It didn't take Caroline long to hunt down the keys for the solitary SUV left in Klaus's garage. All the other vehicles were gone, and she couldn't help but wonder what kind of Machiavellian tricks Klaus had them performing right now. She dropped that train of thought quickly as it wasn't helping, and shoved the cooler onto the spare seat before starting the engine. She'd already had three blood bags but still felt a little shaky on her feet.

She programmed the address Katherine had given to her into the GPS and backed out of the garage, speeding down the driveway and onto the road. She had no idea when Klaus would be back and she wanted to be well outside the town limits before he figured out she wasn't at the mansion. She crossed the bridge a few minutes later and pulled over. There was one more thing she needed to do before she was on her way.

She pulled out her smartphone and scrolled down her screen until she found the find my phone app. Truth was, she had deactivated it days ago. She hadn't wanted her Mom or Elena doing something stupid and come looking for her if Klaus suddenly decided that he was going to lock her up or kill her or something. Now of course, her Mom might use it to track her down to kill, which was more than a little ironic. She turned it on and crossed her fingers, hoping against hope that her Mom was doing something normal and mundane like sitting behind her desk at the Sheriff's office.

She frowned as Liz Forbes' icon blinked to life at the Salvatore's. Had her Mom figured out Stefan was a vampire and, if so, should she warn Stefan about her mother's 'kill all the vampires' kick? Maybe she was there for a totally different reason...and why can she see Bonnie's icon at the guesthouse but Elena's? She wished she had some way of tracking John Gilbert. Maybe Elena was with him and he had made her turn off her phone. It's be just the kind of sneaky underhanded thing he'd do.

She wished he'd told Bonnie and her Mom to do the same.

Deactivating the app, she tossed her phone onto the dash and started the engine again. She needed to make a move if she hoped to make it there before Klaus started the ritual.


Klaus knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into the basement, the metallic taste of blood lingered in the air, taunting his senses. He blurred across the room, slamming her against the wall as the chains rattled in protest. Was it his imagination or did she look a little less drained? He leaned in close and inhaled. It was a scent he recognised intimately – Caroline's blood. He smiled and tugged Katherine's chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"What did you do to Caroline?"

"I stopped her freeing Tyler, that's all." Katherine forced the words out between her teeth. "Things got a bit...messy but she made it to steps."

"You hurt her?" Klaus asked, trying to keep his voice light, but there was still a glimmer of interest in Katherine's eyes. It was a good thing she was marked to die.

"I did what you compelled me to do. I stopped her from taking Tyler from this room," she reminded him. "It was only a scratch, and not as deadly as what could have happened to her if the Lockwood boy had awoken from whatever stupour he's in...tell me, is a werewolf bit as deadly when they're in human form? Of course, it's a full moon tonight, so there was an even chance he could have transformed-"

"Enough," grunted Klaus, letting her chin go. "Tie the Doppelgänger up," he said to Maddox as he headed upstairs, his mind reeling as he reviewed the compulsion he'd laid upon Caroline. To spy on her friends, to tell him the truth and tell them nothing...he'd definitely not been comprehensive enough, when he'd compelled her, perhaps he should rectify that when the vervein had worn off.

Try as he might, though, he couldn't shake off the instinct that he was missing something. He turned to glare at Maddox irritably when he emerged from the basement door, and the witch shrank back before he remembered himself and straightened. That's right, witch, don't show weakness in front the big bad wolf. Klaus smiled grimly.

"Any news from the ritual site," he asked.

"The area has been secured," Maddox said, with an attempt at studied boredom. "All we need to do is shift the ritual elements and sacrifices into place and we shall be ready."

"Very good," Klaus said. "Ready the SUV, we shall make out way to my other-"

The glass in the rose circle window above the main entrance smashed, and Klaus' eyes widened as he registered the grenade flying though the air. He dove across the room, and slammed Maddox to the ground, covering him. Vervein and shards of wood riddled his back. Painful, but not life threatening. He needed Maddox intact, along with his familiarity with ritual, if he was going to shed his shackles tonight.

The basement," he snarled, shoving a dazed Maddox towards the door as he got to his feet just in time to watch the door blow inward. John Gilbert stalked into the room, a loaded crossbow in his hand and Liz Forbes at his shoulder.

