A/N: Hi everyone. Thank you all for reading and continuing to come back to this even though my updating has been horrible. But 10000 word chapter so I hope that makes up for it. :)
Enjoy!
The price of love is loss—Next to Normal
Liz's body had been through a lot of strain, and while Klaus' blood was definitely working and bringing her back from the brink of death, the stress she'd been under was obvious. Stefan and Caroline had managed to get her back to the house and up into Caroline's bed before the woman passed out. Caroline couldn't help but freak out for a moment as her mother's eyes closed and she didn't respond to her prodding her. But her heartbeat was steady and her breathing was normal. She was simply asleep, no doubt needing the time to recuperate.
She wasn't a vampire. Even if she would heal quickly because of the blood, Liz would still need time to mentally heal from the attack. Caroline knew her mother was strong, one of the strongest people she knew, but she didn't like the thought of Liz going through anything like that again. She still wanted to know why she'd been the only one not affected. Was it because of the protection ring that she wore? It was supposed to keep the witches out of her dreams; maybe it kept their spells out of her head as well. Would one work on her mother? Because she was going to be asking for one just in case anyone tried the same trick twice.
Not that the witches who'd attacked would ever be able to do anything again. She'd made sure of that when she'd ended their lives.
The guilt still wasn't coming. She kept waiting for it to sink in, for her to regret not figuring out a way that would have ended with them living, but nothing happened. Her thoughts kept twisting to if she hadn't killed them then they'd only be trying it again once they woke from unconsciousness and what if her mother didn't survive a second attack? It was the witches' fault for attacking them. If they hadn't tried to incapacitate the group then Caroline wouldn't have retaliated.
Except the Originals were supposed to be the bad guys. The like uber-bad that caused every other supernatural creature and humans in the know to fear the darkness, and witches hated them, thought they were unnatural and needed to be wiped off the earth a lot of the time. Maybe they had been trying to do a service to the world or something, lock the Originals away once and for all. Hadn't her friends and she tried to do the same more than once?
But her mother was innocent. And the Originals were trying to prevent Hell on Earth and…Caroline sighed, wishing that life would become less complicated the uncertainty of it all driving her mad. The black and white categories that she had for the world, for her morals, were being forced apart and reworked into entirely too many shades of grey. It made her uneasy, and she felt out of her element, no longer being able to hold onto truths that she once believed in with every fiber of her being.
Liz moaned in her sleep, face contorting in pain for a moment and Caroline looked down at her, gently brushing her mother's hair as her face eased back to normal. "She'll be okay," Stefan murmured from the doorway and Caroline nodded, not bothering to look behind her. "You're not though."
"I'll be fine," Caroline replied, continuing to look down at Liz, needing to know she was still breathing.
"Caroline, you can't even feed from someone living and you just killed a couple of witches," Stefan started, and she sensed that he was closer to her. "I don't think that you can be—"
"It had to be done." She looked back at him then, unsurprised to find him standing at the foot of the bed. "They wouldn't have stopped coming at us. And maybe if they got a second chance it would've been too much for her body to handle."
"So…you're going to kill every witch who comes after us now?" Stefan asked, and she didn't like the uncertainty in his eyes.
Caroline looked away. "Only those who are killing my mom." And her friends. The people she loved. If she could save them by stopping another person then she'd do it. She knew she would. Or at least she was pretty damn certain that she would. "Like you do for Elena. And for Damon, even though he so doesn't deserve it half the time."
"It's a slippery slope, Caroline," Stefan continued, and he touched her shoulder, trying to get her to look at him again.
She shrugged him off, keeping her focus on her mother. "I'm pretty sure everything is a slippery slope now. But I'm not looking to actively kill people. I'm not going out and doing it for fun. I'm just saying that if someone tries to hurt her again that I won't hesitate. That I won't feel guilty for protecting my mom."
"I could argue that those witches were probably someone's mom or dad," Stefan started, though there wasn't any real fight in his voice. Caroline had a feeling that he understood her reasoning but was trying to work it through with her, to make sure she was seeing all the angles so that it didn't all bombard her later at some inconvenient point when she was unable to properly deal with all that happened.
"Then I guess they should've been with their kids instead of trying to hurt my mom," Caroline muttered, smoothing out the cover around Liz. "And sure, maybe they thought they were doing the right thing, but my mom has nothing to do with this and I will not let her ever be collateral damage."
"That's going to be hard to do if she's heading off with you and Klaus to seek out some other vampire," Stefan murmured, sitting down on the bed beside her.
Caroline knew it would be, but she couldn't come up with an alternative. She didn't want Liz going off with any of the others. She couldn't keep an eye on her then, couldn't do whatever it took to protect her, but having her on the trip with Klaus was asking for trouble. But maybe Klaus would protect Liz as well? He'd given her his blood when Caroline had been too distraught to even figure out how to force it down her mother's throat and Caroline knew that had saved her mother's life.
She'd be forever grateful for that. It didn't knock out all the bad he'd done to everyone else, but Caroline couldn't discount that it definitely earned him some brownie points. "I'll figure it out," she told Stefan and then lay down beside her mother. "I think I'm just going to lay with her for a while."
She could practically hear him pause, that slight intake of breath as he was about to say something, stopped, and decided on a different course. She knew he was trying to help but at the moment she didn't want to talk about what-ifs, she simply wanted to curl up safe in the knowledge that her mother was okay. For now at least. Figure out ways to keep her safe in the future.
"I'm right down the hall if you need anything," Stefan reminded, reaching down to brush Caroline's hair back before heading out of the room.
