Hello lovelys!
First of all, I have a confession to make. I should be working on three assignments right now. Instead, I'm uploading a new chapter. I'm going to regret that soon, right?
But right now I'm happy to share this one with you. This was such a fun chapter to write and I hope you have as much fun reading it!
Also: I own nothing. The characters aren't mine, the songs I used aren't mine, New Orleans isn't mine either. Life would be so much better if I owned all of that!
"He's useless!" Damon exclaimed furiously.
"No, we just have to get him to wake up." Katherine rolled her eyes.
"Oh, really? I don't know about you, but I have been trying everything to wake him for the last couple of days!" Damon yelled.
Katherine and that witch had taken him to an abanonded building a few days ago. Inside was a coffin. The guy inside looked positively dead to him, but the women had claimed that he was drained and spelled to stay put. Sophie had removed the spell already, but the guy just wouldn't wake. Damon had poured blood over his face countless times, human and even animal. Nothing had happened.
"I know. I was there, you know?" Katherine snapped back. She didn't know what they were doing wrong.
"What's so special about him anyway?" Damon asked.
"I told you already. He's a hunter." Katherine explained.
"Yeah, vampire hunter that hunts vampire. I got it. But why should he be able to kill that original bastard?" Damon asked again.
Katherine only groaned in response. There was no way she would explain everything again. Instead she tried to focus on finding a way to wake him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Damon, yet again.
"What, Damon? Are you really incappable of keeping your mouth shut for more than a minute?" Katherine was furious. Damon was supposed to help her, after all. But all he did so far is whining.
"I know what to do." Damon said proudly.
"Really?" Katherine asked hopefull.
"Yip. You told me he hunted vampires for centuries. He outright hates our species." Damon told her.
"Yeah, we've talked about this more than enough. Do you have anything new to share?" Katherine asked annoyed.
"The thing, Kitty, is that someone that hates vampires for being monsters would do everything in his power to avoid being like them, right?" Katherine gave a nod, waiting for Damon to continue.
"My guess is, he didn't feed on humans. No, I think he fed from vampires." Katherine's eyes widened in realisation. Maybe bringing Damon with her wasn't a bad idea after all.
"You're right." Katherine's comment made Damon smirk.
"Now feed him some of your blood." Katherine ordered.
"My pleasure."
Damon moved to the coffin before biting his wrist. He pressed the open wound against the hunters lips.
Katherine watched fascinated as Mikaels grey skin turned back to white. That was it. They made it.
Finally, she had the weapon she needed to rid herself of Klaus Mikaelson once and for all. Her lips curved into a sadistic smile.
"Welcome to New Orleans, sweetheart." Klaus said proudly.
Caroline wanted to give a smart remark but found herself too consumed by her surroundings. She hadn't been lying when she told him she had never been anywhere.
Klaus recognised the pure look of fascination in Caroline's eyes and couldn't help the smile that spread on his face.
A few minutes later the car came to a stop in front of a huge compound.
"Let me guess, this is your place?" Caroline asked.
"What gave it away?" Klaus asked.
"I don't know. Huge mansion with a huge 'M' above the entrance gates? I could be wrong but it seems like something your ego would enjoy." Caroline challenged.
Klaus chuckled and moved out of the car. Before Caroline could do so too, he was at her door. He opened it for her and held out his hand for her to take. Caroline just gave an annoyed huff and got out by herself.
"Come, love. Let's get inside." Klaus said as he put his hand on her lower back to guide her inside.
Once inside, Caroline couldn't hide her amazement. While his mansion in Mystic Falls had a modern flair, this certainly had a rustical one. She had to admit that she liked it. Not out loud, of course.
"I guess you want to freshen up before we have dinner?" Klaus asked.
"Are we going out?" Caroline asked with a hint of excitement. She had spent the last couple of days holed up in his Mystic Falls mansion after all. Going outside would be a welcome change.
"I have made a reservation for one of my favourite restaurants." Klaus explained.
"Joshua, show Caroline to her room." Klaus ordered.