"You have my daughter," he snarled. "I want her back."

Klaus let out a short bark of laughter. "Sorry, finders keepers and all that," he said, snidely. "Hello, Liz, no demands for the return of you daughter too? No, I suppose not. According to the Council's teachings, she's pretty much damages goods now." A flicker of pain ran through the Sheriff's eyes but Klaus just bared his teeth at her contemptuously. Gilbert fired the crossbow at him and he batted the stake away before it hit it's target. He watched their eyes widen in disbelief.

"Let me guess," he drawled. "You actually thought that incremental amount of vervein in that grenade would actually slow me down-"

The Sheriff opened fire, and Klaus felt the vervein soaked bullets soak through his chest, one piercing his heart. He staggered to his knees, watching his hands grey as the world began to fade. Footsteps impinged on his senses and the world swan into focus long enough for Klaus to see John Gilbert glowering down at him. "Not so powerful after all," he said.

The Sheriff's voice was impatient. "God damn it, John, stop crowing over the dead vampire and help me with this door."

Klaus closed his eyes.


Caroline was surprised by what she found when she pulled up the driveway. The house was long and low, with no second story, and set out in a square around an enclosed courtyard. At least it wasn't another mansion, even the thought of finding the moonstone in a house with a bajillion bedrooms made Caroline feel tired.

She tilted her head, listening for the telltale sound of footsteps or breathing. Nothing was moving around. She wasn't surprised. She doubted Klaus told many people this house even existed. She would have called Klaus' paranoia unhealthy if she hadn't spent a good part of the last month wading through body parts.

She broke the lock on the front door with ease and cautiously took a step over the threshold; no barrier. She let out the breath she didn't realised she was holding and stepped into the dark coolness of the foyer. A quick reconnaissance first and then she's get down to the dirty business of moonstone and dagger searching.

The first room to the left was the drawing room, followed by the study, and the a room that Caroline thought might have originally been the dining room...except now, instead of a dining table, there was a row of coffins.

Of course, what else would she expect to find in the diningroom of an ancient vampire?

"Just when I thought he couldn't get any creepier," she muttered under her breath as she slip into the room. The curtains were closed tightly, the air stifling and still, and Caroline edged around the room, fumbled for the fabric, as she kept her eyes glued on the boxes. Dust motes spun through the air as she succeeded in dragging a curtain back and Caroline felt some of the tension leave her shoulders. It was silly, she knew; but a bit of sunlight always made her feel better.

Slowly, she crept towards the nearest one. It looked old, like really old, and something told her that this wasn't Klaus's kooky hiding place for the family silver. Funny, she had thought the whole vampire-in-a-coffin thing was a myth. Maybe it was something only the really old vampires were into.

God, this was so stupid.

Squaring her shoulders, Caroline stalked towards the nearest coffin and grabbed the lid. It didn't budge. Scowling now, Caroline tried to curl her fingers around the corner of the lid and pry it open; still nothing.

"For the greater good," Caroline muttered under her breath, but still felt a pang of guilt as she brought her fist down on the coffin with the full force of her vampiric strength – only to yelp a moment later as her knuckles broke. Nursing her hand against her chest, she waited for the bone to mend as she backed away from the coffin. It had to be magically sealed. Were they all?

She moved to the next coffin and tried the lid, it slid to the side easily. Inside was an attractive, youthful looking man, with a dimpled chin that Caroline was beginning to suspect was a family trait. His face was greyed with the vampire death and in his chest was a dagger. Seriously? How many of his family did Klaus keep boxed up in storage?

"More than one, less than five," Caroline muttered under her breath as she tried the next coffin. Inside, there was a fair haired girl that looked about her age, with the trademark Mikaelson chin and dagger in her chest. One thing was for sure, they were a ridiculously pretty family.

"Caroline, Caroline, what strange company you keep."

Caroline's head jerked up. "Stefan?"

He stepped into room, a small smile lingering on his lips, and a dead look in his eyes that caused a shiver of fear to run up her spine. Something was very, very wrong. The skin rippled red on her hand and burst in the flame. She stumbled back into the coffin to behind her, sending the Mikaelson inside spilling to the floor. She leapt over him and dragged the curtain closed, biting down the whimper of agony that rose to her lips.

