Games
He stared at her, motionless, emotion suddenly rushing to his face. His eyes were wide in pure desperation.
"You turned it off," he said, his voice harsh, contradicting his expression like it usually did.
She raised her eyebrows and smiled at him.
"Because of what I did."
She almost laughed out loud. He really thought she was that weak? He really thought he alone had the power to make her go to such extremes.
Go figure – he was his usual self-centered self. 'God, get over yourself.'
Did he even know about Bonnie? He certainly didn't know about her mother.
But this was beautiful, perfect, another piece of the puzzle that fell right into place. If he thought this was his fault – well, it partially was – she would leave him in the dark a little longer. The guilt in his eyes was just too precious to waste.
So she just stared back at him, the smile still plastered on her face.
He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Then he opened them again, his expression a little more composed. His jaw was clenched but she could still see the eternal battle he was waging in his eyes.
"You have to leave. Marcel is dangerous. If he learns… who you are, he will use you against me."
Ah. 'Well, thank you for this piece of information.' Just as she had thought.
She chuckled.
"Too bad I can't. And by the way, I don't really want to either."
She saw his jaw clench again.
"You're out of control. Why are you here? If you want to avenge Tyler-"
She raised her hand and shook her head, still laughing. "No, no. I don't even care about that anymore."
He frowned, closing his eyes again, visibly struggling with himself.
"Why are you here, then?"
She smirked at him, slowly taking a few steps towards him until she stood before him. She placed her arms on his shoulders, looking up at him with a playful glint in her eyes.
"Oh, maybe it is just because I wanted to see you."
His eyes widened and for a second she saw another kind of emotion race through his eyes.
Then, she laughed and shook her head again, taking her hands off him.
"I hate to have to disappoint you, but I actually have a real reason."
She rejoiced at the hurt that flashed through his eyes, quickly, barely visible but it was just what she had been looking for, what she had known she'd get out of this.
Her face turned serious. "I need your protection. Someone's after me."
He stared down at her, frowning. "Who?" he asked, his voice tense. Oh, she loved this.
She chuckled and turned on her heels, walking back towards a stool that stood by the kitchen.
"Oh, you need to earn that piece of information."
Suddenly, he was in front of her, anger raging in his eyes. "Tell me," he hissed, his hands grabbing her upper arms. She smiled up at him, laughing again.
Then she licked her lips.
"But I don't wanna spoil the fun."
His jaw clenched again and he leaned in, his gaze menacing.
"Caroline, my patience is very limited right now. I suggest you tell me exactly who is after you. Right now."
She let her face turn serious for a moment. "Or what?" she asked.
He took a deep shaky breath.
Suddenly his pupils dilated and she stilled in shock, but it was too late.
"Turn it on," he commanded, his voice hard.
Her eyes widened as she stared back up at him, tears suddenly rising in them as she started to shake.
She could see the raw pain in his eyes, as if he was experiencing her anguish first hand, his jaw still locked in place.
She looked down at her shaking hands as a strangled sob escaped her throat, then another followed.
Her sight was blinded by tears as she started hyperventilating, her gasping for air only broken by the sobs that seemed to force their way out of her throat.
His eyes were watering as well as his grip on her arms got tighter.
Then, suddenly, subtly, something changed.
Her sobbing almost sounded like… laughing. No, it was laughter.
She threw her head back, mouth wide open and eyes shut as her laughter turned into cackling.
She raised her hands to her face and wiped away the tears, still chuckling and shaking her head in pure amusement.
Then she stared back up at him, lips forming a wide menacing smirk. He stared back at her, confusion plastered on his face, the pain still evident under the surface.
"Did you really think I would come here unprepared?"
He gasped, his eyes widening as she freed herself from his grasp, not taking a step back, her eyes still fixed on his, a soft smile playing on her face.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice suggesting that she was anything but. "That was a little mean."
There was still vervein in the water supply back in Mystic Falls. She had drunk her share, brought some along in a few plastic bottles, well hidden in places he wouldn't find.
The rage returned to his face as he stared back at her, his pain quickly drowned in the thunderstorm of hot and cold, thousand year old fury, demanding respect.
"Careful, Caroline, I won't have you manipulate me around," he hissed, taking a threatening step towards her. "I have my limits and you are very close to making me do something I don't wanna do."
She smiled back at him innocently. "So you do let me manipulate me around. And who says that I don't want you to get angry."
"Oh, trust me," he responded, his jaw clenched, the look in his eyes both cold and burning. "You do not want that."
She chuckled.
"Oh," she mimicked him, taking a step closer herself. "But I do. It's hot."
He faltered, staring at her in disbelief. She'd made him falter.
But she knew there was another step to be taken, another challenge to be mastered. His eyes always betrayed him, but it were his words she had to control in order to prove that she had truly broken through that old, strengthened cell.
