Thank you all that reviewed you guys are absolutely fabulous. It seriously brightens my day. Also everyone that favorite/ alerted it means a lot. I hope you like this chapter. I posted a little hint of what is to come at the bottom of this chapter. So please review it makes me update faster. I will update over the weekend but as always reviews get me motivated to update a lot faster. I hope you enjoy!
Caroline awoke to see Rebekah entering her room. She appeared to have been crying as her eyes were red and swollen. Caroline wasted no time jumping from her bed rushing towards her to comfort her.
"What has happened?" Caroline asked rubbing Rebekah's back as they both sat at the end of the bed.
"I told Lewis we were leaving today and he said it was for the best. He will not admit it but I know he fears my brothers. Damn them!" She cried.
"Shh, it will be ok. You will find a man that will stand up for you to your brothers not some scared little boy. He is nothing more than a coward and you are a strong beautiful woman. I promise to do everything in my power to keep Klaus from scaring off any future suitors." Caroline reassured her.
"Thank you" Rebecca smiled pulling herself out of her despair and looking forward to going home. "I am please you have decided to join us on our journey home and hope that you will stay with us there for good. I have always dreamed of having a sister and I cannot stand the thought of you leaving."
Caroline smiled but could not help feel sadness knowing someday she would possibly return to her time. She hoped future Rebekah would remember her. "Yes, I plan to stick around for a while, sister."
Rebekah and Caroline descended the stairs and headed out towards the carriage. There were two of them and two extra horses. Caroline watched as the second carriage was filled with the luggage Rebekah had brought as well as a few other trunks. She turned as she heard Elijah yelling.
"Careful!" Elijah commanded loudly to a couple of servants that were carrying out a crate large enough to fit a body in it. Kol she thought.
"Good morning love, are you prepared for the journey? It is almost a day's ride." Klaus said stepping down the porch stairs approaching her with a wide grin.
"Yes, but if I may, what is that?" She asked pointing to the large crate as the servants shut door to the carriage concealing it.
"Nothing to worry about, sweetheart." He answered as he took her hand and kissed it softly.
"Where is Kol?" She asked boldly. She knew he must have been daggered but of course Klaus could not know all the information she had about him and his siblings from the future.
"Let's not speak of him, love. I do promise though that he will not bother you again. Now, please let me help you as I am sure Rebekah is grateful to have a traveling companion." He said as he helped her into the carriage. Rebekah was already seated inside and smiled at Caroline.
"I hope you have a lovely time ladies." Klaus said as he shut the door.
Caroline reached out and caught it before it latched.
"I am confused; I thought you were going home as well?" She asked with concern.
"Do not worry sweetheart, I will be there. Elijah and myself have never enjoyed being trapped in the carriage so unless absolutely necessary we would rather ride." He said pointing to the two horses.
"Oh, I see" she replied a bit surprised.
"I hope that will not be a problem." Klaus asked genuinely concerned he may have offended her by not riding with her.
"Do not be silly Nik, we have much girl talk to speak of and we do not need you here ruining that." Rebekah whined. She had been excited to have Caroline along for the boring ride home and the thought of Klaus intruding was enough to make her livid.
"Well then, enjoy your ride, ladies." He said once more, smiling at Caroline and giving a slight nod as he shut the door.
Caroline watched from the carriage window as Elijah and Klaus spoke to a few servants, probably giving orders about their duties at Kol's home she guessed before getting on their horses. Caroline watched the way Klaus handled his horse. It was obvious he had a lot of experience with them. She saw his confidence and strength something that she once feared but here attracted her.
It was a much longer trip than she had expected as it was past nightfall when they arrived at the manor, it was of course very large and extremely beautiful.
Klaus gave her a quick tour since Rebekah wanted to give her the official tour in the morning. He took her hand and led her down a long hallway and showed her where she would be staying. Her room was large and of course over the top gorgeous.
"Where is your chamber" She asked, immediately regretting it.
Klaus looked down and chuckled before composing himself and replying "Here, right across from you. If you need anything do not be afraid to ask." He pointed to the room directly across from hers.
She swallowed hard and looked back to her door.
"Good night, Klaus" She said as she shut her door for the night.
"Goodnight sweetheart" He replied.
The next few days were wonderful. Caroline and Rebekah were getting along as if they had been best friends forever and Klaus was a complete gentleman. Too much so, as Caroline was not used to it. She liked how caring and protective he was towards her and she was well aware that courting in this time was different from where she came from but they had not kissed since they had left Kol's.
