Hello, my lovely readers. Sorry about the long wait. I had some real life problems I needed to deal with. I would like to say that I can go back to updating this fic weekly but I'm not going to make that promise and break it. On with the show…

Chapter 10: Disappearing Act

Entering the French Quarter, Caroline Forbes wanted to feel someone's heart in her hand, pulsing rapidly right before she ripped it out and threw it away. She wanted her rage to guide her. She wanted everyone at her mercy. She wanted to feel the buzz of control that Klaus seemed to feel was a great high. Her switch was not flipped but her mind sang with fear, disgust and outrage. Her best friend might be dead. Her children were in danger. And her feelings for the hybrid at her side were deepening since she had freed him.

"Caroline," Klaus said quietly and her head snapped to the right. He smirked back at her. "Are you truly ready for this, love?"

"You have no idea," Caroline replied with a smirk of her own.

Klaus led Caroline and Hayley into the compound. He would not be Klaus if he did not make a grand entrance. "Hello, ladies and gentleman, shall we begin the executions or would you enjoy a trail such as the one you gave me?" He grinned, stepping into the middle of the courtyard, turning in a slow, steady circle on one heel with his fingers laced behind his back.

The Strix and other vampires who had been talking and probably plotting all looked shocked to see him. "How in the hell did you get out?" one besuited male demanded.

"I have my ways, you pompous fool," Klaus retorted with a wide grin before he descended on the vampire, ripping his head off with his fangs. "Ah, it is good to be home. Who's next?" he waved a hand and more than a dozen foes came after him.

Caroline dove into the melee of blood, gore and gratuitous violence. Her limbs flew through the air: punching, kicking, ripping with fangs and nails. Bodies began to pile up. One after the other Klaus' foes died at Klaus', Caroline's and Hayley's hands. At some point they were joined by others, some there to help Klaus' enemies, some seeming to not know which side to pick. It did not matter because all Caroline saw was blood and she wanted more.

"Caroline!" Klaus shouted at some point when she kneeled atop a female vampire, draining her foe dry. "Caroline, that is enough, love!" he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Caroline shoved him away. She ran a hand over the back of her mouth.

"It's not. It won't be enough until everyone who took part in this is dead and gone. You can't let your enemies just run around because they'll come after people you care for!" Caroline yelled at Klaus, sending an elbow into a vampire who had been edging toward the gate. Grabbing the vampire by the hair, she tore his head off and tossed it into the pile. Klaus' eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

"Caroline, we will find Bonnie," Klaus tried to reassure her.

"Correction. I will find Bonnie. You can take care of your family," Caroline spat back at him. "Don't worry. I'll be back. And in one piece. Just let me do this." She did not intend on arguing with him. Striding toward the front door, Caroline only stopped when Klaus grabbed her, spun her around and kissed her on the lips, holding her to him tightly.

"Be careful. I've lost too many good people lately," Klaus told her, running his hand down her cheek and then letting her go.

Caroline forced a smile before whirling around and moving out of the blood bathed courtyard. She needed answers. Quickly. Time might be running out for Bonnie. And who knew if Kai wanted information that might lead to her babies. She had to stop him before she lost too many people. Having no idea where to go first, Caroline headed down the street. Witches. She needed a witch.

Deciding to go back to the bayou to find Valerie and Freya, Caroline grabbed the first tourist with a car, compelled them to give her their keys and took off. She had had enough of walking or running wherever she went; fearing exposure. Stopping the car near the edge of the bayou, she got out, slammed the door and ran the rest of the way. Unfortunately she was too late. The cabin held an eerie silence, like no one had been there in months. Her expression turning into a deep frown, Caroline's eyes flicked right and left. No one was there. No signs of a struggle. It was like they had all just disappeared. Kai. "Shit!" Caroline yelled.

Withdrawing her phone, Caroline meant to make a call when someone sent her phone flying. Her eyes darted to the corner of the house where Hope came out. "Hope?"

The child looked dazed. "He took a lot," Hope said, looking like she might faint. "A lot, a lot," she repeated. Her usual confidence that bordered on arrogance, so much like her father, had disappeared. She looked defeated. "He came for Valerie. And he took her. He said she didn't belong with us. That they were family." Hope's words came out as little more than a whisper. "He said he would kill Elijah and Freya. I don't know where he put them. I don't know. I…" The child looked like she might cry. "I think he did something bad to my brother."