Caroline's face lit up when she saw Josh woosh in the room. She didn't know he would be coming, too.
"Hey, Care." Josh said grinning.
"I'll expect you to be down here in an hour." Klaus dismissed them.
"I'm so happy you're here too!" Caroline told Josh.
"Yeah, me too. I've never been to NOLA before and it's exciting! But I'm quite confused about your mood." Josh said.
"Why?" Caroline asked.
"Well, you've spent the last 10 hours with Klaus. In a car. And neither of you seems to be annoyed at all." Josh shrugged.
"Oh. It wasn't so bad, I guess. How about I tell you all the details tomorrow?" Caroline wanted to take everything in now. Even if she had imagined her first trip away from Mystic Falls differently, she was happy. Everything about this was new and exciting. And she had a feeling that it would be easier to overcome her latest break-up. She was far away from home, in a completely different city. Everything, minus the company, was perfect to forget about her worries.
"Sure. This'll be your room." Josh explained as they stopped in front of a door. "Your luggage is already inside. I'll be back to escort you down in 50 minutes, okay?" Josh asked.
Caroline rolled her eyes and got inside the room. She knew it wasn't Josh's fault, but she hated having to be escorted by someone. She wasn't a defenseless little girl. Not anymore.
Her thoughts shifted completely however once she was inside her room. It was huge. Hell, it even had a balcony! Caroline looked around and saw the huge bed and threw herself onto it. As expected, it was positively comfortable. Contend she released a sigh and enjoyed the feel of the satin sheets against her hands.
"Joshua."
"Yes, sir?" Josh answered.
"You have spent quite much time with Caroline lately." Klaus began.
"I'm just doing my job." Josh explained. He hoped Klaus wouldn't think he had been hiting on Caroline.
"Calm down, I'm not going to bite you." Klaus told him with a smirk. The sire bond calmed Josh instantely.
"Have you noticed something odd about her?" Klaus inquired.
Josh's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't think so. What do you mean exactly?" Josh asked
"Two days ago, when you decided it would be a good idea to get her drunk, she said something peculiar." Klaus informed him. The tone of his voice a clear indication that he was still mad about what had happened. "She talked to someone I couldn't see. In fact, I'm positive there was no one but me and her present. First I thought she had been hallucinating. But when I told her about it, I had a feeling that there was more to it than she let on." Klaus explained.
"Oh. I remember hearing her talk to someone, too. A few days earlier." Josh told him. "I asked her about it but she assured me that nothing was going on. And since there was no one else in her room I believed her."
Klaus nodded. So he had been right after all. She was contacting someone in secret. Maybe one of her little friends? The witch may have found a way to speak to her through magic. Klaus didn't like the fact that she was deluding him again, having the audacity to think he would realise. It angered him.
"I want you to find out who she is talking to." Klaus ordered.
"You really think she is talking to someone? Maybe she's just talking to herself?" Josh tried. He didn't want to go behind Caroline's back.
"No, she is talking to someone else. Probably plotting something." Klaus made it clear that Josh was to follow his orders.
Josh nodded and left the room. He hoped Klaus was wrong, that Caroline was not plotting behind their backs.
"How do I look?" Caroline asked twirling in front of him.
"If I wasn't gay, I'd totally ask you out." Josh gave her a bright smile.
Caroline giggled at that. He was right, though. She knew that she looked good. After her shower, Caroline had decided to put on one of her favourite dresses, a light blue one with a golden waistband. Her hair had their usual waves, her make-up was light. She was still going out with Klaus after all. So she made sure to look somewhat casual, not wanting him to think that she took extra time dolling up for him.
"Let's go then!"
Josh escorted her down, back into the entrance hall where Klaus was already waiting for her. He had changed too, she noticed. Black leather boots, black jeans, dark green henley and a black jacket. That man had way too many black clothes, she thought to herself.
"You look stunning, love" Klaus greeted her.
She smiled at this and let him guide her out.
To her surprise, they passed the car without getting in.
"So, I take it the restaurant isn't far?" Caroline asked curiously.