They hardly touched besides the slight brush against each other in passing or when he would take her arm and escort her through the gardens. She enjoyed him and as much as she wished to be a respectable lady she was dying for him to touch her. She found herself dreaming of him every night and waking in the morning covered in sweat with her body aching for him as she replayed the events from her dream over again desperately wishing it were true. Wishing he would grab her and lock his lips to hers, kiss her with all the passion she was certain was there between them. She had felt it, that spark every time he looked at her.
One late night Caroline had awoken to find Klaus calling her name and holding her in his arms.
"Caroline, wake up, it's just a nightmare love." Klaus yelled.
She opened her eyes and tried to focus on what was happening.
"I heard you from my chambers. You were moaning, I thought someone was hurting you. It must have been an intense nightmare you are covered with sweat, sweetheart." He said as he rubbed circles on her arms.
Caroline was shocked as she had been dreaming about him but it was no nightmare. Without thinking she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into her. Her lips pressed against his roughly. He was not expecting it but quickly kissed her back, her tongue ran across his bottom lip and then thrust into his mouth, she wanted him and needed him to kiss her. To show her that he still wanted her.
She would not allow things to go beyond that but it did not even need to, his kiss was enough. She let out a gasp as she broke away.
"Goodnight" She smiled as she laid back down. Klaus stood to leave but Caroline grabbed his wrist. "Please stay with me. I do not want to be alone."
Klaus simply smiled and climbed in bed behind her. He held her throughout the night and when she woke in the morning he was gone. She figured he must have went back to his room or went down for breakfast but was thankful he had held her during that night.
It had now been a week and she noticed Klaus was becoming more distant. He slowly began leaving the manor for much of the day, only arriving back just as the sun went down. She felt hurt and did not understand why he wanted her if he had lost interest in her. She always worried that if she was to give herself to him in every way that he may bore of her. The problem was she had not given herself to him so why was he suddenly indifferent towards her.
"Rebekah, the last few days I have hardly seen Klaus, is everything alright?" Caroline asked one afternoon as the girls were sipping tea in the garden. She could not help but notice the way Rebekah tensed.
"He is distracted right now but I assure you everything is fine and he will be back to his old self very soon." Rebekah said reassuring her.
"What has him so distracted? I do not mean to pry it's just I thought there could be something between him and I but lately he seems to hardly notice me." She scoffed.
"Please Caroline; trust me when I say my brother wants nothing more than to be with you. It is just that something has come about that is of very high importance. I do hope you can see past his recent changes." Rebekah pleaded with her.
"Yes, I will try." Caroline said before changing subjects. If Rebekah would not give her answers she would get them herself.
Later that day Klaus again left for the evening. Caroline had become accustomed to this and was ready when he left. She had been learning to ride horses again with Rebekah as the last time she had done so she was still a child. She had her horse prepared to follow him and kept covered with a long dark cloak. She stayed as far back as possible without losing him. His scent was fairly easy to track as she came upon a village.
In the center of the small village was a large structure that appeared to be some type meeting hall. A bar to her anyways. She was hoping more than anything it was not a brothel as she was not sure what she would do if that was the case. She felt her heart drop at the thought.
She waited till a small group of men and women entered and she followed behind discreetly. As soon as she was inside she saw dozens of people standing about with drinks in hand. Laughing and talking. She looked around for Klaus with no luck.
"What are you doing here?" She heard the familiar voice from behind her and turned to see Elijah. She had not noticed him leave the manor. He must have followed her.
"I am sorry I was just wondering around, I wanted to check out the village." She lied.
"So you did not follow Niklaus?" He asked as if he was deciding what to do with her.
"Why is he here? Is this where he has been going every evening?" she boldly asked avoiding his question.
"Yes, he has business to attend to and you need to return home. I will escort you." He commanded. He grabbed her hand to turn her towards the door when she saw him.
Klaus was in the corner of the room. He was standing with a group of people and laughing at something they said. He had not noticed she was there. Of course not she thought he seemed to be too focused on someone else. Elijah noticed her eyes were on his brother but chose to step back for a moment. That's when she saw her, Katherine. She instantly came to the realization of what year it must have been about.
"He found the doppelganger" Caroline sighed
"Katerina,yes, how do you know of her?" Elijah asked in a whisper he did not want his brother to notice them.
"I told you already, I am not from this time. I know a lot about you all including what is to happen to the doppelganger." She whispered in reply.
She watched as Klaus flirted with Katherine, it made her blood boil but worse it made her heart break. He was using Katherine to break his curse but why had he been spending his mornings ignoring her. He could have told her what was happening or at least treated her the same. Breaking his curse was obviously more important to him than she was. She had seen enough.