"Hope, honey, don't cry. Come here," Caroline kneeled, holding out her arms to the little girl. She might be a miracle child but right now she was like any other five-year-old who had encountered a real-life monster. "It's okay, baby girl." She vaguely remembered Hayley calling Hope that and hoping that it would sooth the child. "It's okay. We'll find them all. They'll be okay."

Hope nodded, sobbing, clutching Caroline's neck. "I want my daddy," Hope moaned. "I want my daddy!"

Picking Hope up, Caroline carried her to the car. She wished she had chosen a tourist with a small child so she could put Hope in one of those kiddie seats. But beggars can't be choosers. Sighing, Caroline placed Hope in the back seat. She climbed behind the wheel and drove back to the compound. The minute they arrived, Klaus and Hayley came out. Hope's arms opened as Klaus yanked the door open. He withdrew his daughter, holding her close.

"They're gone, daddy. I tried to fight back but he just disappeared. Then he took my magic. I'm tired, daddy." Hope's mouth opened in a wide yawn.

"Hayley, take her to bed," Klaus ordered Hayley who did not protest his ordering her around for once.

"Was there any clue as to where he might have taken them?" Klaus demanded. He looked like his old, paranoid self which might be a bad thing all due considering what they were up against.

"Nothing that I could find," Caroline told him, hands on her hips. She felt his frustration. This had become far too out of their control. "I told you bringing Kai was a bad idea."

"Yes, well, I surmised as much. But I have defeated many a worthy adversary in my long life, Caroline. This will be just another chapter in our new story," Klaus smirked at her. "The first chapter of our family's history that includes you as one of us."

Caroline felt a smile rising but she forced it down. Too much had happened. She had to focus on taking out Kai rather than the swelling feeling in her heart when Klaus looked at her like that. As much as she might wish things were different, they just weren't right now. "Okay. So, you know any witches that we can get to help us find our rogue sociopath?" she quipped.

"Klaus!" a voice tore through the quiet that had fallen after the latest massacre on the family's grounds. "Where is she?" Kol roared, his eyes glowed and his fangs stood out.

"Kol, what a pleasure to see you again, brother, or should, I say displeasure? Come to make idle threats again?" Klaus retorted with a wide grin.

Kol growled before shooting forward with a piece of wood that he removed from his jacket. Caroline felt the pointy end shoot through her back, up her ribs and just beneath her heart. She gasped as blood began to seep from her mouth. "Klaus?" she hissed in pain, not knowing if he could help her or not.

Klaus' eyes darkened, his face becoming the mask of rage that made his foes scream in terror before bolting. "Kol, you would be well advised to run. I have far too many problems plaguing me to deal with your petty issues. Now, remove the stake from Caroline before I place it through your eyes." His words were measured, his fists balled and his body tensed to spring.

"You have Davina. And I mean to have her back. Now, give her to me and I do not end Caroline's life before you muck it up like you muck up everything good in your life. Like you did Camille." Kol's words seemed to hit something within Klaus because the next thing that Caroline knew the stake had been ripped out of her chest and Kol lay on the other side of the courtyard.

"Do not ever utter her name again!" Klaus snarled. "Not ever." He moved to stand over Kol, twirling the stake while Caroline kneeled on the ground, holding the gaping hole which had begun to knead itself back together.

"Why? Are you afraid that your precious Caroline will find you cared for another? A little human that got turned into a vampire and died because she foolishly stayed with you. Oh, brother, come, she has a right to know that loving you will only end in her cruel and excruciating death. Just like all the others. Or should I tell her about Aurora? Won't that be a pretty tale as well?" Kol sneered, moving to stand when Klaus kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying backward, into a wall.

Klaus moved toward his brother. Caroline forced herself to stand before running in front of him. "Klaus, he's your brother!" she reminded him. "He's a jackass but he's still your brother. Kick his ass if you want. But do not kill him. You won't recover from that."

"Sounds like Cami," Kol said with a laugh. "Oh, poor Dr. O'Connell. May she rest in peace."

"I will kill you!" Klaus shouted, trying to get at Kol while Caroline darted in front of him over and over again.