She giggled, then cocked her head to the side.
"I will tell you who is after me if you tell me why you haven't killed Marcel yet."
His expression sobered up a little.
"Alright. But you go first, love."
She smiled. "Damon is after me. I want you to help me kill him."
He frowned. "Why?"
She shook her head. "Ah-ah-ah, now it's your turn."
He growled and closed his eyes for a moment, then he looked back at her, his jaw still clenched.
"I plan to take over his kingdom. My recent experiences have shown that forcing people into loyalty is not quite as effective as making them think they want you in power."
She raised her eyebrows in appreciation. First of all, she was sure she had had her hand in that somewhere. Judging from his behavior so far this was some new sort of epiphany. And it was exactly what she had aimed at when she had talked to him, back when she had still had her emotions, good intentions.
There had to be more, though. She figured there was something else going on between Marcel and him.
"Why is Damon after you?" he asked, his voice hard.
She sighed. "Do you even have the slightest idea what happened that night?"
He frowned at her.
"Do you even know about Bonnie?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, deciding to play one of her cards.
"What about her?"
"She died," Caroline answered, a sweet smile on her face as she raised her hand to run her finger over the muscles on his shoulder. "Right before you decided to rip out Tyler's heart in front of me and leave me wailing in my own vomit."
Guilt. There it was, clear unmistakable guilt in his eyes. He gulped as he looked away, taking a step back, away from her.
He was fleeing now. That was a good sign. She played him like a fine instrument.
"I didn't know," he said. "When my sister pulled that stake out of me, all of you were gone."
She nodded. "Makes sense, Damon probably took her body."
He fixed his eyes back one hers, and his authority was back, this fine line that always distinguished him from others.
"You have to turn it back on, Caroline. This isn't you."
"Oh, but it is. I am even stronger, even smarter, better in every respect. Stop kidding yourself Klaus, this is exactly what you want. What you wanted with Stefan, with your family, what you truly wanted from me."
He closed his eyes for a moment as if he was contemplating something and then fixed his gaze back on hers. "Not you."
"Oh, stop kidding yourself. What exactly is it you think about when you're alone in bed at night, or fucking a substitute – innocent, bubbly little Caroline, that is – oh, so 'full of light'?" she chuckled. "No, you want this. If you think about it this is actually perfect for you. My old self would have never forgiven you, she hated you. I don't. I don't care. On the contrary, I think you're fun. Hot."
"Don't talk about yourself like this," he hissed, the fire once again raging in his eyes as he leant forward.
She stared him down, her face expressionless until a fine, cruel smile crept up on it.
"You're right. There is no need to demean myself."
They kept staring at each other for a moment and she bathed herself in the tension.
"I was magnificent, even as an empathic vampire. Better than anyone, better than you, better than any of my friends." She saw his eyebrow twitch for a moment when she mentioned him. Oh, it was so easy for her to hit home. "But I am even better now."
They continued staring at each other and he licked his lips.
"Why are you here?" he asked, finally. "You could have gone anywhere else in the world, why here?"
She smiled another vicious smile.
"You mean…" She raised her arms to his shoulders, placing her elbows on his neck, joining her hands behind his back. "Why did I come to you?"
His jaw clenched again and his gaze darkened. She watched him curious, interested in his every reaction, every mood swing.
"It's simple, really," she continued.
"If I wanted protection, why wouldn't I seek out the most powerful being in the world… that happens to be in love with me."
His eyes widened a fraction and then, promptly, fury returned to his eyes, just as she had expected.
She crept a little closer, playing him with his own game.
Then she cocked her head to the right, her expression emotionless.
"You don't even know what he did to me, do you?" she asked, he voice calculated and filled with pretended sweetness.
He frowned, his gaze still collected with hers and she felt another spark of electricity running through her at their upheld contact. He did nothing to rid himself of her touch.
He'd probably been craving it, convinced he'd never had it before. But he was not in shock, he was a master of adaptation. He was making the best of what he had.
"I will tell you what Damon did to me if you stop asking why he's after me," she said.
He frowned, a calculating gaze in his eyes but beneath them she could see the inner struggle taking place.
"Fine," he finally said.
He was giving into her rules of their game, which meant that he still believed he had the upper hand. He thought he could lock her up in a room and wait until the vervein was out of system, or maybe that he could even take her on in the state that she was in. This foolish arrogance of his. He clearly hadn't learnt that much after Silas happened.
"Damon raped me," she said, accentuating each word with a sick sweetness, smirking up at him.
She enjoyed the emotion in his eyes. First disbelief, then, suddenly, from one second to the next, hatred and pain, the two emotions battling for dominance. She knew which one would win.