Elijah and she returned home in silence and she went straight to her room. She was hurt and confused. Did Klaus ever care for her or was he just looking for a toy to play with till his curse was broken. She was angry and could not sleep so she grabbed her bedside lantern and left her room. She walked down the long corridors not sure where she was going till she made her way to the corner of the first floor and found a big wooden door that Rebekah had told her led to underneath the manor.
Caroline opened the door and walked down the old steps. It was chilly and musty and she had no idea why she was even going down there but she continued on. As she found herself in a large room she noticed the crate from the carriage. The one she was guessing contained Kol's body.
Klaus had caused her too much hurt since she arrived and she was angry enough to hurt him back. She pulled open the top that had been nailed down and found Kol's grey lifeless body with a dagger in his heart.
Without thinking she removed the dagger and waited for him to awake. It did not take long, by the time she had finished exploring the other rooms down there she found him coughing and trying to speak.
"I will give you blood if we can make a deal?" She told him as he sat up staring at her bravery.
"How long have I been in here?" He asked.
"Not long. Do you want to make a deal or not? I am sure Klaus will have no problem putting this dagger back into your heart." She asked.
"What do you want?" He asked
"Your help, get me away from this place so I can return home. I will never be your lover but if you promise me your protection I will stay with you as a sister and I will remain loyal to you as long as you are loyal to me." She told him with pleading eyes.
Kol appeared shocked but soon nodded "You have a deal, sister." He smiled. Caroline left to bring a servant down, one that had been rude to her since her arrival. Kol needed blood so she led the older woman down to him.
"Meet me when sun goes down in the village. Oh and I will be waiting for your apology for what happened that night in my room. Do not make me regret trusting you. You are the only one that can help me right now and I believe I am the only one that can help you as well." She told him and quickly left the room as she heard Kol compel the woman to remain silent. She heard the woman struggle and Caroline made her way back to her room.
She felt bad leaving Rebekah but she needed to get away to think about what she wanted for herself. To figure out if there was a way home. She wanted to speak with Rebekah and see if she would join them but she knew she would only tell Klaus that Kol was alive. It was not worth the risk.
It was early morning when she heard someone enter her room and sit next to her on her bed.
"Hello love, I think it is time we had a talk." Klaus said as he approached her bed and sat on the end gazing at her.
She sat up but could not bring herself to look at him.
"When I was first turned my mother put a curse on me, one that I have been trying for over four hundred years to break and the day after we returned home I got word that the one person capable of helping me break my curse was near. I know you saw me tonight in the village; Elijah spoke with me when I returned last night. I hope you understand I need to focus on doing this one thing and then I will be able to focus all of my attention on you." He told her.
"Is that so? Or will you turn your focus towards making more hybrids like you when the curse is broken?" She asked sarcastically.
He could see the anger and hurt in her eyes.
"How do you know about that?" He demanded as he stood from the bed. "Who has told you about my curse?"
"Answer my question!" she yelled "Is that all you care about? Your curse? So you can become all powerful and create an army?"
"I will ask you only once more Caroline, how do you know about my curse!" He demanded again.
"Did you sleep with her? Katarina?" She screamed. She was done with his lies and him avoiding her the past week. She would not sit on the sidelines. She thought he could be different than the other guys she dated but he was just the same. "Answer me, goddamn it! Did you sleep with her?"
He looked down to the ground to compose himself and sighed loudly "No. I would never do that to you. My feeling for you are genuine, I wish you could trust me."
"I want to but it is you who have not trusted me!" She responded as her voice cracked. "Please just leave me alone, I just… I need to be alone right now."
Klaus nodded and slowly left the room. He was afraid he was going to lose her but he had spent to long trying to break his curse he could not let anything stop it now.
Caroline made her way down for breakfast but soon realized there was a visitor in the house. She heard an unfamiliar female voice and then Klaus'.
"A pleasure to see you again so soon. I was not expecting you." Klaus said in the other room.
Caroline leaned into the wall to listen.
"Yes, well I wanted to see your beautiful home that everyone speaks so highly of. I do hope you are not upset by me showing up unannounced?" The woman answered.
"No, not at all. Please allow me to show you the grounds." Klaus told her as they walked out of the room past Caroline.
As soon as Klaus saw her his face dropped.
"Katarina, this is Lady Caroline. A dear friend of the family." Klaus said sincerely.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Caroline" Katarina smiled and gave a slight curtsy.
"The pleasure is mine." Caroline lied with a fake smile. Klaus could see her discomfort in the situation.
"Katarina, would you mind if Elijah gave you a tour, I will be with you both in a moment." He said as he looked up at Caroline.