"Klaus, we need as much help as we can get to find Elijah and Freya. Maybe we can all work to together." Glancing at Kol, Caroline forced a smile. "You said that Davina girl is missing? Maybe the person who took the people we're looking for took her, too?"

Kol looked unimpressed. "Or maybe Nik has them. He likes to keep everything the way he likes, you sadistic bastard." Kol's accusation did sound like Klaus but Klaus' face told Caroline that Kol was wrong.

"No, I've been with Klaus almost the whole time. He doesn't have them." Caroline said, shaking her head.

"Really? Then, tell me, who does?" Kol demanded.

"Kai Parker," Klaus stated.

"Who?" Kol looked confused.

"Malakai Parker, super warlock. Bit crazy if you ask me, although clearly, no one is going to bother asking me anything," Rebekah snapped, entering the courtyard with a glare directed at all of them. "Well, is no one happy to see me?" she demanded.

Hayley came running down the stairs. "Rebekah, is it you you or other you?"

"It's me me. If you must ask," Rebekah replied with a toss of her long locks.

"How?" Klaus demanded, looking confused.

"Oh, just the subject in question had a little message he wanted me to deliver," Rebekah said with a bitter smirk.

"Oh, and what is that?" Klaus snapped.

"The games are just beginning," Rebekah said and then her neck snapped to the side before she dropped to the ground.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Kol shouted, looking around for whoever had snapped Rebekah's neck. "What am I missing here?"

"Kai," Caroline growled, wondering if he had left or still stood there, watching them and mocking their lack of comprehension. She hated this. Every time it seemed like they might be able to get ahead something knocked them back two steps. This felt like a game of Monopoly where the dealer kept shifting the board so they fell back to Go.

"Damn him," Klaus muttered. "What do you believe he wants?"

"Revenge," Caroline stated calmly. "And I know where he's headed next."

"Where is that?" Kol demanded.

"Mystic Falls," Caroline replied.

"Road trip," Hayley said.

"You're staying here with Hope," Klaus snapped, pointing at Hayley.

"He had Elijah!" Hayley yelled back. "And Rebekah's fine. She can take care of our baby perfectly without me. She's done it before."

"Maybe you should both stay here. Man the homestead," Caroline joked. "Kol and I will go back to Mystic Falls and find Kai."

"No, you aren't going without me!" Klaus yelled at Caroline, his eyes glowing.

Caroline moved to stand in front of him. Her own eyes lit up with fire. She stood in front of him and grabbed his shirt collar, bunching the fabric in her hands, pressing her lips to his, Caroline allowed herself to show him how she felt. "I will come home to you," she promised him, holding on to him, staring into his eyes.

"If you do not, I will have no further choice than to seek you out and break my promise to leave you be," Klaus said, placing his hands at her waist. He leaned down, kissing her deeply. "I care for you, Caroline, do not ever think otherwise. And I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

"Keep yourself safe, too," Caroline said, running a finger over his lower lip. He snatched her finger, kissing it lightly before he let her go.

Caroline felt like she would fall into a million broken shards when Klaus let her go and she turned her back on him. It used to be easier. To walk away in anger. To tell herself she did not care about him. To think he was a rotten, selfish monster. But he had changed. He had a family and a home to protect. He cared for people she had never; nor would ever meet. This Klaus was the one she had wished for, the one she had seen, hiding just beneath the surface. And she hated that she had to go.

Leading the way, Caroline sucked in a deep breath to steady herself as she got into her stolen vehicle. Kol hopped in beside her with a hard look of determination. "You know, I thought Davina was dead," she said, trying to make conversation, hoping for a distraction from what she was walking away from, even if it was temporary.

For a moment, Kol did not utter a word. He seemed to be transfixed by the open road before them: then he let out a bitter laugh. "Yes, my little witch was dead and gone to us. I drained her dry under the effects or a rather cruel spell. But I found a way to bring her back. Your little spell brought her back to me. Last night I watched her break from that hideous statue that Marcellus had made in her likeness. She stepped forth like a goddess from the sea, straight into my waiting arms. I danced with her. Kissed her. Told her I missed her. Closed my eyes for a mere second. Then. Poof. She's gone. I searched all night. Through every cranny of that forsaken graveyard, not a trace of her. Nor can Vincent find her."

Feeling sick, Caroline looked back at the road. "He took Bonnie. Maybe Marcel. Your sister, Freya and a Heretic named Valerie."