"You're right. Also, I thought you might enjoy the streets of New Orleans." Klaus smiled at her and she nodded.
There was no denying that New Orleans was beautiful in it's own way. People were filling the street and there was soft jazz music everywhere. All in all, it seemed to be quite the opposite of her hown town.
After a ten minute walk, they entered the restaurant and were guided to their table. Before she could even ask for the menu, the waiter brought them two plates of something she had never seen before and a bottle of champagne. Klaus gave him a nod and he disappeared again.
"I hope you don't mind that I ordered in advance?" Klaus asked.
"I don't know. It's quite unusual." Caroline told him.
"I thought that since this was your first visit to New Orleans, you should have a taste of the local cuisine." He explained.
"Fair enough. What about the champagne?" Caroline asked with a raised brow.
"It's the first time you left Mystic Falls. That, sweetheart is something to be celebrated." Klaus smirked.
Caroline nodded and decided to try the food.
"Oh my god! That's really good!" Caroline exclaimed.
"It's called Jambalaya. I thought you'd like it." Klaus chuckled.
Yes, she liked it. Very much. So much, that she had finished it in no time at all.
Klaus liked the way her eyes had lit up more and more during the entire meal. Caroline seemed to warm up to his presence and he couldn't help to feel smug about it. His inner wolf was roaring in victory already, knowing that he was getting closer to her.
Caroline looked up and saw the twinkle in his eyes. She swallowed hard. After the time they had spent in the car she felt more comfortable around him. But she hadn't realised until now how much she had let her guard down. So much, she hadn't even realised that Klaus had probably watched her the entire time while she was eating. Now, he looked at her in this way again. The way only he had ever looked at her. She felt like his eyes were looking into her very soul.
Her eyes were travelling down to his lips once again. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help it. How was it even possible to have such perfectly kissable lips? And why were they attached to Klaus Mikaelson's face of all people? Life was certainly unfair.
Klaus saw that her eyes had drifted and licked his lips. It was obvious that Caroline felt attracted to him, but he also knew that he had to be patient. Otherwise he might scare her off.
"Let's take a walk, shall we?" Klaus asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Caroline blushed but nodded.
They stood up to leave when Caroline took his wrist to stop him.
"We have to pay!" Caroline whispered.
"Don't worry, love. I paid in advance." Klaus explained and Caroline let go of his wrist.
They walked around the streets of New Orleans for a bit. Caroline recognised a crowed bar and look inside.
"Karaoke!" Caroline screamed happily.
"You wanna go inside?" Klaus asked. Caroline nodded eagerly.
Inside, Klaus cleared a booth near the stage, earning a not so pleased look from Caroline. He shrugged and gestured for her to sit.
"Have you been here before?" Caroline asked him.
"Yes, quite often, actually." Klaus told her and Caroline laughed.
"What's so funny, love?" Klaus asked, surprised at her reaction.
"I just imagined you singing some cheesy love songs on stage." Caroline told him.
"I might have to disappoint you. I usually only drink." Klaus told her with a smile.
"Klaus. You're back." A female voice said. Caroline inspected her carefully.
"Camille. I'm in town for a visit." He told her casually.
The girl, Camille, smiled warmely at him. Caroline couldn't help but notice that she was basically undressing him with her eyes. And for some reason she didn't like that. At all.
"Hi, I'm Caroline." Caroline introduced herself to get Camilles attention.
Her smile faded and she only gave a quick "Hi." to acknowledge Caroline before her attenention shifted back to Klaus.
"The usual?" Camille asked him, smiling again.
"Yes, and, what do you want to drink, love?" Klaus asked, turning his attenention back to Caroline.
"Rum coke." Caroline replied, staring daggers at Camille. Interesting, Klaus thought. If he didn't know better, he'd think Caroline was jealous of Camille. He had to test that theory.
He turned back to Camille and gave her a bright smile. "Rum coke for the lady." Klaus said and Camille nodded.