Caroline listened to the movements around the house, noting that Klaus still wasn't home. Rebekah had returned and was packing for her journey back stateside and Caroline could hear Stefan heading over to her room. She really didn't want to hear their conversation so Caroline closed her eyes and focused in on her mother's heartbeat. It was the most important sound in the world to her and she meant to memorize it, to learn all its nuances so she could better protect her. No matter what it took to do so.
Clean up wasn't an issue when Hybrid speed was utilized. He could have deposited the bodies in a number of places, keeping them out of sight, but he needed to know if they had been played, needed to see firsthand how Lucy reacted to the dead men and women to truly know if she'd been behind the attack. He'd left Kol behind in the restaurant, compelling the staff to leave the room alone until he returned. It'd be a few hours still before his younger brother awoke and if by some rare chance he did awaken before Klaus returned, then he figured Kol would have plenty of options for a snack at his disposal.
He flashed one body after the other to Lucy's house, dropping the bodies off in front of the doorway. The door opened when he returned with the last one, grimacing at Lucy who stood looking down at the dead. "What the hell are you doing? Who are these people?" she demanded, confusion turning to annoyance and finally anger. "Are they dead?"
Perhaps they hadn't been part of her Coven. Good to know. Definitely in her favor for the moment. "Seems someone thought it'd be a nice evening to try and take me and my family down. Had to put a stop to them. Hope you don't mind the mess," Klaus replied, stepping over the bodies and entered the house.
He passed by the other members of the Coven, all of them in various states of waking as they headed down the stairs and out of other rooms. Klaus could hear Lucy ordering them to bring the bodies in before anyone saw them as he headed into the room he'd been in only hours before. "Why did you bring them here?" Lucy asked, following after him once the others were following her directions.
Klaus didn't bother to turn around and look at her, studying the various books on display in the shelves instead. "Needed to see if my suspicions were true or not. I suggest you be grateful that I see that they were not."
He could sense her annoyance growing, giving way to anger again, before realization set in with just how much trouble her Coven had been in only moments ago. He had free reign of the house since he'd been invited and if he'd wanted to he could have torn through a good deal of them before anyone realized what was happening. "Curious thing about the attack. Caroline was unaffected. Not an inkling of pain," Klaus continued, finally turning around to look at Lucy. "Have a feeling it has to do with that lovely new ring of hers. I'll be wanting one for everyone in our little entourage."
"It'll work for the vampires but not the witches or Sheriff Forbes," Lucy informed him, and he frowned, not liking that answer. He could care less if it helped the witches or not, but the Sheriff was going to need some sort of protection. Caroline's focus was going to be deterred if that wasn't possible. "My Coven and I have our own counter spells, our own powers to draw on to push away whatever they're sending at us, but Sheriff Forbes is a human. She doesn't have any sway with the spirits, any way to tap into that energy."
"How about something akin to a Gilbert ring? I'm sure you know what that might be." It wasn't the best solution, but it would give her some added protection. Could easily be circumvented—his hybrids had nearly succeeded a few times back when he'd first ordered them to kill the Gilbert boy before he'd been sent away—but it was better than nothing.
"I'd need the Bennett grimoire in order to make one. I don't know that spell by heart and the people who would have been able to give me the one from theirs have all been compromised." She frowned and he had a feeling she was thinking of all the witches who'd been killed. Klaus really didn't see the point of wondering about them. They were turned, useless to him and he wanted answers that would work, not that might have a day or two ago.
"If Stefan and Rebekah can retrieve it I can do that, but until then, if she is with all of you then she is at risk," Lucy continued and the two could hear the others trying to figure out what to do with the bodies. "And I'll need to see Caroline's ring in order to determine what all was done for replicas of that one."
Ah yes.
"It will not be coming off her hand." Klaus wasn't about to chance the witches striking at the exact moment it left her finger. For all he knew they were constantly trying to enter her mind and he wasn't going to allow that to happen. Lucy nodded and Klaus headed toward the door, not wanting to be in the witch's house longer than needed. "I'll be back tomorrow with Caroline."
"Next time don't bring me your messes," Lucy grumbled, and Klaus simply grinned as he headed through the hallway, enjoying the rise of fear and resentment that surrounded him before heading out the door and down the street to retrieve Kol.
Hopefully his younger brother hadn't woken already and well, if he had, then hopefully he'd left him someone to eat. He was feeling rather famished and should probably get that taken care of before heading back to the house to check in on the others. Klaus paused, seeing a young couple up ahead, walking hand in hand down the canal street.
Perhaps he'd get that bite to eat first and then retrieve Kol.
After he made these two run and scream, after he could smell the fear, the hopelessness running through their veins, before making one watch the other die. The second always tasted better than the first. It was that added terror, nothing quite matched that high of drinking from them until every last bit of hope drifted away, leaving nothing but despair in its wake.
He headed toward the unwitting couple, smiling as they realized he was behind them, apprehension already starting to drip off them. "Run," he grinned, watching their eyes widen, sweat begin to bead on their foreheads as they took off, pulling one another to get away as fast as they could.
Klaus watched them leave, allowed that false hope to build as he gave them a head start, before flashing to them and catching the young man around the collar, easily yanking him back and tearing into his neck. The woman cried out, unsure if she should tug at her partner or run in terror and Klaus grabbed her wrist before she could flee, pulling away from the young man for a moment.
"You will not leave," he compelled, delighting in the tears that caused before turning back to the man.