"Guess what, Caroline, I figured it out, Stefan said, as he stalked into the room. Caroline saw a shadow move behind him and then Bonnie stepped into the doorway, a grim expression on her face, a feeling of dark foreboding ran through her. The good witch giveth the Daylight ring and the good witch taketh away.

"Stefan, it's not what you-"

"Shut up Caroline, I don't want to hear it," The was a coldness to Stefan's voice that Caroline had never heard before. "I had Bonnie do a different kind of location spell. It seems once a Bennett Daylight ring, always a Bennett Daylight ring." He blurred across the room, pushing her into the wall, his arms caging her in.

"Your scent was all over his body, Caroline," he said softly, whispering into her ear, causing the hair on the back of her neck to rise. "It even clung to his dried out heart. Why is that?"

"He was trying to kill me," Caroline protested. "I got lucky. Otherwise it'd would've been me in that grave."

"I don't believe you," Stefan said, as he shoved her toward the curtains.

"No, Stefan, please."

"Sorry, Caroline, time to die."

Caroline's eyes darted over his shoulder. "Please, Bonnie, you have to believe me. Damon tried to kill me. It was self defense- aahhh!

With a rip of cloth, Stefan pulled down the curtain, and Caroline was engulfed in flames. Stefan let go, driven back by the heat and Caroline blurred through the room, barely registering Bonnie dive out of the way as she fled the room. She dove into the study and rolled around on the rug to put the flames out. It looked like a really old and valuable rug. Klaus was going to be furious.

"There's nowhere to run, Caroline," Stefan's voice called out. "You're trapped in this house with no daylight ring and I'm going to find you."

Caroline let out a pained laugh - and she thought her life couldn't get any worse. "Bonnie," she called out, as she staggered to her feet and looked for a weapon. "I know why he is doing this, but you? You know what Damon was like. You know what he did to Vicki, and just about every other human female he's got his claws into. Why are you helping him?"

"For Elena," Bonnie called out grimly. "I have to stop you."

Caroline frowned. Stop her doing what? She rounded the desk, and upended the chair, ripping off a leg. One improvised stake, check. Of course there was also the not so handy downside. Stefan had been the one who train her and so knew all her moves. Her eyes scanned the room. This was Klaus's place; paranoid, murder happy Klaus. There had to something better than a broken chair leg in this room to use. She kicked herself for dropping her bag when she went up in flames. What she wouldn't do for Mom's modified automatic with the wooden bullets right now. She braced herself for battle, wishing she didn't smell so much like smoke and burnt meat. It was a bit revolting, to be honest.

There was the sound of scuffling and what sounded like Bonnie muttering something in not-latin, but then nothing. Straightening, Caroline sighed, not that she was complaining, but what was taking Stefan so long to find her?. It wasn't as if she's been stealthy when she'd barrelled her way in here.

There was a low scream and Caroline tensed. It sounded like Bonnie and her legs were moving before her brain caught up. Right, Bonnie was trying to kill her, this could be trap. Footsteps creaked in the hallway and Caroline leapt back just in time to not get smacked in the face by the door.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? A damsel in distress?" said the figure that stepped into the room. Caroline gulped, as she realised what had happened. She had accidentally woken an original – the wrong original.

"Well, girl, are you at least going to tell me you name?" he purred.

"Uh...Caroline, Caroline Forbes" she said, dropping the stake in her hand as she realised how utterly useless it was. His eyes followed its trajectory before blinding her with a wide smile.

"I see you're somewhat more knowledgeable than your compatriots," he said. Something must have shown in her eyes because he added. "No? Enemies then?"

"More like...complicated," Caroline muttered.

"Isn't it always," he said, stepping forward to grab her hand. She flinched but he just smiled and raised it to lips, the kiss was barely there and cool on his skin. "Kol Mikaelson, at your service."


