Bekah, there's nothing left of this family to savage." he turned to face her. "There's nothing but schemes, treachery and time patching of what was once a great bond. Mostly time because that's the one thing we cannot bend on our will and it's working like sand, covering every good memory we ever had of each other. We throw the Mikaelson name like it means something but even the most powerful one of all of us is searching for his real family and I wouldn't be surprised that he soon forgets he was ever one from the dejected lot. I for one cannot wait to get back into my body and escape the sad circus in town."
Rebekah felt the lump in her throat turn into tears she didn't welcome. "I miss what we all used to be. Have you forgotten how united we were and ready to take the world as we pleased?"
"The world isn't enough to harbor all of our egos." Kol had one last look around the wrecked dorm. "There's nothing in here." he left obviously connecting his words to what was now the shambles of his family.
Bonnie waved at Katherine and Matt from the bench that she was occupying, they hadn't reach her yet and already she knew that Matt was giving Katherine a hard time because she was making one of her rare appearances at college.
"I don't like studying." Katherine dropped her bag on the bench next to Bonnie with a big huff. "I was born to marry some Prince from the Emirates and to have a hundred servants pampering me." she dreamily said.
Sadly Matt believed that she was utterly convinced of that and sat next to Bonnie with a sigh. "We need to stop delivering papers in her name, she needs to start doing some of her work."
"But I want to stay in her Palace when she marries one of those really rich rulers." Bonnie candidly told him.
Katherine rejoiced in that while Matt rolled his eyes.
Bonnie had a small giggle and while having a look around Campus she spotted someone familiar leaving one of the buildings. "Hey Kaleb!" she called him near them.
"Are we friends with the defector now?" Katherine murmured.
"He saved Bonnie." Matt sounded a bit too happy about the small turning point because he really missed his friend.
"Hello." Kol approached with caution.
"Everyone decided to come back to college today." Bonnie had a slow gaze around her circle of friends.
"And you are so thrilled over that." Katherine chuckled entertained with her phone.
"Learning is fun." she stated with a frown.
"It will be fun having my lab partner back." Matt didn't hide his glee for Kaleb's return.
"Actually…" Kol reeled back everyone's expectations for a peaceful day. "There was some agitation in the parking lot, the talk was that someone broke into the dorm that belonged to Monique." Everyone's attention was steered to him and he used that. "Rumor has it that they were looking for something valuable."
"By law, every talisman that belongs to a coven must be handed over to the Elder sisters if that coven ceases to exist." Katherine knew the witch law in New Orleans like no one else in the city.
"I'm sure that Sophie and Jane-Anne took everything with them." Matt still looked at the others somewhat doubtful. "I mean, it's not like they had that many artifacts…" he stopped his eyes on Katherine.
She silently held a small conversation with him, what was between them was to be kept that way. "How could we possibly know?"
Kol would be all over that if he wasn't fixated on the girl staring at the ground, she was physically here but her stare was miles away and strangely it felt like her entire essence was wandering away as well. "Are you all right?" he leaned over touching her arm.
The gasp came like she was electrocuted by the touch and she jumped on the bench.
"Are you crazy?" Katherine yelled at Kol.
Matt also frowned deeply upset at him but Kol was clueless, it didn't help that Bonnie was shaking like she was violently pulled out of a daydream.
"I know… what they were looking for." Bonnie stood up fast and walked away.
Katherine growled at Kol before she ran after Bonnie.
He wasn't on good terms with any of this disorder so he addressed Matt in the same way. "She was in a strange stupor…"
"You know that Bonnie has these vision things and that they show up unannounced but you can't just yank her out of them like that. Those jolts are dangerous for her mind."
Kol had no perception of what Matt was expecting him to say, the kid looked at him like he was suppose to know these things and the truth was that he was. "I wasn't thinking." Kol put together a lame excuse.
"Dude, I don't know what the hell you're smoking but if you want to win back your place in this coven you better cut back on that." Matt hissed extremely angry.