The streetlights shown down on her blonde hair, giving it an almost halo effect, and for a moment he thought of Caroline. It wasn't judgment that he thought of though, his thoughts turning instead to her joining him on hunts like this, reveling in the side of her that she seemed to embrace one moment and try to bury the next. Klaus couldn't help but wonder if she'd enjoy the taste of fear as well or would she prefer those who were compliant and did as they were told.
He really couldn't wait to find out. Though he knew it would take time, but he also was realizing he was willing to wait as long as it took for Caroline Forbes to become what she was, to finally embrace her newfound life. She'd be a brilliant vampire—she already was in certain aspects—but Klaus had every intention of helping her become something extraordinary.
Perhaps she would never join him on hunts like this, perhaps that wasn't in the cards, but the rest of it he was certain would happen. She would choose him, just as he constantly chose her, and the world would never be the same.
Caroline heard the front door open and knew it was Klaus finally returning. She didn't hear Kol with him and wondered if that meant the younger Mikaelson was out taking out his annoyances on Amsterdam or if he hadn't woken up yet. She looked back down at her mother who was still asleep and sighed, knowing that she should probably go down and see what he'd done. To thank him for disposing of the…people she had killed.
It still didn't come, no matter how she willed it to start, that guilt wouldn't sink into her bones or make her regret her actions. She wondered what it meant that she wouldn't feel remorse for having taken those lives. She hadn't exactly enjoyed it—it wasn't like when she'd killed at the carnival. This hadn't been about feeding, no bloodlust coming into play. She'd simply snapped necks, killing them one by one in quick succession before heading back to her mother.
She remembered her conversation with Stefan, how adamant she'd been about protecting her mother, how she wouldn't change what had happened, how she would do it again if it would save her mother's life. Or her friends. She couldn't seem to see the flaw in that plan, couldn't seem to sway her mind to another more moral stance and that knowledge caused her stomach to tighten into knots, had her biting her bottom lip, frightened of what she was becoming.
Caroline kissed her mother's forehead and quietly got out of the bed, needing to be away from her for a moment. She knew she was a vampire, she knew she wasn't human any longer, but in that moment she felt more like a monster than she ever had. More so than when she'd torn through that poor man's throat or helped fight off the deputies or a hundred other little things that she'd taken part in. As much as she'd liked killing the young man she had regretted it, ached over having done it and vowed to get better control over herself.
But this time she couldn't seem to work it out in her head that she needed to do better. At least not the way she had a feeling she was supposed to and she didn't want to be near her mother when she was thinking as she was. Didn't want her mom to open her eyes and see the truth, to look at her and see her as she had that first time, as nothing but a monster.
Caroline couldn't take having her mother look at her like that again, remembering the pure devastation she had felt as her mother saw her, remembered that hopelessness that had tried to devour her when she heard her mother asking Damon to keep her away from her. Caroline couldn't chance having that happen again so she left the room and paused, wondering which direction she should venture. She could hear Stefan down the hall in his own room now, Rebekah in hers, and down in the study was Klaus.
Her feet seemed to do the thinking for her, quietly padding down the stairs and toward the study before the door to her mother's room even shut. She hesitated at the doorway for a moment, unsure about entering, nearly fleeing back up the stairs and to the normalcy of Stefan. He was a monster as well—a horrible one and she remembered how cold he had been as a Ripper—but she didn't want the familiarity of him, drawn to the other, the darker that wouldn't silently worry over her actions or feelings.
She watched Klaus place Kol's still not revived body onto the couch and couldn't help but wrinkled her nose as he turned her way, noticing the blood staining his clothes. He wouldn't have gotten that from the dead witches which meant he'd gone feeding, and while she while she wasn't there to judge that right then and there, from the amount of blood she didn't think whoever he'd snacked on would live to tell the tale.
This was a bad idea.
"I paid a visit to our dear friend Lucy," Klaus informed her before she had time to turn around and head back up the stairs. He motioned for her to enter into the room as he sat down on one of the chairs, watching her, and she was unable to read his emotions.
Caroline entered, closing the door behind her and headed to sit down on the other chair. "Oh? Is she alive?" She rolled her eyes at his arched brow and mock hurt over her question. Could he really blame her for asking with how he looked?
"Perfectly fine and disposing of the bodies I dropped on her doorstep. Your bodies." Klaus smiled at her, but there wasn't anything pleasant about it, reminding her instantly of a snake ready to strike.
"Thank you for dealing with them." She could tell it's not what he expected to hear and his face softened for a moment as he regarded her and she could not stand that look, that tiny bit of worry directed her way by him, and she turned away, curling into the chair so she wouldn't have to look directly at him. "You thought she sent them after us, didn't you?"
"The thought had crossed my mind, yes," Klaus confirmed and Caroline could hear him moving around but she kept her gaze on her hands, suddenly finding them very interesting. "I let her know what happened, how it affected your mother to see if she could come up with some solutions to insure her safety."
That caught Caroline's attention and she looked up, glancing over at Klaus and found him standing by the window, his back to her, hands clasped behind him as he stared out it. "Oh? Did she have any?"
"She'll be needing to take a look at your ring to replicate its magic for the rest of us," Klaus continued, still not looking at her, but she could see his reflection in the window and had a feeling he was looking at her own in it as well. "But it will do no good for your mother. That spell only protects supernatural beings such as ourselves. She may be able to create another Gilbert ring if Stefan and Rebekah pick up the Bennett grimoire while in Mystic Falls. Or I suppose retrieve it from Jeremy's body." Either would work.
"But what about until then?" Because that would take days, maybe an entire week for them to go through all of the necessary steps in order to make one or find one. "She'll be vulnerable until then."