Klaus made a show out of looking after Camille and turned back to Caroline who was still giving Camille her evil eyes. When she was out of sight, Caroline focused on the stage, not wanting to look at Klaus right now.
Shortly after, Camille was back with their order. Out of the corner of his eyes, Klaus could see that Caroline was back to staring at Camille and held back a chuckle.
"Thank you, sweetheart." Klaus said, touching Camille briefly.
"Anytime." Camille was all smiles, and so was Klaus.
When they were alone once again, Klaus was at the receiving end of Caroline's glare.
"Is there a problem, love?" Klaus asked, knowing the answer to his question already.
"Nope." Caroline replied sharply.
"Oh, come on. Something's bothering you." Klaus tried to get her to talk.
"Well, if my company is not to up to your expectation, you should talk to that slutty bartender." Caroline replied. She knew it was childish and inappropriate. But so far, Klaus had only ever seemed interested in her. Even if it was wrong, she had liked that.
"You don't like Cami?" Klaus asked amused.
"Oh, no. I'm perfectly fine to sit here and watch both of you having weird eye-sex." Caroline remarked.
Klaus couldn't hold it any longer and laughed out loud. Caroline seemed to be angered by that reaction and he tried to keep a hold on himself again.
"Are you jealous, love?" Klaus asked, raising his brows.
"Me? God, no!" Caroline replied quickly. Yes, she was jealous. But she would never admit it.
"Good, because Camille is a good friend." Klaus said.
"And with friend, you mean friend, right?" Caroline knew it was probably time to stop, but she didn't want to.
"No. She is a friend. But she seems to have a slight crush on me though." Klaus told her with a huge smile.
"Good for her." Caroline said and busied herself with her drink.
"Actually, it's not." Klaus said, gaining her attenention back.
"You see, I've tried to hook her up with some one else on numerous occasions. Unfortunatly, it didn't work." Klaus told her.
"Yeah, that's probably because you're flirting with her."
"I'm just being nice." Klaus defended himself.
"Yeah, you being nice. That very likely!" Caroline huffed.
"Caroline, there is only one woman in this bar that can hold my interest for more than five seconds." Klaus said, looking her deep in the eyes.
Something clicked in Caroline's brain and she realised what he had done.
"Douche!" She yelled furiously. He had tricked her. And it worked. God, she should have seen that coming.
"I just wanted to see if you're really jealous. No need to get offensive, love." Klaus chuckled.
"You're unbelievable! And just for the record: I was so not jealous!" Caroline told him.
"Of course not, love."
"You know what? You are driving me insane! I'll go and blow off some steam." Caroline stood up and headed for the stage.
Once on she was on stage, Klaus was excited to hear her voice in full bloom. Frankly, she had sung in the car, but she had kept her voice low, much to his disappointment.
The music started playing and Caroline seemed to be in her element. It was absolutely magnificent to watch her.
You're a real tough cookie with a long history
of breaking little hearts, like the one in me.
That's okay, let's see how you do it.
Put up you dukes, let's get down to it.
Klaus smiled at her. Her voice was absolutely beautiful and it was a shame that he hadn't heard her sing like that before.
The chorus came up and Caroline's eyes found his.
Hit me with your best shot.
Why don't you hit me with your best shot.
Caroline's eyes hold a hint of challenge and Klaus liked that.
You come on with it, come on
you don't fight fair
The song seemed awfully fitting for their evening. Klaus had to admit that using Camille's interest in him had not been fair. But it had been so much fun, too.
That's okay, see if I care.
Klaus gave her a knowing look. Even if she didn't admit it. She had cared about the fact that he had been flirting with someone that wasn't her.
Knock me down, it's all in vain
I'll get right back to my feet again.
Of that, Klaus was sure. Caroline was a fighter.
The song continued and Caroline danced and smiled, having a lot more fun than she had thought.
The fact that Klaus' eyes were glued to her was an added bonus. After his little flirt with the bartender, she enjoyed the fact that he looked at her like no one else was in the bar. Like she was the only one he could see.