"You're in the thick of it with Heretics?" Kol shook his head.

"You know about them?" Caroline asked him, looking back at him.

"Yes, once had a thing for a bit of a girl named Nora. Her girlfriend did not take kindly to my advances and sucked my magic out, leaving me paralyzed for the better half of a day. What did you do wrong to get mixed up with their lot?" Kol inquired.

"It's a long story," Caroline replied.

"Yes. I think we might have time to tell it," Kol retorted with a grin. So, Caroline told him everything, withholding the part about her children. This was Kol Mikaelson who would trade a secret to save his own skin. Who knew what he would tell Kai to save Davina's?

Nashville, Tennessee:

Kai Parker bounced his hands off the steering wheel that he had killed a tourist for. He had apologized afterward. Stupid Luke's empathy kicking in. Glad he killed him, not glad that he still had to deal with the kid's guilt from time to time. Right now he felt all kinds of conflicting emotions like looking at Bonnie Bennett, slumped in a seat beside his, made him want to scream, to cry, to kill someone else. He wanted to torture Bonnie. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted her the hell out his head.

"Where are you taking us?" Valerie, the angry little Heretic who liked to scowl at him a lot, sat in the back, her hands tied together until she learned how to behave, snapped. She sat beside another piece of the alluring puzzle that New Orleans witches, Davina Claire and Freya Mikaelson. He dumped Elijah off along the way. He could find his own way home. Then there was Marcel who had just plainly pissed Kai off. Who the heck did he think he was with all that power? Well, that had to end. Kai had happily drained Marcel of that blood that made him so special, having no idea what he would do with it. He had left Marcel as a gift to whichever member of the gang was trailing him after sticking that fun dagger that seemed to give some vampire so much pain.

"We're going back to Mystic Falls. Thought Bonnie want to die at home? Or get married. Don't really know till I get there. So many feelings. Man, I might need therapy. "What about you? Feeling a desire for a little couch time?" Kai inquired with a grin.

Valerie frowned at him. "I think of myself as understanding whatever issues I might have and dealing with them on my own. Thank you."

"That's too bad. Maybe we could get a family discount," Kai grinned widely, watching Valerie shake her head in the rearview mirror. "Come on, Grumpy. I think we should play a game? Okay? Let's try playing which one of these witches can help me kill Damon Salvatore? It's only fair since he killed me and all. It's like a killer's game of Tag. See, he killed me, so I'm it, now, I have to kill him. Then he'll be it. Then he can try to kill me again. You know, if he came back. Man, that game would never get old."

Valerie sighed. "Yes, that does sound like quite the exciting game." She rolled her eyes.

"So, if you were going to play my version of Tag who would you kill first?" Kai inquired.

"Other than you?" Valerie retorted.

"Yes, other than me," Kai retorted with a laugh.

Valerie looked thoughtful. "A man named Julian. But he is dead. Other than that, I do not have that many enemies."

"O, but I think I hear the sound of doubt there. You do have enemies. Tell me, tell me. Remember, we're family and if you're a syphonir in our family, you got to stick together."

"Right," Valerie smirked. "Well, I do not like the headmistress at the school I teach at much."

"You're a teacher?" Kai sneered. "That sounds lame. No offense. Still."

"Would you, please, shut up? The sound of your voice is like a drill in my brain," Bonnie complained, raising a hand to her forehead as she glanced at Kai. Then it seemed to dawn on her who he was and that she was not dreaming. Backing into the door behind her, Bonnie grimaced at Kai.

"Hi, honey, good nap?" Kai inquired with a sweet smile.

"Go back to hell!" Bonnie cried. Her legs went flying toward his face a lot more quickly than he expected for them to but he caught her feet, moving them just in front of his nose before he smacked her head into the door.

"Guess not," Kai said, peering at Bonnie who had gone limp. "Back to tag," he muttered, undoing Bonnie's seat belt, checking her head to make sure she would live and then pulling her limp body into his lap. Maybe he'd get pulled over. That could be fun, for him.

From now through the rest of the story we'll see little glances into what's going on with characters other than Caroline. I hope you like that.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Answers to guest reviews:

Guest: OMG indeed!

Guest: My sentiments exactly.

Peace,

Jessica.