Kol squinted as he was left alone, he had forgotten entirely about the wonderful witch weed, alas he had to leave that for later, for now he had a group of lunatics to decipher.
He caught up to the trio in the library, Bonnie was skimming along a row that had seen better days, the books were all worn out and out of place compared to the rest of the deluxe Tulane library, they were obviously the collections no one cared for anymore.
And it was there, among the endless mandatory English literature that Bonnie picked one red book, she turned away taking the book with her and Matt followed her with Katherine without asking questions.
Kol truly hated the grey area he was walking in but he wasn't about to walk out without answers and he joined the others in the parking lot.
"Wasn't a conspiracy movie once built around a red book?" Matt asked not certain if he was off point.
"You've never read Catcher in the Rye?" Katherine asked him.
"Obviously you have, so you can tell me the best quotes later." he joked with her.
While the other two had fun exchanging silly remarks, Kol grew more interested in the girl analyzing every page with care. "Why are you staring at that book?"
Bonnie looked up from the pages to face Kol. "It's a map."
Kol looked down on the book, this was one of those times Elijah would admonish him for calling someone so bluntly crazy but the girl was nuts, which was a pity because she was gorgeous. "Maybe Rebekah Mikaelson left your brain too long without direct oxygen." he dropped the comment with a fast tongue.
The glares in unison came fast as well.
"I don't know if it's Monique sending me the images but I can feel her magic around us and she's trying to tell us something. I think that she tried it once before, when they went missing I wrote down the exact location where she was found dead." Bonnie explained.
"Either way…" he deviated from the complex crazy talk and reorganized her focus. "I was expecting something that we could all see."
Bonnie moved her hand across the page, the letters changed and the spell was revealed, the ink changed and formed a map that this time was visible for everyone. "Are you satisfied now?" she asked him wound up.
"I find satisfaction in such mundane things." he smirked.
"We need to go, the spell won't last for long and if Monique's spirit decides to cut me off from her line of magic we might lose the map and whatever it is that she kept here." Bonnie tapped a small circle on the map.
Katherine unlocked her car and Matt took the passenger seat, Bonnie was used to the back seat but not to the company joining them, she wasn't sure if Katherine was going to complain about that but the sexy brunette pressed the expensive boot down and drove away with a shrieking sound from the tires, there was no time to lose when a magic item was waiting for them.
"Tyler?" Caroline yelled into the renovated house, there was no answer and she didn't like that a bit.
Determined she went upstairs to look for him, his phone was disconnected and she hadn't seen him for days but now he wasn't in his new home either, also the empty bedroom and the unmade bed that she found wasn't that reassuring.
"Where the hell are you Ty?" she took her phone again and tried his number, it was still disconnected and her gut told her that the short stop before college was about to become longer.
She usually didn't go of on a hunch like this but she knew him well and even if Tyler decided to go back to the pack and stay with them he would have warned her before he left to the Bayou.
Caroline went into the kitchen to look for a candle, she dropped a few drops of wax on top of one his shirts while performing a location spell, the final figure that resulted from the wax was a place she knew well and Caroline rushed to her car worried about her friend.
"Are you sure about this Bonnie?" Katherine wasn't exactly stopping to ask but she eased up on the fast race of her car.
Bonnie bit her lip. "I am… ish…" she whispered.
"I'm about to cross the border to the wild nature, you better be sure." she warned with a foul anticipation of how her new boots would be all covered in mud soon.
Bonnie's usual positivism decided to take the day off, the lines in the map were fading away and she was losing her connection to whatever source of magic drove her here. "Maybe we should stop."
"What…" Katherine hadn't done anything but her car started to lose power and she looked at Matt for help.
"Are you out of gas?" he asked the obvious.
"Not even close." she tapped the small square where the pointer hit full.
"It's an uncultivated speculation but perhaps it's something magical." Kol stared at the little button on his door that went down to close his door.