"When the Salvatores came to town," she continued. "Damon first used Matt's sister Vicki. He drained her without taking her memory, to cause trouble for Stefan. Later, he turned her into a vampire. She was a druggy, a hopeless case, so he killed her as soon as she tried to kill Elena."
She chuckled, watching him, a predatory gaze in her eyes.
"With me he was a little more delicate. He compelled me, made me spy on Stefan and Elena. He fed off me, without compelling me. I thought I was going to die. He compelled me for the sex, though, so I thought I wanted it at the time it happened. And in the end, he tried to kill me. Twice."
She leaned in a little further and whispered.
"He told me I was shallow, stupid, a worthless waste of space. And I believed him."
Abruptly, she drew back, sliding her arms off his neck.
"And they all forgot about it, including me."
He visibly had to fight his rage, his hands clenched in fists.
She laughed and took a few, dance-like steps into the room, waving her arms around, enjoying the feeling of accomplishing exactly what she wanted.
"I want to kill him. And I want you to help me," she said, as she turned around in the middle of the room, her gaze suddenly piercing his again, a serious expression on her face.
He stared back at her, his gaze still blazing with fury, anger that tried to fight its way out of his body. She looked him up and down and she decided that she had never wanted him more.
Her skin tingled in anticipation as she sat down on the sofa, crossing her legs in a seductive motion.
Every movement she did, every change in her expression, every word was controlled, precisely planned and executed effectively. She coked her head to the side.
"Will you help me?" she asked.
And he closed his eyes for a moment, scoffing, then fixed his eyes back on hers, walking up to her.
He was trying to get back in charge, obviously, unaware of the fact that it was hopeless.
She smirked up at him, raising her eyebrows, waiting for his answer.
"You think that you can manipulate and play me around, just like that," he finally said, halting before her, his voice cold. "I will only warn you once more, love. This is not a game you want to play with me."
She smiled up at him with feigned innocence, then her face fell and she looked away.
"That's your only reaction?" she finally said, her voice hollow.
She saw him still in the corner of her eye.
Silence spread between them and he approached her even further, sitting down beside her, fixing his gaze on hers again. Anticipation tingled in her spine.
"I will kill Damon, gladly."
She snorted, looking away again.
"I want to do that," she mewled and then turned her head back to him again. "Don't you understand that?"
He closed his eyes for a moment and clenched his jaw, looking back at her.
"I do," he responded. "But that doesn't mean I care."
She lowered her gaze to her hands, her shoulders sinking in defeat.
Silence spread again.
"So you don't even respect me enough to let me kill the people that wronged me," she finally said.
His gaze was piercing her and so she looked up again.
"I respect you enough to not let you kill anyone until you're humanity is turned on again," he answered, his voice sincere.
She rolled her eyes in a playful manner. Oh, it was so fun when he thought he had the upper hand.
Suddenly, a smirk spread on her face.
"I will help you with Marcel," she said, a playful glint in her eyes as she looked back at him.
Anger flashed up in his eyes. "No," he sneered. "You won't. This is my business."
"Just as Damon is mine," she answered.
Immediately, menace claimed his face, as he leant closer. "Why are you here, then?" he asked, his voice cold again.
She smiled again, leaning closer as well.
"It's a good thing you ask," she remarked, and for one second she let her real intentions flash through her eyes, the true depth of who she was now. His eyes widened.
Then, in vampire speed, she moved forward and claimed his lips with hers, kissing him roughly, almost violently, pushing him back into the sofa and he actually froze for a moment.
She chuckled to herself as she nipped on his lower lip, invading his mouth with her tongue and as she felt him kissing back with even more force than she did, leaning forward and pushing her into the sofa in return, she felt her whole body tingle. Her mind went hazy, her fingertips were numb. This was exactly what she had been looking for, what she had know he and only he could give her. The spark, the tension between them turned into something else and exploded.
This simple kiss did more for her than the sex had done last night.
Swiftly, he pulled back, lust, confusion and anger painting a beautifully perverse expression on his face and she watched him, her eyes half closed.
"No," he hissed and turned away from her.
She giggled and placed her hand on his thigh, running up the hard muscle, her eyes widening in appreciation until he really slapped her hand away this time.
His jaw was clenched and she saw his bodies' reaction to what she had done, visible in his pants. Reluctantly she raised her gaze to his.
"I will not take advantage of you," he uttered, more to himself then her, running a hand through his hair. "You will hate me for this when you turn it on again."
A sweet, sugary smile spread on her face.
"But I already hate you, love," she answered.
The quick flash of pain in his eyes was just what she needed.
Then, her face fell, revealing a calculating, stone hard expression. Her mouth formed a sweet smile again but her eyes still remained ice cold as she raised her hand to caress his cheek.
"There's no turning it back on," she said, her voice hard and demanding.
"I killed Elena."