"My blood healed her body, Caroline, but another attack like tonight and I am unsure how her mind will handle that. Blood might heal her body again, but it may not matter if they manage to destroy what makes your mother who she is," Klaus started and Caroline shook her head, not hearing the rest of what he was saying.
That wasn't allowed to happen. They weren't allowed to get into her mother's head again and hurt her like that, to destroy her mind, all of her thoughts, her memories. She'd seen the pain her mother had been in, the agony her body had gone through as the witches had performed their spell and she never wanted that for her mother ever again. There had to be another way to protect her because Klaus was right—and she hated that he was right—if the witches tried again, and there would be more of them, she wasn't naive enough to think they would stop coming, her mother might not completely survive it.
Caroline pressed her hands to her temples, feeling her fangs descend, the blood pumping in her veins as her emotions got away from her. She tried to breathe in and out, tried to do what Stefan had taught her over a year ago in the girl's bathroom, but it was no use, she couldn't force her face to go back to normal, couldn't make the fangs go away.
You're a monster.
It repeated over and over in her head and she didn't realize Klaus had moved until his hands were on top of hers, pulling them away from her curls that she had begun to pull on. He was saying her name, she could vaguely make that out through the sound of blood that her hearing seemed to be focused on. She could hear her mother's blood pumping though her veins a floor up, the neighbors on either side as well, and even a group of people walking outside, no doubt heading for home, and she clenched her eyes shut, willing it to go away, her gums aching for a taste.
His fingers brushed over the veins on her face and she froze, not used to anyone touching them in that way. The gentleness behind it startled her and she shifted her focus from the blood she could hear to Klaus who was looking at her with a mixture of lust and adoration, fingers still brushing over her veins and down to her neck. The beast inside wanted her to shift closer, drawn by the one she could sense within him, always below the surface, just waiting to burst free. She'd felt that way around Tyler before, especially once he'd become a hybrid, but this pull toward Klaus was infinitely more intense and Caroline couldn't help but reach out and grasp hold of his arm, needing to feel him.
He smiled, eyes changing to yellow, and her own darkened further as she felt his breath mingling with her own, his nose brushing against hers.
"Lovely," he murmured, and she shivered, her inner beast yearning for freedom, hearing the blood pumping in his veins as well and she couldn't help but moan at the memory of how delicious he tasted.
Caroline clasped her hands over her mouth, slinking back into the chair, pulling away from his touch and stared up at him, unable to stop from shaking. He stared down at her and she didn't want to make out his expression, didn't want to look at him so she glanced away, jumping as he caressed her cheek, her body entirely too sensitive for its own good.
"You shouldn't run from what you are, Caroline," Klaus started, stepping back from her, the moment over.
"I know what I am," she murmured as she tried to get her emotions under control, steadily breathing in and out again.
"Oh? Do tell." He was in front of her again, grasping her chin so she was forced to look at him. She couldn't quite get the words out with him staring at her as he was, and she wrenched her chin away from him, glaring at him instead and felt her features slowly fade back to normal. "Perhaps next time I should let you clean up your own messes."
He turned away from her then and she found herself reaching out, touching his arm to stop him. It seemed to startle them both and she fell back against the back of the chair as he turned back to look at her. "Thank you for helping me with that. And for saving my mom."
Because Caroline knew she wouldn't have been able to do it, not in the state she had been in. Klaus stared down at her, reminding her of that time in the hallway of the high school after she'd thanked him. That uncertainty at her words, that brief spark of astonishment at her having said them. "If she comes with us, Caroline, the chances of her being attacked again grows exponentially," Klaus told her, and she couldn't look at him anymore.
She hated how right he was, hated that he spoke the truth, but what was the alternative? "Even if she does manage to avoid an attack before we get the Gilbert ring…I believe you know better than most what can happen to one who wears it," he continued, and Caroline found herself looking down at her hands, remembering pencils jabbed through the middle of them, could almost feel the vervain that she had breathed in as Alaric tortured her.
"What do you expect me to do?" Caroline demanded, finally looking back up at him, and she didn't like the almost sympathetic look he was giving her.
"It would be best if she didn't continue on this journey with any of us. Better if she was out of the witches field of vision completely," Klaus replied, and she shook her head.
"She won't just let us all leave her. She'd keep looking, even if we left her and…" Caroline shook her head again as he gave her a pointed look. "I am not doing that to her." There was a way to insure Liz didn't follow, that she didn't come looking for them and endanger herself.
"I suppose the question is, Caroline, how much do you love her?" Klaus asked, and she glared at him. "Enough to do something unforgiveable to protect her, to insure she'll live to see another day, even if she might not quite be happy with you when all is said and done and you can remove it?" He glanced at Kol. "I often did it with a dagger. Put them in their timeout after they did something that could endanger us." Or simply angered or annoyed him at times as well. "But you don't have that luxury with her."
Caroline rose from the chair, trying to block out all that he was saying. "Well, I'm not you. I'm nothing like you," she muttered, heading toward the door.
"Come now, Caroline. We both know that's not true," he called out after her as she headed out of the room, thankful when he didn't try to follow her.
She headed up the stairs and hesitated at the bedroom door, hearing her mother breathing on the other side. Caroline pressed her forehead against the wood and shut her eyes before turning around and pressing her back against it as she slid down, trying to come up with another way to keep her mother safe while they continued on with their journey.
Recently sleep had been hard to come by for Tyler. Too often his dreams were plagued with thoughts of his mother or his murdered hybrid friends. His dreams were bathed in red and no matter how hard he tried he could never get there in time to save any of them. He always found them in pieces, body parts strewn around the forest floor, his mother's head submerged below the water.
