A/N - Thank you to everyone who reviewed/Favorited/followed. Your support means a lot.
I hope this chapter isn't a complete failure. Let me know what you think. If you have any questions relating to the story or any ideas or things you'd like to see in it feel free to pm me.
Caroline was almost out of the room before she realized he wasn't behind her. Turning back with an impatient huff, she saw that he hadn't moved from his seat. His fingers were gripping the arms of the chair and there was a completely blank look on his face.
"Um, hello? Klaus? He's awake, as much as I'd like to stay in here and hide we can't leave Stefan out there alone. Klaus?"
Klaus made no response. He hadn't even heard her. His mind was racing as a scene completely alien yet somehow so familiar played out before him.
They wandered through the quiet village, making as much racket as they could. The mood was light and cheerful for once. Their harvest had come in, which meant that their people would not starve through winter. There was precious little to celebrate here, so there would be great joy this evening. He was glad. Perhaps for a little while, his father would be too full of good cheer to pressure him any further. All of his friends were to be wed, with the exception of himself. He had yet to find himself a suitable match and had done all in his power to prevent his mother and father making one for him. They were growing more impatient by the day. Especially his father. But he refused to let it alter his good mood this night. His father expected too much. There were too many fine women in the world for him to be forced to join with just one. None he had yet encountered had held his interest for any great length of time. It would take a woman with both beauty and wit to charm him. And their village did not seem to have produced these two qualities in any one girl.
She moved in front of him. "Klaus..." There was no response. "Hey!" She snapped her fingers inches from his face but he didn't even blink. "Okay, that's just creepy. Hellooo... Anybody in there? Klaus! Klaus." Still nothing.
As he and his four friends approached the large stone archway leading to the village meeting place, they could hear the rapturous laughter from within. The large open courtyard provided a place for people to get together away from the hard toil of their daily lives. At times of great celebration, this was where they all gathered to share their good fortunes with each other. He already had a charming smirk in place. He had met many a fine girl here and tonight, he was sure, would be no different. A pretty young thing would catch his eye and with a few friendly gestures, she would be his for the evening.
A sudden clap of thunder broke through his thoughts and sounds of surprise and disappointment filled the air even as the first drops of rain fell. Before long it was a steady downpour as people began to gather themselves and run for shelter. Standing now in the archway, annoyance taking his good mood away, he sighed. So much for their grand celebration. The rain was quickly turning the stone arch and the ground beneath dark. He watched as people ran left and right, gathering up their little ones and their various belongings. No one needed to extinguish the fires that had been until moments ago burning in a circle around the courtyard. Most of his friends had disappeared as the first drops fell only one remained by his side. They passed a look between them as they silently decided to head for home.
The tinkle of a female laugh made him pause and look back. There in the middle of the courtyard was the most stunning girl he had ever seen in his life. Her hair shone against the darkening sky like a halo. She wore nothing on her bare feet and was clad in a simple white dress, much like all women wore now. But when her delighted laughter rang through the air it took his breath away. In awed silence he watched as she held her arms out wide and span around as the water poured from the sky. She was beautiful. She was like a goddess in human form. His heart clenched inside his chest and the strangest sensation erupted in his stomach. "Silas... SILAS.. Come on, it's raining!" The excitement in her voice carried across to him.
"Who is that girl, Marcus?" he asked of his friend, barely sparing him a glance before returning his gaze to the woman across from him. The dark-haired man next to him chuckled. "That, Alexander, is Abigayil. And her father is our Lord and Master. If he catches you staring he will have your eyes on sticks by morning."
As if the young woman had heard them speak, she abruptly turned in their direction and stopped. The smile that graced her face froze as their eyes met. The world disappeared in an instant. He felt, for a split second, as though he was staring into the depths of her soul.
And then the spell broke.
"Abi! Come here now! You will catch your death fooling around like this. Your father has called for you. Come now!" A large man appeared behind her and grabbed her by the hand. She looked away and up at the man, her smile widening. He watched as the harsh expression on the mans face softened immediately. A violently possessive feeling erupted in his chest. He wanted to rip the mans arms off for touching her. "We must go to him, Abi." The man tugged on her hand, pulling the girl away. She let herself be led along, but just as they were to disappear from sight, she looked over her shoulder and straight into his eyes. His heart clenched again. And then she was gone.