Without notice the book in Bonnie's hands burst into flames, she squealed throwing it on the ground avoiding burning her hands on time, the car was now completely out of Katherine's control and the wheel turned towards a small dirt road, it slowly came to a halt right in the middle of it and all the buttons on the doors went up, the doors were open inviting everyone out but naturally all of them felt uneasy about the option.
"Does anyone have a gun?" Katherine looked at the duo in the back seat.
"I forgot my blade at the house." Kol checked his pocket upset.
"I was sort of joking…" Katherine frowned.
"Something brought us here and I don't think that it wants us to stay in the car." Bonnie was the first to get out, she wasn't sure which way to go but she chose some random path and started walking.
"We stay together no matter what." Matt united the group.
They all left the car at the same time and went after Bonnie.
"I can't see her…" Katherine complained as soon as they started walking. "She just came this way seconds ago, how could we lose her already?"
"And it's becoming foggy." Matt noticed the white collection gathering around them. "I can't see a thing… can you see anything Kaleb?" he looked back. "Kaleb?"
Katherine looked back as well, there was only Matt with her.
The yellow tape from the police had been cut already and that only made Caroline lick her lips, this was seriously happening.
She had one last look at the old spooky church before pushing the iron gate and crossing the entrance to the abandoned cemetery, St. Anne's church was as old as the city and for the longest time it had its private graveyard, now it was just a ghostly place like the mystical church itself.
Caroline tried to be discrete and ran among the graves trying to reach the church as fast as she could, she was half way there when she spotted two figures coming from the minster and crouched near a big headstone.
She stayed hidden until the two men went inside of the church, clutching to a small kitchen knife in her hand she decisively stood up to go after them, disquieting and out of nowhere Klaus showed up in front of her and before she even made anything out of the startling apparition her hand moved in instinct.
Klaus hissed as the small knife prickled his chest and removed the knife lodged near his heart with a small smirk as he saw how small it was. "That's adorable."
Caroline scolded him. "I came prepared."
His smirk grew and he lifted a huge sword that he brought for battle.
"What are you doing here?" she confronted him upset.
"I reckon the same as you are."
"I think that they have Tyler in there."
"He hasn't returned my calls for the last few days so I figured that something was wrong, I sent Josh on a tracking mission and he traced him back here." Klaus pointed at the building in front of them.
"Do you know who took him?" Caroline couldn't help to think how huge Klaus' sword was.
"Marcel's flock."
She shook her head. "He wouldn't do this to Tyler…"
"He left bear traps for the wolves in the woods, I think that he doesn't care for your affinity with them enough to miss the chance of getting rid of Tyler."
As Caroline was about to organize a huge defense, Thierry arrived to the scene.
Klaus took Caroline with him as he flashed to a bigger gravestone that shielded them both from the other vampire's line of sight.
She was dizzy from the ride but quickly concentrated on what was important. "Maybe Thierry is acting alone."
"I could ask him before I cut his head off." Klaus mused.
She forcefully grabbed his shirt. "You are not going to kill anyone, do you hear me?"
"I'm afraid that I lost all of my hearing all of a sudden." His eyes glistened with a sparkle of death.
"If they have Tyler, we are going in there and we are freeing him but you are not allowed to go on a killing adventure." she brought her face closer to his to prove a point. "Don't kill anyone."
Klaus roguishly planted a kiss on her lips, it wasn't a yes, it wasn't a no and by no means a maybe, it was just a soft tasting of her lips and he parted from them beaming.
Caroline's shoulders slumped afraid that he was ignoring her but she was glued to his back when he left the gravestone and she remained like that until they reached the backdoor of the church.
The softest chuckle was mandatory from Klaus as she tried to peek over his shoulder. "Do you want to take the sword and the lead?"
"We don't have time for dirty talks Nik." she judged him.