It shifted to other thoughts, things that hadn't happened yet, but he feared would eventually. Like finding Caroline as he had his mother or the hybrids. Her beautiful curls stained with red, her eyes frozen open in fear, and he wondered if she would have called out for him with her last breath. Did his mother? Was he her last thought? Wondering how he hadn't been able to protect her from the madman that had roamed the earth for far too long.
He tried not to sleep, not needing it like the rest of his ever growing pack did. There might not have been many wolves left in the United States, but those that were had apparently been hearing about him, about his quest, and slowly they had been coming to join him. All of that power could have gone to his head, but he refused to allow that, refused to be the hard hearted figure that his father had been, or the ruthless master that Klaus had been. He needed to find his own legs for leading, had gotten a taste of it with his tiny rebellion against Klaus, but he refused to lead this group to the slaughter like he'd inevitably led the others.
There would be no trusting the words of another, not without proof. He would not allow another Hayley to lead him astray, to sacrifice all of them for personal gain. He wanted to insure their survival, to watch the wolf population grow again, to flourish like it had apparently at some point in time before vampires had roamed the world.
Mason and Jules didn't need to reach him in his sleep though and he found them frequenting his presence more often than he would have liked, that coldness seeming to spread out from inside of him to the world directly around him. Tyler thought that if he squinted he'd be able to actually see the ice spread out on the ground, enveloping everything around him, but one blink later and it was all gone, as if it had never been there in the first place.
"It's time to get serious about the cure," Mason urged, and Tyler nodded, not wanting to speak and have the others around him questioning his sanity.
The other wolves couldn't see all that he saw and maybe he'd have wondered about that at one point, but it was something he'd simply come to accept. "You know about the map. It was on your friend Jeremy before they killed him. Got there by him killing one of your friends," Mason continued and Tyler closed his eyes, remembering that night.
Chris.
He would never forget Chris.
"How did they get Klaus to offer up one of his own again?" Jules asked and Tyler pressed his lips together, fists clenching at his sides. He remembered all too well about that date Caroline had needed to promise. Remembered watching her walk around his family's property with Klaus, laughing with him, smiling, and how it had made his blood boil.
It still did.
"There are two with the mark here in the United States," Jules continued, whispering the locations in his ear.
Tyler wondered how she knew, wondered how she had a description of the two hunters, but in the end it didn't matter. It'd get him one step closer to the cure and the leverage he needed to take Klaus and his family down, to eliminate all vampires, and allow for the werewolves to take back their rightful place on Earth.
He just needed to locate Caroline as well. She needed to have the cure too before he killed Klaus. Her and maybe Elena. The rest of the population he didn't care one iota about. They could all die for their makers' sins, but those two he'd save. It hadn't been either of their faults. It never would have happened if Klaus hadn't strolled into town and ruined all of their lives. If the Salvatore brothers hadn't come back to town and brought all of the supernatural drama with them.
They would all be in high school still, finishing up senior year, no wiser to what went bump in the night around them. Maybe he never would have hooked up with Caroline, maybe Elena and Matt would have gotten back together, but Tyler was certain that no matter what they would all have been happy, and his family would be whole, his parents not dead.
"I need two groups," Tyler called out, grinning when more than enough wolves stepped forward to volunteer, knowing they would easily be able to find the hunters. No doubt they'd even enjoy helping the hunters complete the mark by finding vampires for them to kill. The hatred for vampires ran deep in those he had found, the fear of becoming a hybrid also always there on the surface. A fear he meant to dispel and make certain would never be allowed to happen again.
This was his pack and Tyler would do whatever was needed to protect them and insure that they would grow and flourish like no pack had done in centuries.
Liz Forbes often thought of herself as a practical woman, even if she had been brought up with the knowledge that vampires were real. Even if she'd watched her town go through more craziness than she'd thought could possibly exist in the last two years. It didn't alter who she was deep down at the very core, a woman who took her responsibilities seriously and who loved her daughter more than anything in the world. She'd faltered in her responsibility toward Caroline far too many times already, not being emotionally there like she probably should have been after Bill had left, letting her preteen daughter push her away when she should have tried to bridge the differences that were causing an ever growing chasm between the two of them. Every time she had tried to create some kind of bridge though it had been chopped down, pushed aside with smart little remarks, and there had come a time when she hadn't tried as hard.
And then Caroline had died.
She hadn't known about it right away and hadn't reacted to it well at first. Old prejudices were hard to fight and she couldn't help but think her baby girl had been stolen from her before she could repair anything, that the thing inside of her daughter was nothing but a monster. But she'd been proven wrong and the bridge had formed, the gap between them had shrunk until it was barely noticeable, and now she felt like she was standing at the edge of it again, waiting for it to expand.
She had heard the conversation that passed between Caroline and Klaus in the middle of the night. Had been on her way to the kitchen to get some water but changed her mind as their conversation was nearing an end and headed back upstairs, mind reeling from all she had overheard. She'd nearly gotten out of the bed to go comfort her daughter when she heard her slide down against the door, but she stopped herself, not wanting Caroline to know that she knew. Her daughter shouldn't have to make the kind of decision required to protect her. That was something she should be doing for Caroline. After all, she was her mother, wasn't she? Wasn't that what she'd promised that tiny baby after holding her in her arms that first time?
Liz didn't like Klaus but she needed answers, needed to know what all of the options were so she could be better informed before making her decision. One thing she did know was that Caroline wouldn't be able to handle her death just yet. She'd heard her daughter's sobbing as her heartbeat had faded and didn't want to put that kind of pressure on her so soon.