It was selfish, she knew. But no one had ever given her that kind of attention. And if Elena was allowed to enjoy every guy's attention, she was allowed to enjoy his.
The song ended much to soon for her liking and she quickly decided on another one.
She gave Klaus a huge smirk as Wannabe started playing.
Klaus got the message loud and clear. If he wanted her to give in to him, he needed to stay away from her friends. Unfortunatly, that wasn't a possibility. No one would stop him from putting his plans in action. Not even a creature as alluring as Caroline. He would find a way to have both. Hybrids and her.
When the song ended, the crowed cheered and Caroline was smiling brightly.
She made her way back to the booth and spotted Camille, who was making her way towards them.
"I'm tired. Let's go." Caroline told Klaus and he gave her a knowing look.
They got out of the bar without running in Camille again and Caroline was glad about that.
On their way back to the compound, Caroline stopped to watch one of the jazz bands. They looked happy and passionate and she enjoyed watching them.
"May I have this dance, love?" Klaus asked, offering his hand.
Caroline thought about it. Sure, dancing would be nice, but it seemed awfully romantic to her. She looked at him and he was giving her the cutest puppy eyes she had ever seen. She smiled, thinking that she was probably the only woman in the world that would asocciate a word like cute with the big bag hybrid.
She took his hand and his face lit up with glee.
They danced for quite a while, none of them willing to stop. Klaus liked the way her body was so close to his, her hands touching him.
Caroline on the other hand felt like she was drowning in his eyes and melting into his touch. She didn't know that Klaus could dance. But he was actually pretty good. He had a thousand years of practise after all.
After what felt like years, they stopped and Caroline let go of him to clap for the band.
Klaus reached into his pocket and gave them some money before they started walking again.
It was getting cooler, Klaus realised. Even if vampires were immune to cold, he felt uncomfortable at the fact that Caroline was wearing a dress only. If she were human, she be freezing by now.
Making a qucik decision, Klaus removed his jacket and put it around her shoulders. Caroline looked at him questioningly.
"It's getting cold. I wouldn't want anyone to think low of me for not offering you my jacket." He explained casually.
"Yeah, because you are the perfect example of a gentleman." Caroline remarked. Even if she had to admit that he had been the perfect gentleman so far. Minus keeping her holed up, of course. Also, she enjoyed the way his smell sourrounded her now.
Klaus shrugged at her remark. He had to admit that there was a certain allure of seeing Caroline wearing his clothes.
They reached the compound and Klaus walked her to her room.
"Thank you for tonight." Caroline said shyly. Surprisingly, she had had a great time.
"You're more than welcome, love" Klaus said smiling, dimples and all.
"I'd be happy to do this again." He told her.
"Yeah, that would be nice." Caroline said. Her heart was beating faster now and she wondered if he knew that.
Klaus stepped closer to her and she felt rooted to the spot. He wouldn't kiss her now, would he?
Klaus seemed to catch on her thoughts and smirked. His face inching closer until his lips found her cheeck. Caroline inhaled sharply. Was it relief? She didn't know. All she knew was that his lips felt soft against her. Klaus pulled back, still smirking.
"Sweet dreams, love." He said before leaving her in front of her door.
Caroline struggled to breath as she walked inside her room.
Had she wanted to kiss him? Maybe. Should she want him to kiss her? Absolutely not! Had she been playing with fire the entire evening? Without a doubt!
She groaned. Her mind was a mess! Only then did she realise one thing. Today, she had not thought about Tyler once. She had enjoyed herself. And to be honest with herself, if Klaus had been anyone else, she would surely be falling head over heals for him. But he wasn't just anyone. Also, she was still wearing his jacket.
Conflicted, she prepared for bed, knowing she would have to make a decision soon. But until then, she would enjoy her time in New Orleans. She was far from home. Far from anyone judging her. She might get to know the hybrid that has messed with everyone's life.
She would think about everything when she was back in Mystic Falls. Right now, she felt perfectly comfortable laying in this huge bed in New Orleand while shamelessly snuggling with Klaus Mikaelson's jacket.