"As you wish, Princess." Klaus went in first, he buried the sword on the wooden floor choosing to take the first vampires with a simple twist of their necks.
The church was all filled with candles and Caroline saw Tyler instantly, he was trapped by two ropes that held his arms apart and he was kneeling, his head was hanging because he was unconscious.
Caroline ran to him, the vampires inside of the church were all busy trying to attack Klaus and her only obstacle was Thierry who waited for her on the altar, just next to Tyler.
She went up the two first steps shaking. "Does Marcel know about this?"
"We knew that it would be hard to keep you away when you found out but now that you're here…" Thierry took a knife from a horde of witch things lying on a stand and used it to cut the rope freeing Tyler's right arm. "Take him with you."
Caroline froze. "That makes very little sense."
"We don't need Tyler anymore." Thierry looked at the man fighting behind her.
"You took Tyler as bait for Klaus?" Things just made no sense to her at this point.
"It wasn't just that." Klaus wasn't fighting anyone at this point, he was surrounded by a small army but he was standing with his arms settled behind his back and a daring smile.
Thierry cut the other rope and Caroline caught Tyler as he fell forward, her friend shown the first signs of life and she used her healing magic for a quick fix, it was enough to give him strength to walk while the real spell would be done later.
"You've placed his werewolf side on a dormant state." Klaus said.
Caroline looked at him first, then she faced Thierry shocked. "Is he right?"
"Marcel knows what he's doing." Thierry simply replied to her.
"I'm going to talk to him, this is getting out control." Caroline angrily told Thierry.
The vampire always with a flat hat showed his fangs. "I said that you can take Tyler, so grab your friend and leave Caroline."
"You don't tell me what to do." she struck back.
"Sweetheart…" Klaus sensed the arrival of another large number of vampires, they came out from the sides of the altar where they had been hiding and came down the stairs filling the church entirely. "My car is just across the street." he tossed his keys at her.
She grabbed the keys keeping her eyes on him, leaving was the last that she wanted to do but Tyler was weak and she still didn't know what exactly they had done to him.
Caroline helped him up and then slowly down the stairs, as they went by Klaus she exchanged a last look with him, he looked peaceful and relaxed and he remained silent until he heard her footsteps far away from the church.
Although Klaus was still the crew around him was itching and twitching their fingers ready to assault him, yet none of them dared to move without Thierry's consent.
"This one is for Diego." he ordered the first strike with a lift of his eyes to one of the men standing behind Klaus.
A blade similar to the one Elijah had left at his house was plunged into the back of Klaus' neck, the pain ran down his spine and Klaus fell to his knees, he tried taking the blade out but his wrist was caught by a few vampires who laced a steel chain around it, they did the same with his other wrist and spread his arms apart keeping him subdued for the moment.
Thierry punched him so hard that his hand was hurting afterwards. "And this one is for Max." he shook his hand.
As the blood of an open cheek fell down to the corner of his mouth Klaus' eyes turned yellow and he lapped that drop of blood from his lip with his tongue. "Which one is it for killing everyone inside of this church?" Klaus pushed him with a sly smile.
Thierry nodded to the vampire in charge of the blade and Klaus yelled as the other turned the weapon buried in the back of his neck.
"Today is just a lesson in pain, you came to the wrong town Klaus. In here we have shady witches and blades like the one breaking your spine over and over, it was made by Papa Tunde who was a great hater of vampires, may the Devil guard his soul but he left us with an amazing arsenal able to hurt even an Original." Thierry smiled elated.
Klaus wrapped his right hand around the steel rasping on a bigger breath. "I've decided to leave you for last." he informed Thierry with a happy tone about his choice. "And to kill the blade handler first."
Thierry lifted his eyes but it didn't reach the other vampire in time as Klaus suddenly pulled his arm knocking the men holding him down, he grabbed the vampire behind him and pulled him over his shoulder, he laced the steel around the man's neck and broke his neck.