Caroline was still adjusting to being a vampire. She still had her whole life ahead of her and then who knew how many lifetimes after that. Liz meant to be around for at least thirty more years of that first one.
"Sheriff Forbes, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Klaus asked as she entered the study that she noted was in more disarray than it had been the day before when she'd first confronted him.
"You think the witches will return," Liz started, and Klaus looked up, shutting the book he had in his lap to arch a brow at her, curious as to what she was trying to get at.
"No, I know they will. Their particular band of witches won't stop until they think they've accomplished their agenda which is currently to put all of us out of commission," Klaus replied, and Liz nodded, unsurprised by that being the case. "And they will end up killing you or harming you beyond repair, leaving behind only a shell to grow old and die."
"And if I were to take Caroline and leave?" she asked, not caring for the narrowing of his eyes at her words.
"They'll still come. The witches already have a lock on her. It's why she wears the ring. I doubt they've gotten one on you yet and if you're no longer near any of us I doubt they'd bother to follow as you wouldn't be doing anything to put their plans in jeopardy." Klaus shrugged. "No point in wasting the energy when the rest of us will have broken into smaller groups for them to follow."
"But you can't guarantee that they don't have a lock on me," Liz pointed out, going over the options in her head, trying to figure out the best course of action.
"No. But simple compulsion would be easy enough to temporarily take away any links you have to Caroline and therefore have to the rest of our merry little band," Klaus replied, and she wondered what precisely that meant. "You would not remember her, her father, or any of Mystic Falls and they would have a nearly impossible time finding you again. I've a number of places to allow you to roam freely until we've dealt with this particular scenario and Caroline can return to you."
"Because you'd allow her to do that," Liz muttered, not really believing that he'd allow such a thing. She could see him keeping the two of them apart indefinitely.
"Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, I am not out to hurt your daughter, Sheriff," Klaus started, setting the book to the side. "And keeping you from her would do just that. But having her watch you die an agonizing death would also accomplish the task. Having her carry around the knowledge that she could have prevented it if you had been elsewhere and not in harm's way would cause a darkness in her that I do not think you want to form." He tapped his fingers for a moment on the arms of the chair as he tilted his head, regarding her and Liz didn't like the way it seemed he could see into her thoughts, even if she knew it wasn't actually possible for a vampire or hybrid to do so.
"And say you do come with us and we're attacked again. She will kill again for you, to protect you. There are already five on her hands because she wouldn't allow them to harm you further. How many more would you like to be added to the list, Liz?" Klaus rose from the chair as the doorbell rang. "I do believe that is Lucy to work out our ring problem. I'll leave you to your thoughts, Sheriff. I'm sure you have much to think about."
Liz sighed as the study door closed, signaling his departure, and she stared up at the ceiling, unsure which was the best outcome, which would help out Caroline the most in the end. Because what mattered was protecting her daughter even if to do so meant leaving her behind.
Rebekah was packed and ready to go, another ring added to her hand for protection. At least the witch had been able to provide them that as well as a reason for her and Stefan to return to Mystic Falls. Or at least a reason that Klaus would allow them to leave over. They had their own agenda, though it seemed they would intersect a bit considering her brother now also wanted them to retrieve the Bennett grimoire. Which she and Stefan would do, and she'd even hand it over to Klaus once the two of them were finished with it.
She clicked the suitcase shut, trying not to look as happy as she inwardly felt, not wanting to shine any limelight on herself or Stefan and have Klaus looking closely at all they were doing. She turned around, not expecting to see Klaus casually leaning against the doorframe. His arms were crossed and he regarded her with a small smile, his gaze seemingly full of mirth.
Rebekah knew that look. It was the one she'd been on the receiving end of far too many times in her life. It meant he knew what she was planning. Just as he had the few times she'd wanted to run away with whoever her current lover was or turn someone he hadn't deemed worthy of the vampire lifestyle. Usually it ended with a dagger in her heart and the other one dead.
He had no daggers on him though. She knew that much. Otherwise Kol would've been disposed of ten times over already. But she could not discount that look. It was seemingly charming, playful even, when beneath it lurked anger and hints of betrayal. This was Klaus at his most volatile and she never quite knew how he'd react. It could swing one of two ways and she needed to use her words wisely to push the ball toward the jeering words instead of strangled throats.
"Do you remember the meadow? When we were children? The one with the wildflowers?" Rebekah asked, and watched him tense up, no doubt not wanting to remember that time when they had been so vulnerable, when they had held no power.
"Do you honestly think I don't know what you're trying to do, Rebekah?" he asked, stepping forward, hands clasping behind his back as he passed by her, one hand reaching out to brush along the vanity, flicking away a few pieces of dust. She knew better than to answer when he was like this, watching him instead and waiting for the outburst.
"We used to go there with Henrik and watch the clouds drift by," she continued. "You telling him stories, me pointing out the different shapes the clouds created before Kol would come running up to us and ruin the whole thing in one way or the other. Talking about our plans for the future until Elijah came and found us all, doling out some speech about responsibility."
"Why are you bringing up such things, Rebekah?" Klaus demanded, though he did not look back at her, his hand pressed hard against her vanity instead and she wondered if the wood would split. He never did like any of them to mention Henrik.
"I still have those dreams. I still want that life and now I have a chance for it, Nik. Not quite like back then, but still. A chance to grow old and have a family," Rebekah continued and she watched his hand clench into a fist.