"Of course not." Katherine smiled at Elijah and Caroline noticed the spark between the two of them. Had Elijah cared for her? It made sense since he had loved Tatia. Although Klaus also loved Tatia and that made her skin crawl and she wondered how Klaus felt seeing Katherine walk around looking like his former lover.
Caroline watched them leave and then returned her gaze back in the direction of Klaus.
"Please love, a word." Klaus said waving her into the room. "I know what you must think and I beg of you not to think so low of me. My feelings for you are genuine and deeper than I ever thought I could feel for another. That has to be enough for the time being. Please." He sighed hoping she would understand.
"Is it difficult that she looks exactly like Tatia, your first love?" Caroline asked breaking eye contact and changing the subject..
Klaus laughed, how could he laugh at her she thought.
"Sweetheart, you still do not understand. Tatia was never my love. She was nothing more than an infatuation that turned into a competition with my brother." He walked over and cupped her face pulling his lips to her ear and spoke "Caroline, it is you, it has always been you that I have loved."
"Why?" she mumbled in a whispered.
"I told you, that night you showed me compassion after Henrick's death I knew then you were all I would ever need, ever want. So please do not turn away from me now."
She wanted to stay but was afraid to give into him like she had all the other boyfriends in her life. She needed to leave for now anyway.
Caroline pulled away and smiled "Please go, you have a guest to entertain and a curse to break."
Klaus lips twisted up into a grin, taking it as a sign that she was ok with everything he needed to do. He leaned in a placed his lips on hers for a small sweet kiss. He pulled away gently smiling and headed out towards the gardens to find Katarina and his brother.
Caroline was not sure what would happen between them once the curse was broken but after much thought she realized it needed to play out the way it had before and that her being there could change things. If Katherine does not escape and turn then she would never turn Damon or Stefan. Although Caroline did not mind never seeing Damon she could not let that happen. Stefan had saved Elena; if he was never turned she would have died in the car accident with her parents.
She had to leave and find a witch to help her. She waited till she saw Elijah break away from Katherine and Klaus and entered the manor.
"May I have a word?" She asked him.
"Of course, what about?" He asked.
"Your witch, I would like to speak with her." She told him cautiously as she did not want anyone to overhear.
"I have already sent for her, she should arrive in a few short days." He replied confidently.
"That's not soon enough, I am leaving tonight." She told him.
"What makes you think I will allow that?" He asked impatiently.
"I am doing it for you and your family. I will be safe and I will send word as to where I am if you can keep it from Klaus. I cannot include him in this." She answered.
"Why? What is to happen?" He asked.
"Klaus did not trust me and I cannot trust him right now. Maybe someday but I have already told you I am from the future and if I stay here around Katarina I could change things. It could prove deadly for your family. Please, I am leaving with Kol." She told him hoping he would not snap her neck and report back to Klaus.
"You are a brave girl for waking him. I am afraid Niklaus will be rather angry when he finds out." He stated.
"Please tell him Kol will not hurt me and that I will come back to him when it is safe. I need to try to get back to my time. It is dangerous for my friends if I stay here." She explained.
"I will allow you to leave as long as you stay with Kol. I will send my witch to you. She will help send you back to your time. She is a very powerful witch if anyone has the power to do such magic it would be her." He stated calmly.
She sighed with relief, he would help her.
She knew he was only doing this to get rid of her which caused her to laugh to herself as he is the one that sent her here but it did not matter now. She needed to get back to her time and figure out why she was sent here in the first place.
Caroline went back to her room and watched from her window as Katarina and Klaus walked through the garden with her arm snaked through his. Klaus looked up at her and discreetly smiled. She felt bad leading him to think she would stay and support him.
She knew he would be hurt when he realized she was gone but the consequences were too much to bear if she stayed. She could not risk changing the future in a way that could risk her friends life's. She could only hope he would someday allow her the chance to explain why she had to leave. Maybe she was never meant to be with him. She sighed sadly at the thought as he had truly crawled into her heart in a way no other man had and she was not ready to give up on him just yet.
Caroline left a letter in Rebekah's room and then slipped out the back of the house and made her way to the village. It did not take her long to find Kol.
"Are you ready Darling?" Kol asked.
"Yes, let's go I have a lot to tell you." She replied as she entered his carriage and headed away from Klaus.
Ok please do not be mad that she left Klaus. She is only looking out for her friends by not wanting to interfere with the past too much. I will say this though you will get to see future Klaus and his siblings as well as Past Klaus again Just a little sneak peak. Please review it means the world to me and keeps this story going. I have the next chapter almost finished so please review so it motivates me to get it uploaded right away for you all to enjoy. Thanks for reading.