They tried stopping him from removing the blade from his neck but it was impossible to tame Klaus' wrath, it came out blazing when he pushed the blade up someone's chin.
Thierry flinched with the gruesome sight but they could still hurt him, he grabbed the loose chain and tried holding him back but Klaus was like a raging animal set free.
He removed hearts easily, snapped necks and was only slowed down because he was shot in the heart with a bullet drenched in wolfsbane.
Seeing that it worked Thierry took the gun from a dazed vampire and shot Klaus with determination, he emptied the full round of bullets aware that it wouldn't fully stop him but it would still be enough to slow him down. "Bring me more bullets." he asked.
The strident sound of glass shattering followed by screams was a confusing answer and Thierry turned around, Caroline was holding her hands in the air after shattering all the windows in the old church, the sun coming in was killing the vampires who didn't have a ring and Thierry felt the wounded monster regaining enough strength to kill the rest of them.
Caroline plugged the sword from the floor and threw it at Klaus, she barricaded the escape of any vampire by creating a spell to keep them all inside and Klaus took them all out with the sword.
He pinned the last one to a church bench using the sword and climbed the corpse to jump from one bench to another so that he could tackle Thierry before he reached Caroline.
Thierry clasped his eyes in pain while Klaus bit him hard in the shoulder.
He dropped him to the ground and approached Caroline with yellow eyes and blood dripping from his lips. "You wanted to see the real Klaus? I present you to him."
Caroline blinked tearful as she stared at a bloodied massacre.
"What should I tell Marcel?" Thierry used a bench to support himself as he stood up.
Her numb eyes went to him. "That I didn't have a choice."
Kol searched the ruins site unsuccessfully, he pushed a piece of the ruined structure with his boot angry that his hunt turned out a bust for the second time today.
"You should have left the car sooner." Bonnie stepped out of the fog.
Kol turned his head with livid eyes. "Could you have been this smart?"
Bonnie came up right to his face with fire in her stomach. "I knew that there was something wrong when you said that about the dorm."
"So you faked Monique's message from the afterlife?" he turned to face her completely.
"The book and the car and the map thing…" she shrugged. "All of it. I found what you're looking for desperately ages ago. When I was preparing Monique's body for the ritual I noticed that she was wearing a unique watch, it looked like a key and I took the watch home with me, after messing with it for a few hours I finally figured it out that it can open the Ascendant."
Kol sighed. "Bonnie darling, I think that you are delightfully turning into a basket of surprises but you might not see another day if you keep crossing me like this."
She stood as a clear representation of who she was, with a bruised neck that she didn't cover at all and army boots that echoed how much of a warrior she was. "What do you want with the Ascendant?"
Kol smiled without showing his dimples, it was a scary smile and he trailed a finger across her chin without being genuine behind the gentle move. "You're an intelligent woman Bonnie, use that and give me what I want without all the daring games and questions."
She was instantly pulled into his clear blue eyes but she had no notion of who was behind them. "I rather destroy the Ascendant."
He hardened his features, his eyes became as cold as the touch mapping her neck. "If you knew what I'm capable of, you wouldn't be so crassly saying such arbitrary things."
Instead of hauling away from him Bonnie's heat came closer to his chest and she left very little space between them as she rested a hand on his cheek. "You saved me at the party so I know that you still feel something for me."
"That's not why I saved you."
She smiled recalling all the times she caressed him like that and she leaned her head a little to the side reminiscent. "I missed standing this close to you." the thought came out loud.
Kol was unsteady about the way this was all developing but it wasn't too shabby to have a beautiful girl stroking his face and with lips that begged to be kissed. "Are you drifting on purpose?"
She shook her head and her hands slid to meet his, she was smiling while holding his hands. "We used to love doing magic together."
He wanted to jump the gun but he recalled her saying specifically that there hadn't been any sex between them.