"A chance to die," Klaus reminded, looking back at her and she couldn't read his expression, something she wasn't used to. She usually knew his tells.
"A chance to live," Rebekah countered. A life where she wasn't beholden to her brothers that so easily cast her aside.
"Is the possibility of your happiness worth the chance of Esther and Mikael coming back to Earth, forever hunting us down?" Klaus asked, motioning with his arms as he took one step forward.
Rebekah huffed at that, picking up the suitcase at the audacity of his question. "Oh come now, Nik. We both know I'd be daggered and in a coffin before the first day was over if that did come to pass."
He arched his brow at that and the smile sent chills down her spine, but she jutted her chin out, pouting at him in the same way she had done since she was a child. "I'd say before noon," he replied, and she rolled her eyes at that.
"Would you even bother to cart me around with you when you're obviously trying to create a new companion for yourself?" Rebekah nearly flinched at the sound of venom dripping from her voice, not meaning to sound as petty and jealous as she had in that moment. But she couldn't help it.
"No need to be catty, Rebekah," Klaus replied, and she despised the amusement in his voice. How easily he could discard her for another and never allow her to find her own to replace him.
"I fail to see what has you so captivated by her," she muttered, pulling up the handle of the suitcase. Perhaps the other girl was pretty, but pretty girls were a dime a dozen and Rebekah had seen Klaus go through enough of them through the years that she didn't understand his fascination with this one in particular.
"I could say the same for a thousand different men who you let pursue you," Klaus pointed out, and she nearly broke the handle in two.
"Yes, and you killed each of them," she reminded, not wanting to continue the conversation, but he was moving toward the window and looking down at the yard below.
"Not all of them," Klaus replied, and Rebekah could hear Stefan talking to Liz in the small backyard and she narrowed her eyes, glaring at her brother's back.
"Be happy I'm not one to return the favor, considering how often you did dispose of my potential lovers," she quipped, and swallowed hard as he turned back to look at her, the fury in his eyes causing her to tense, before he seemed to realize she had been joking.
Sort of.
"Do take care of yourself, little sister," Klaus murmured, stepping over to her and leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. She was almost touched by the gentleness of it, reminded of easier times before they had been turned into what they had become. But just like that, he ruined the moment as he stepped back, nonchalantly issuing a threat. "I'd hate to dagger you again if you fail to acquire what we need."
She watched him leave, glaring at his backside before he disappeared down the hall. Her resolve for getting the cure for herself only strengthened with each step he took away from her, once again leaving her behind.
"He's not the only one who will do it," Kol piped up from the doorway and she sighed, annoyed at herself for not having noticed him before. "We can't allow Silas to rise, Rebekah. Then your petty little dream will be for nothing."
"It is not petty," she protested, wanting to throw something at him but knowing doing so would only prove him right. "Is it so bad to want a life away from all of this?"
Kol arched a brow, looking around the room. "I don't think anyone has ever said you can't have a life away from this, Beks," he pointed out. "I left and went about everything on my own. Had quite a good time up in Canada. You barely made it three houses down from Nik when you tried to leave."
"I was on the other side of the town." Even to her that was a weak rebuttal.
Kol tsked at her. "Have a life, sister. But don't feel the need to die in order to get one. I would miss you." She frowned at that, not liking the seriousness of Kol's tone, not wanting to look too closely at his words. "After all, who would I get to call out on all of their strumpet ways if you're not around."
He grinned and she threw the nearest object she had at him, watching the vase shatter against the doorframe that he had been near seconds earlier. Rebekah could hear him laughing as he headed down the stairs and she stared at the mess, pushing back the tiny sliver of doubt about becoming human that was trying to instill its way into her heart.
"You know for all the good qualities that people keep telling me about traveling the world, everyone seriously left out how much airports suck," Caroline groaned as they stood in front of the baggage carousel, waiting for the bags to begin to unload. The place was cramped and while no one was standing on top of her, there was something about being inside of the Vienna airport that she simply didn't like.
Maybe it was the tiredness of everyone in the airport or the go go go attitude some had as they hurried by, accidentally shoving elbows, feet or bags into various parts of her. "As you'll remember, sweetheart, it's quite different when you travel by private jet," Klaus reminded, and she didn't like how his arm brushed against her as he reached over to snag the first of their bags.
"So why couldn't we have done that this time?" she asked, mentally smacking herself as soon as the words had left her mouth. She offered up an apologetic look to her mother, knowing that had sounded rather spoiled, and god, Elizabeth Forbes had so not allowed her to grow up like that.
"Another time," Klaus replied, and she didn't like the promise in that statement. That steadfast belief of his that there would be another time.
But he had gotten all three of their bags from the belt and so she was going to focus on that instead of whatever little dreams were swirling around in his head. Lucy had gotten them rings and Stefan had promised to get the Gilbert ring and the grimoire and send her the ring as soon as he found it…on Jeremy's cold, dead, no doubt rotting hand. They had all said their goodbyes and Caroline had pointedly ignored all of Klaus' looks about her mother, trying desperately to hold steadfastly to the belief that they could protect her mother from whatever did come at them.
"And I thought you said Vincent was in Romania. So why are we in Vienna?" Because that really didn't make any sense to her.
"The easiest way to get to the particular village we're going is by train, which we can pick up in this city but could not in Amsterdam," Klaus informed her, though he didn't start moving toward the exit like Caroline thought he would. "As well as other reasons."
She looked at him, confused, and saw that his gaze was locked on her mother. Caroline turned her attention toward Liz, frowning at the sadness she saw in her mother's eyes, that downturn of her lips that let Caroline know her mother's mind was made up about whatever was going on inside of it. "Mom?"