"Abigayil..."
She heard Stefan call out for them again, but she was rooted to the spot. Klaus wasn't moving at all except for his hands. His fingers tore through the fabric of his chair arm as she watched him helplessly. The urge to touch him, to shake him out of it was there, but she was afraid. If she touched him at all he might lash out and hurt her without even realizing what he had done.
This had to be Silas' work. Just as she was about to flash outside and demand to know what he had done to Klaus, a strong hand grabbed her arm. She gave a yelp of surprise. "Stop it. You're hurting me Klaus!"
"Abigayil." Klaus breathed out the name that Silas had called her in that cave. Caroline yanked her arm back and his eyes flashed open. Suddenly back in the room, his breaths came in sharp gasps as he stared at her.
"Klaus? What happened to you?"
"I saw... I saw... something..." He still looked miles away but reached again for her arm. His touch was more gentle this time, but he clung to her as though she was the only thing anchoring him there. She knew how he felt. The visions left behind a sense of unreality, as though being in a waking dream. So she kept her voice soft as she spoke to him.
"What Klaus, what did you see?"
He looked up at her, an unreadable expression on his face. "You."
"What-" She began to ask, but he cut her off. "Later love, we have pressing matters here to attend to."
They found Silas standing right by the barrier when they got outside. Stefan was seated on the steps outside the front door and Caroline took a seat beside him. Klaus hadn't taken his eyes off of Silas for a moment, but the warlock had eyes only for Caroline. The Hybrid glanced at her sideways and saw that she was staring right back. He didn't know whether to be jealous or proud. Jealous because the memory of seeing Silas actually touch Caroline was still fresh in his mind, or proud that the little blonde baby vampire was brave enough to stare him down, despite the fear he knew she was feeling.
He watched as Stefan wordlessly slid his hand across Caroline's leg to grab her hand. Then he frowned as she slid her fingers through his and gripped it tight, all without breaking her staring contest with Silas.
Caroline seemed to notice his eyes on her finally. She broke her gaze to look up at him. There were storm clouds in her eyes and he wished he could reach inside her head and see what she was thinking.
"Not going to invite me in? How very rude of you... mongrel." Silas sang across to Klaus.
Three pairs of eyes moved to glare over at him.
"Mongrel? Seriously mate?" Klaus smirked at him. "Resorting to name-calling already?"
Silas reached up to run his fingers through his hair. "Do you prefer half-breed? Dog? You do rather resemble an unwanted pup. The runt of the litter, hated by even your own mother and father... Rejected by siblings and friends alike. Why, the only girl you have ever loved hates your very existence does she not?" He gave a leer at Caroline at this. Then he turned hard eyes back on the Hybrid, whose eyes had begun to glow yellow. He was visibly shaking with anger. Fighting hard to stay in control but losing.
"I had more to fear from you when you were a mere human man. At least then she cared for you. I have learned all there is to know of you, dog. You are no threat to me. I will end you and I will make love to her wearing your blood." Klaus had heard enough. He vaguely recalled thinking something similar about Caroline's friend but it slipped away as white hot rage took over.
He strode down the steps at vamp sped, mind focused on one thing only - the kill. He would tear this bastard to shreds. So intent was he that when Caroline flashed in front of him he teetered on the brink of ripping her head off without comprehending that she was even there. Her tiny fists pounded against his chest. Stefan had moved up behind him to grab his arms and he tried to shrug him off but Caroline grabbed his face in her hands and forced him to look at her.
Fear was killing her, she pleaded with Klaus with her eyes to stop and she saw the moment he understood her. If he got past that barrier then Silas would kill him. The very thought made her feel physically ill. Stefan was still gripping his arms but he had stopped. She desperately held onto his face. "Stop. Please." His eyes were still glowing yellow. Her eyes met Stefan's over his shoulder, desperately. "Caroline, do something!" He mouthed at her. As she turned to look behind her and realized how close they had gotten to the barrier her stomach gave a flip. She could let go of Klaus and let him get torn to pieces. Maybe she should. Surely she should at least want to. But she didn't and there was no time to dwell on it. Klaus' small amount of self control had been broken. She knew that he could barely even register her presence now and if she didn't do something they would all be dead.