It was the concussion wave of an ordinary artillary grenade that jerked Klaus to consciousness. His ears were ringing but his eyes focused almost immediately. Plaster drifted down from the ceiling and he did a swift calculation of the damage as he slowly turned his head. The Sheriff and Gilbert had their back to him and had obviously just found out the hard way that the teak panelling of the basement door, had hidden a steel reinforced frame. When you build a holding cage for supernaturals you don't pen them in with inferior materials.

"We could use C4," Gilbert muttered.

The Sheriff gave him a wry look. "Not without figuring out where the load bearing wall is first," she said. "Unless you want to accidentally bury your daughter under a ton of concrete?"

Well at least Klaus knew where Caroline got her inclination towards sarcasm from. Silently, he rose to his feet, took a breath, and then gave a polite cough. They whirled on their feet and the look of shock and disbelief of their faces was most gratifying.

"Surprise," he said. "Not dead." He blurred, snapping Gilbert's neck before he swung the crossbow up to aim, and snagged the gun out of the Sheriff's hand.

She took a step back, her eyes darting around the room bfeore landing back on him warily. "Why am I still alive?" she asked.

He gave her a humourless smile. "Because I promised you daughter I wouldn't kill you," he said. "Unfortunately for you, while I fully intend to respect the letter of that promise, I'm going to disregard the spirit of it." Her eyes widened with comprehension as he bit into his wrist.

"No, please, I'd rather die," she said.

"Not an option." She gagged as he forced his wrist against her mouth but, in the end, he won the battle of wills as he pushed her head back and the blood trickled down her throat. Their eyes met, hers large with terror.

"You'll grow used to it," he said lightly. "Maybe even like it. Your daughter did." He snapped her neck.


It was like a switch had flipped. One moment he was a suave ancient original kissing the back of her hand, the next he was a mischievous kid pulling her out of the room.."Come along," \he said. "Lets have a little conversation in the other room."

Caroline dug her heels in. "My Daylight ring, it doesn't work anymore," she said.

"Ah, one of your complications?" he asked. "Well, soonest solved. Wait here." He flickered and disappeared, and Caroline took in a querulous breath, as he heard the Original baiting Stefan in the other room. There was no reply, which either meant Stefan was giving Kol the silent treatment – probably not the best course of action – or he was gagged. Caroline was betting on the latter. She turned to look at the study once more, hoping to find an avenue of escape she had missed, but to no avail. All her planning and it had come to nothing. No Elijah, no moonstone, all she had was Katherine, which were mighty slim odds. She was doomed.

Stumbling footsteps rattled down the hall, and Caroline turned to see Bonnie, bound and gagged, stagger into the room. Her eyes glittered accusations as she came to a stop. Kol came bounding in behind her, Stefan thrown over shoulder. He looked around ad then dumped him on the burnt rug.

"First things first," he said cheerily, pulling Bonnie's gag down. "Fix her ring."

"And if I don't?" Bonnie said.

"Well then, I'll rip the ring off your friend here and thrown him into the courtyard under the noonday sun."

Caroline hadn't thought Bonnie's glare could get hotter, but apparently she was wrong. Kol reeled back, wincing as he cradled his head. "Well, that's rude," he said, and then spun around and snapped Stefan's neck.

"No!" Bonnie cried out as he reached for Stefan's ring finger.

"Do it," he said flatly. "Or the pretty boy goes up in flames."

Muttering something incomprehensible under her breath, Bonnie glared at her and said."It's done."

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kol said, rising to his feet. He crossed the room and tugged the curtain back. Caroline flinched but didn't go up in flames. The ring was working again. She eyed the Original warily. Why was he being so nice to her? What was his agenda?

He threw himself onto the chaise lounge, the cheeky smile belying the calculation in his eyes. With his hair tied back in a ribbon and the antique clothing, he looked like something that had escaped from a historical romance novel. Of course, nobody knew better than Caroline that under that pretty façade lay something more in line with a Gothic horror.

"It's rather obvious that these two have no clue as to who or what I am," he said. "But you knew exactly what I was the moment you saw me." Ah, so that's why he was being so nice to her. He thought she was the one with answers...something told her she didn't want to know what his plan B was.

"There's a strong family resemblance," she blurted out.

He raised an eyebrow. "To Klaus?"

"To Elijah," she admitted.