Liz stepped forward, placing her hands on Caroline's shoulders and offered up a small smile. "I am so proud of you. I don' think I've told you that enough in the last few years. Especially this year," Liz started and Caroline didn't like where this was going.
"I know you are," she murmured, even if it was nice to hear her mother say it. There had to be a reason why she was saying it though and Caroline didn't think she'd like it.
"You know I can't go with you," Liz continued, and Caroline sucked in a breath at that, not wanting to hear anymore, wanting it all to just stop and for them to get to the train station. Everything would be fine if they could just get to the station. But her mother didn't let go of her and she wasn't about to push her away. "I have my passport and Klaus has provided me with a place I'll be able to stay while you go off and save the world."
"The one outside Tuscany. We can find her after everything is finished, love," Klaus added, and Caroline glared at him, not at all surprised that he had a part in this.
"She's not going there," Caroline snapped, fangs descending a tiny bit and she forced herself to calm down, to force them back into place as she looked back at her mother. "You don't have to do this. Stefan's going to get the ring and send it to us and you'll be just fine, mom. I won't let anything happen to you."
"How many will you kill so that nothing happens to me?" Liz asked and Caroline stepped back as if she'd been slapped, shaking her head. "Because I won't have you do that again. Not for me, Caroline. That isn't you. You're not a monster."
Oh but it was and Caroline knew it was, knew to her very core that she was a murderer. She'd done it before and she would do it again without hesitation if it meant protecting her mother, her friends. "So what? We're just compelling you to go and live a life in Tuscany or wherever until we fix everything?"
Maybe that wouldn't be too bad but why were they both looking at her in that funny way, with sympathy she didn't want being doled out to her, knowing it couldn't be that easy. "We need to erase her previous life from her mind so that the witches will have an impossible time in locating her," Klaus replied when Liz seemed unable to find the words.
Caroline shook her head, hands pressed to her mouth at the idea of it all, of her mother not knowing her, not loving her. How could they even think to ask her to do such a thing? "It will insure her safety," Klaus continued and she didn't even know when he'd moved to stand beside her, hand rubbing gently on her back, trying to soothe her.
She didn't want that touch, didn't want any of this. She wanted to take her mother and go back to Mystic Falls. She wanted all of the witches and the doppelgangers and Silas and vampires and just all of it to disappear. She wanted normal back. Except she remembered how her relationship had been with Liz when they'd been normal and Caroline didn't want that strain to be there again.
"I can do it, if you would like," Klaus offered and Caroline shook her head, stepping forward to her mother and hugging her tightly.
"No matter what, know that I love you," Liz murmured, stroking her hair and Caroline closed her eyes, trying to memorize every little thing about her mother, before she pulled slightly away.
"I love you too," Caroline told her before letting her eyes dilate, compulsion starting to take hold. "You're…" She blinked tears out of her eyes, knowing she needed them gone to make sure the compulsion would work. She looked over at Klaus, needing a few details. "Where is she going?"
"I have it all written down for her as well as her plane tickets and other necessities she might need," Klaus replied, holding up an envelope.
Caroline nodded and turned back to her mother, letting the compulsion take hold again. She willed away her memories of Mystic Falls, putting in ones of a woman who loved Italy instead, who enjoyed the life there and had decided to settle down after so many years of being on the police force. She willed for her mother to follow the directions in the pack Klaus handed her and to live her life and to have fun.
She pulled back, listening as Liz murmured it all back before blinking at them. Caroline's heart clenched at the sight of her mother looking at her as a stranger. It was worse than when she'd been looked at as a monster, at least then she had known her mother had loved her at some point, saw the flashes of loss and regret in her mother's gaze. Now there was nothing.
"I believe you dropped this," Klaus started, nudging Caroline to hand over the envelope.
"Thank you. My entire life is in there," Liz replied, smiling at the two of them before turning and walking away.
Caroline watched her go, refusing to budge from her spot until Liz was no longer able to be seen, having passed behind a wall. "Caroline," Klaus started, and there was that soothing touch on her back again.
She nearly leaned into it, wanting the comfort, needing to be held at that moment, but she couldn't quite bring herself to allow him that level of intimacy. "Let's just go," she bit out, grabbing the handle of her suitcase and looking up at him. She could see the hardness starting to settle in his features, and she knew that look, having seen it on her own who even knew how many times after being rejected by someone she loved.
"I need to be anywhere but here right now. Please," she continued, letting some of her vulnerability seep through in that moment and Klaus nodded, the hardness fading though he didn't reach to offer comfort again.
Simply nodded toward the far exit and started walking that way, neither of them talking as they headed off toward the next part of their journey. Caroline glancing once or twice behind at the spot Liz had been before they were too far gone for her to make it out any longer.
They stopped at the area for taxis, Caroline barely paying attention as Klaus acquired them one and the driver took her things, placing them in the trunk as the two of them settled into the back. She vaguely made out that Klaus was telling him to bring them to the train station, didn't bother to look out the window as they passed by the city that should have entranced her with its architecture.
"She was wrong," she murmured after a few moments, voice barely audible.
"Wrong about what?" Klaus asked, and Caroline could feel his gaze on her, watching her, trying to figure out what was going on in her head.
"I am a monster," she replied, resting her head against the car window.
Klaus didn't reply, and Caroline wasn't sure how she felt about that, but when he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze she didn't pull away. Instead she closed her eyes and let him continue to hold it as she sighed and thought about the exact hue of her mother's eyes, willing herself to never forget that.