Bonnie built a bridged between her magic and his and the fog around them was turned into these small amazing little drops of water that were held above them by magic. "We never cared about power and you used to say that you would never use your magic to hurt someone." she became sad realizing that he used to say that about her as well.
"Power can be entertaining." he used his magic to burst all the water above them.
Bonnie shielded with a shriek and a loud laughter. "Kaleb!"
She had a stunning smile and laughter, and encouraged by the easy instant he pressed her to him and kissed her without any gentle introductions of any sorts, his tongue invaded her mouth before she even assimilated that his lips were touching hers and although she was slow on rejecting him, she still moved her tongue against his.
Her reason kicked in the second it all felt so good that she wanted to moan and she pushed him away with both of her hands on his chest and slapped him hard across the face. "What the actual f…" she restrained from cursing but she was raging.
He had a big smirk although his cheek was burning.
"When did you learn to kiss like that?" she touched her face to make sure that she wasn't blushing.
"I enjoyed that and I could be a tad wrong but I reckon that you liked it as well." he looked at her with lust.
"Don't ever do that again." Bonnie whispered, she could listen to Katherine and Matt approaching.
"There you are." Katherine complained.
"We didn't find anything." Bonnie headed back to the car fast.
"Ugh, let's go home… this fog is ruining my hair." Katherine groaned.
Matt squinted at Kol, that smile of his was uncanny.
"I think that we're working on our issues rather well." Kol winked at Matt.
Matt felt lost, more than usual at least.
"I need to heal Tyler." Caroline glanced back to the back seat as Klaus parked the car in his driveway.
"That won't be necessary, since I gave him my blood while I was waiting for you in the car." Klaus left the car motioning at Josh to take an unconscious Tyler inside.
Caroline left the car without focus, she kept touching her forehead and then hiding her hands inside of her jacket. "Ok… I guess that that will heal him."
"Are you all right Caroline?" Klaus came around to her side.
"Sure Klaus, why do you ask? After all, all I did was help you kill Marcel's crew and betray the man I call a father."
"It's just a name." Klaus coldly said.
She snapped furiously at him. "Marcel is going to kill me because of this, can you grasp that for a second Klaus? Or the fact that betrayal actually means a thing to me?"
"Are you scared or mad at me?"
"Before you arrived to New Orleans I wasn't forced to make these decisions, so right now I'm furious at you." she shouted fearlessly.
"Your immense rage comes from my reluctance to call you after your confession the other night." Klaus poured salt over the open wound.
"You didn't miss the sex enough to call me, that's fine." she dropped viciously trying to sound crude about it.
He breathed in loudly and held her by the arms with vigor. "The sex is extraordinary…" the words hissed like that through gritted teeth appeared to have such a different meaning. "But that's not what I missed."
Caroline's petulant shell cracked enough and she felt herself melting as his touch became smoother as well, one of his hands traveled to her cheek and her skin reacted by burning under his powerful touch, his thumb gracing her face was nothing more than Klaus feeding from her, draining her not of blood but of strength to leave him.
Klaus leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Why did you return to the church?"
"I couldn't leave you..." she whispered, he smelled like blood but now so did her. "I'm going to have a shower." she left to his room without looking up at him.
Marcel smashed another bottle against the wall, very little was surviving his fury and a flying chair almost hit Rebekah when she dared to enter the lion's lair.
"This has Niklaus written all over it." she named the wreck Marcel just made.
"There has to be a way to suppress him." Marcel's yells were echoes of a hell's wrath vibrating into the big house.
"Not even the Four Horsemen could manage that." Rebekah simply said.
The thought played out in his mind. "I'm in the right city to provoke an Apocalypse."
Rebekah moved her head a bit to the side with a side look. "Why do you still have all of this anger built up against Nik?"
Marcel snarled. "You should leave."
Rebekah narrowed her eyes, she neared him but when she touched him Marcel flashed pushing her against the wall and keeping her there with a hand pressing on her throat.
"I can take your anger Marcel but only if you tell me why you hate Nik so much."