He nodded at that. "What year is it?

"Uh, 2010?"

He groaned. "Over a century? Really, Nik?" He leaned forward. "So tell me what has he been up to?" And just like that, Klaus's compulsion slammed down on her,closing her throat. Silently, she shook her head and his eyes narrowed as he leaned forward and examined her.

"He's compelled you," he said succinctly.

She nodded.

"How comprehensive is it?"

She rolled her eyes in the direction of Stefan and Bonnie, and Kol grunted.

"Not ideal," he said. "But perhaps I can use you as bait."

Caroline shoulder's slumped. This was obviously his plan B.

"A vampire can't be compelled by another vampire" Bonnie said coldly. "I don't know what games you two are playing but it's not going to work."

"Bonnie, don't" Caroline started as she saw the glint in Kol's eyes..

"Shut up, Caroline, I don't want to hear another word from you ever again," Bonnie spat out, rage practically seeping out of her pores.

Stefan groaned, his eyes fluttering open, and Caroline just knew that things were going to get ugly really quickly.

"You should really have listened to your friend, little witch," How said. "No I feel compelled to give a demonstration...get it?" He dragged Stefan to his feet, pulling the gag from his mouth and then ripping his hands free from their bindings. Their eyes met, and Caroline tensed as she saw Stefan's face go slack.

"Kill the witch."

Caroline moved in tandem to the compulsion, throwing herself into the path of Stefan's trajectory as he lunged for Bonnie. His speed knocked the wind out of her but she managed to pull him off course and into one of the bookcases lining the wall. A mountain of first editions fell on top of them and Caroline eyes searched the floor until she found what she was looking for. She darted for her improvised stake as Stake as Stefan foundered on his feet, shaking his head like a confused bull. He was trying to shake off the compulsion but Caroline knew from experience it was futile. Kol laughed mockingly as Stefan staggered towards the witch, his eyes wild, and clapped his hands as Caroline leaped onto his back and pulled him to the floor again. The stake pinned him to the floorboards, inches from his heart.

"Make it stop," she said, glaring at the Original.

"Why would I, when I find it all so entertaining," he said. Caroline looked at Bonnie, wondering what her odds were of getting her friend out of the house alive. Not good, she imagines. She twisted to glare at the original.

"What is it you want?" she asked.

His shoulder's shrugged. "A bit of entertainment, a warm blooded meal, the last century back." His face morphed into something cold and menacing. "I guess I'll have to settle for two out of three."

A draught flew through the room and Kol was no longer sitting, but dangling from his snapped neck. It was Klaus, covered in plaster dust and stinking of vervein, and looking utterly pissed. His head swerved to glare at her.

"You've been busy."

Caroline let out a small, nervous laugh. "You know how it is."

Maddox stepped into the room and eyed the mess before stepping over to the desk and pulling out a drawer. Caroline watched in disbelief as he pocketed the moonstone. He kept in his his desk drawer?

Klaus followed her eyes and let out a snort of laughter. "Ah, so that's why you came here. A last ditch attempt to save your friend's life."

Caroline shrugged her shoulders. "You can't blame a girl."

"Actually, I think you'll find that I can blame you, my little quisling." Klaus said. He eyed Stefan, who was groaning on the ground, and Caroline leaned down and snapped his neck before he got any ideas about getting back onto his feet and killing Bonnie. Klaus's eyebrows rose with enquiry but Caroline ignored it.

"Let me guess, you found me with a tracking spell," she said, changing the subject.

"It's the 21st century," Klaus said. "The SUV is lowjacked."

"Of course it is," Caroline muttered. She should have thought of that. She glanced at Bonnie, whose face was a mixture of terror and incomprehension. "I don't suppose you could let Bonnie go?" she asked aloud.

"Too late for that, love," Klaus said. "All things considered, you should consider yourself lucky that I value loyalty – even when I feel it's misplaced." He stalked out of the room, Kol thrown over his shoulder. Caroline almost felt sorry for the younger Original It can't be fun, mouldering away in a coffin forever.

"I don't know why you're still alive," Maddox muttered glaring at her. "He's killed for a lot less."

"Haven't you heard?" Caroline asked dully. "I'm lucky"