So she stepped forward, and slipping her hands down to his neck, she leaned in and pressed her lips softly against his. The effect was immediate. The wolf inside him howled. He pulled free of Stefan and grabbed her arms, pulled her flush against his chest. He hardened the kiss, the need to claim her, to possess her taking over the urge to kill. Panting heavily, their lips pulled apart and their foreheads rested together. There would be bruises on her arms from his grip later but for now neither of them noticed.
Stefan eyed Silas warily. The warlock was staring at Klaus and Caroline with undiluted fury written all over his face. His fists were so tightly clenched Stefan wasn't surprised to notice the blood trickling to the ground. Caroline may have just saved Klaus, and - in effect - all of them, but she had made Silas angrier as well.
"Look, why don't you just go." He tried to get the warlock's attention. "There is nothing here for you. We're not coming out and you're not coming in, so leave."
Silas turned his fury on Stefan. "You dare tell me what to do? You dare?!" He stalked towards him as far as he could. "I have waited for two thousand years... I can create unimaginable torments for each and every one of you. Torments so awful that you will be begging for me to come inside and end your miserable existence! I will not leave." He took on a calculating expression for a split second. "Not until she talks to me. Alone." Silas returned his gaze to Caroline, who had whirled around to face him in her shock. He moved until he was directly in front of her, just a few inches of magic between them.
"No." Klaus appeared to have pulled himself together. "Caroline love, go inside."
She looked uncertainly at him, almost ready to do as he asked. Until she remembered herself. She turned to Silas, hating herself for being afraid. "If I agree to talk to you, you'll leave? And you won't come back? You promise?"
Something in his eyes shifted as he gazed at her. His expression softened the slightest bit. Not enough that anyone but she would notice. But notice it she did. 'Stop it Caroline!' She inwardly scolded herself. 'This isn't Klaus! There isn't one thing about him you can trust! Don't be taken in by it.'
Silas gracefully bowed his head to her. "I promise." Caroline let out a deep sigh and turned to face Klaus and Stefan. Both looked ready to launch into a thousand reasons why this was a bad idea, but she shut them up with her best glare.
"The barrier is up. He can't touch me and he can't hurt me. I'll be fine. You'll be right inside." She tried to smile at them and failed. "Then he'll leave, like he promised."
She knew this was pointless, that Gertrude would be here any minute. Hopefully with enough power to at least incapacitate Silas. She could just go inside like Klaus said and stay there. But months spent being forced to get to know him in order to help her friends had taught her a thing or two about manipulation. And she had learned the value of at least letting the enemy believe that she could possibly be talked onto their side. They let their guard down, they let their vulnerabilities show, just like Klaus had with her. Maybe she could learn something that would help them put him down for good. Trying to convey all of this with just her eyes to the two men in front of her made her want to scream with frustration. But as Klaus watched her face she saw a slight smirk begin to form on his own. Maybe he had picked up on her thinking.
He reached for her and grabbed her arms again. This time he stepped close but didn't make any move to kiss her. "Stay inside the barrier, Caroline." "I'm not an idiot." She snarked back. He let out a chuckle that seemed forced to her.
Unseen above her head, the Hybrid had locked eyes with Silas. The warlock was staring at him with unabashed hatred. 'Good.' Without moving his gaze for a second, he leaned in and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Caroline's cheek. As her breathing hitched, Silas let out a low growl and Klaus' smirk only widened. "There''s a good girl." He squeezed her shoulder once then abruptly turned and walked back to the house as she glared after him.
Stefan stood his ground. "Caroline - are you sure you wanna do this?"
Caroline was so used to putting on a brave face for her friends that she found it far easier to do so now for Stefan than it had been for Klaus, who saw right through her no matter what she did. The pig. He was gonna pay for that display he had just put on. Shaking herself back into the moment, she smiled her best smile for her friend. "I'm positive. Quick catch up with the ex here and I'll be back in to steal Klaus' booze before you even miss me."
As she watched him walk back into the house she gave a heavy sigh. There was another reason why she wanted to talk to Silas alone, and she wasn't sure that Klaus would approve. Once Stefan was safely indoors, she turned to face the warlock.
"Alright, you've got five minutes."