"He made me choose between us or an eternal life." he maliciously smiled when he spotted the light rising in her eyes. "At least that's what you would like to hear." he tilted his head. "Wouldn't you love to hear how I hate your brother because he drove us apart?"
Rebekah's pain erupted like his anger, she closed up her features and pushed him away from her. "You're just like him… famished for power and wealth. But do you know what Nik has after centuries of scavenging for anything that gave him supremacy? Nothing!" Rebekah roared in Marcel's face. "He has no family, no friends and no one to sit with him at the table and you may think that you overdid him but everyone who sits with you does it because they are obliged to, not because they care for you."
"I told you to leave." Marcel said slowly.
"I've seen greater empires crumble to ashes and you will not be the exception." Rebekah lastly said.
Marcel kicked the stuff lying on the ground, they were all wrong and he would one day dance on top of all of their graves.
The hot water did the impossible, it relaxed her enough to stop worrying and then Caroline actually smiled when she found the pink package lying on his bed.
She covered her legs with the duvet, because she was only wearing one of his shirts the room felt a bit cold but she could see the mantel already harvesting a quiet fire.
One that she related to when Klaus walked in wearing his low-cut Jeans and a chest that wasn't completely dried yet, Caroline wasn't entirely happy that he chose to have a shower in another room but she ate her beignet at least satisfied with the view.
Klaus picked a random shirt from the closet and ended her glee by covering a long back that she was admiring.
"Tyler is recovering well." he turned to her.
"He told me about the painful enchantment that they used on him…" she had another small bite from her snack. "How did you know that they used that specific spell on Tyler?"
Klaus decided on a silver chain necklace for the rest of his night and she could see him going back in time to fetch for a memory she wanted him to share with her as he laced the necklace around his neck.
"Rebekah was beautiful from the day she was born, while growing up every man in the village was enchanted with her and it became a habit for us to fight every scoundrel that wanted to have a horse ride with her." Klaus sat on the bed with a small smile. "But Rebekah enjoyed her adventures more than any of us did and during one of my father's hunting trips she decided to go over to the waterfall alone…"
Caroline wanted to take his hand but afraid that he might withdraw on the sincere moment, she chose to only snuggle closer to him.
He smiled finding two huge blue eyes pleading him to carry on. "Elijah was the one who noticed that she wasn't in the hut but I arrived to the waterfall first." Klaus moved her hair to outline her face with his hand. "She was struggling with one of the men from our village, she told me later that she had been sneaking out to see him every night but nothing ever happened between them until that day. He was trying to undress her and I only remember her screams and how I wanted to make him stop… when Elijah arrived I was still clutching the rock in my hand and Rebekah was too shocked to say a word."
"That's how you triggered your curse?"
Klaus expelled a gush of air loudly, he inched her closer and kissed her forehead. "It was my first kill."
Caroline closed her eyes weighing it up. "How is that related to what happened today to Tyler?"
"Mikael was not happy to know that his least favorite son was on top of it all a bastard." Klaus lifted his eyebrows with a hint of amusement. "Therefore he took things to all possible extremes, he killed my father and then with the help of Elijah he strapped me down to a wooden trap like I was an animal so that my mother could suppress my werewolf side."
"Wait…" Caroline jolted her head. "Elijah helped Mikael do that to you?"
"Yes. Did he leave that out when he was being pompous about how much of a good brother he is?"
"He was busier sucking my blood." Caroline scrunched her lips goaded. "And why didn't you tell me this sooner? You led me to think that Elijah was some nice guy with iffy morals when he's just a creep who uses his appearance to bait people into thinking that he's one of the good guys."
"I sold him to the witches, which clearly proves that I'm the good guy in the family."
"You're a D-bag with a nice accent!" she huffed.
"I love how verbal you are about everything." he smiled charmed.
She rolled her eyes but he was poking something that was beginning to be a loud thought in the back of her mind. "I don't like how hushed you are about…" she looked up at him without finishing.
"Us?" Klaus locked his eyes with hers.
She nodded enjoying how transparent they were sometimes.
"These are still waters that you are stirring up Caroline, there are things that I don't say because I've forgotten how it was to feel them."
Her mouth was dry and when she gulped down the sound filled the room. "If you could remember how it was to feel…" she licked her arid lips. "What would you say about those feelings that… you possibly have for me?"
His lips stretched into a big smile. "If I was a man to speak of feelings…"
She grazed her lower lip with her teeth. "If… of course."
He sighed with a deep hum. "I would say that this confinement that Marcel formed around you is a crime. This small world that he created for you will never be enough for you love, your light will parch trapped in here and you will die like a hummingbird unable to sing and fly freely."
"Are you the one who will take me out of here and show me what it's like to be really free?"
Klaus kissed her lips softly. "If you let me sweetheart, I'll show you what a real reign is all about."
"That's a lot of ifs." she huffed again.
His chuckle was sexy and grave, he kissed her lips without hurry scratching her as his stubble marked her delicate lips, they became red reminding him of blood.
Her cheeks gained color caused by the heat that the kisses brought to her and when she laid back on the bed taking him with her he easily drifted his attention to her neck.
Quietly she moaned but Caroline wanted the weight of his lips against hers again. "Kiss me Nik…" her fingers knotted with his curls.
Klaus pressed her lips with passion, if he was one to speak of the way she made him feel, he would make an ode to the fervor she incited in him and he would name it obsession.
Marcel looked calmer now so Aisha, one of his bravest vampires, tried to get any answers from him, she still kept a safe distance afraid that he might kill her if she crossed a line that he didn't like. "Thierry is starting to hallucinate and the fever will cause him to start convulsing soon…" she cautiously dropped her tone of voice. "When will you go see Klaus?"
Marcel's deadly stare caused shivers on her but that was all she was getting from him, Aisha's sorrow only grew, she already lost so many members of her family today yet she knew Marcel wasn't caving.
With a gloomy turn she prepared to leave Marcel alone to digest the horrible aftermath of a hasty move against Klaus but Marcel's grave voice hauled a freeze from her.
"Cut Caroline off and everyone else in her coven."
Aisha narrowed her eyes heavily but the words wouldn't leave her open mouth.
"Let it be known that from now on, she no longer has my protection, neither of them do." Marcel icily said without moving away from the balcony.
The peace in her sleep was striking to watch and he truly pondered staying longer, to just lay there and hold her closely to him was perfection but sadly to ensure that peace that she borrowed from him in her sleep Klaus had obligations.
He took the scent that her soft curls tickled him with and kissed her head before moving away from her back, Caroline remained motionless like she was satisfied with the security of his bed alone.
Surely he would sulk less if he made the connection that she was only responding to the way his scent was all over her, subconsciously she was replacing his physical presence with the scent of his shirt, his pillow and his sheets.
Tyler was entertained with a bottle and a glass, he didn't need much company tonight but he still smiled when he saw Klaus. "Hey, I'm shamelessly using your bar for happy hour."
Klaus left him at ease and even joined him in the sofa. "Tonight my blood and my bourbon are for free."
Tyler sadly filled his glass with a caramel-yellow mix, he clenched his jaw at odds with the idea that he wasn't a werewolf for the time being. "Your blood wouldn't by any chance heal a curse, would it?"
Sinister like the devil Klaus smiled. "Far from it…" within the blink of an eye he snapped Tyler's neck. "It will however improve you."
Soundtrack:
Not a bad thing - Justin Timberlake
Gonna get it – Alexz Johnson
No need to worry – The Feelers
Red Voodoo – Sammy Hagar feat Vic Johnson (Acoustic version - Lite Roast)
Take me - Tiësto feat. Kyler England (Acapella version)
R U Mine? - Arctic Monkeys
