The age of man is over
A darkness comes at dawn
These lessons that we've learned here
Have only just begun
Caroline stared out at the lake, wondering how exactly her and Rebekah were supposed to find the safe inside of it and how they'd be dragging it out of the water. From the incredulous look Rebekah was directing her; she knew the other girl had deduced her unspoken questions. "We're vampires, Caroline," Rebekah reminded, already wading into the water.
As much as Caroline had adapted well to being one, it still took her by surprise at times. She figured that was because she'd clung so tightly to her human ways for so long, going to school, eating food, keeping up with her routines. Hell, when she'd been attacked by Alaric she hadn't even thought of flashing out of the school and to safety, she'd gone to her car, dropping her keys and gotten herself caught. She knew it was a mindset thing and one she needed to alter, though part of Caroline didn't want to alter it too much, worried that doing so would change her.
But then again, wasn't growing up all about change? She may have been stuck looking seventeen forever, but that didn't mean her mindset would stick to that year. Her desires, her needs had changed and so would so much more about her, but that wouldn't change the core of her who she was.
Caroline shook her head, not wanting to think about any of that, her focus needing to be on finding the safe and hoping it was the key to locating Stefan. If Silas was out there still and Stefan was the last person to see him-and that had to be why he was wearing his face, right?-then that meant Silas had disposed of him in the watery grave they had meant for him. Hopefully without a stake through his heart. Not that drowning repeatedly for the last six weeks seemed like that much of a better alternative.
She hadn't given Damon time to ask questions after getting him to disclose where Stefan was going to drop the body off, not wanting to go into the argument he was ready to start over telling Elena about Bonnie as well as her own relationship with the Original. Caroline had gotten the location and hung up on him, reminding Matt not to let anyone inside and that Jeremy would be accompanying Elena and Damon over. Hopefully Silas couldn't make him see three people instead of one.
"I think I see it," Rebekah murmured, pointing off toward one of the cliffs and Caroline turned that way, ducking into the water and blinked as her vision adjusted to the darkness. She spotted the box in the distance and popped back up, nodding. Rebekah placed a hand on her arm, stopping the other girl from heading off. "You need to remember that he'll have been without any form of blood for weeks now and if he is alive he'll have been drowning. Dying over and over again."
"I know," Caroline replied, hating the very thought of that.
"We have no idea what his state of mind will be," Rebekah reminded, and Caroline could only nod, sharing the same worry with the other girl over how volatile Stefan might be once they opened the lid.
Without another word they swam to where the object was and worked together to pull the safe out of the water and onto one of the rocky banks. They were drenched by the time they'd gotten out and glanced at one another before looking down at the safe. Rebekah moved forward, ripping the door off by its hinges. Stefan lay inside, his skin greying but there wasn't any wood protruding from his chest and that had to be a good thing. Tilting the safe, the two let the remaining water pour out of the coffin, waiting to see what would happen, how long it would take for the vampire to wake up.
Stefan's eyes opened seconds later and he gasped frantically for air, thrashing in the safe, no doubt expecting to start drowning all over again. Air met his lungs instead of water though and the panic that rippled through him turned to confusion as he tried to make sense of the world around him. His eyes widened and narrowed as the sunlight hit him, something he hadn't experienced in far too long. His hearing was overloading, too many sounds all slamming into him at once-from the soft breeze, to the cars miles away, to the animals scurrying in the distance. He clawed at the safe around him, trying to make sense of the world, his vision still coming into focus.
"Stefan?" Caroline breathed out, unsure what to do, what to say now that they had found him.
His attention turned toward her voice, locking his gaze with hers. She offered a small reassuring smile, but wasn't sure if he even noticed it. And then his fangs elongated, veins in his face puffing out to the surface as his eyes darkened. In a flash he was out of his watery coffin and gone.
Caroline looked over at Rebekah, confused as to what had happened. Rebekah sniffed the air. "Blood," she muttered, and Caroline mimicked her, sniffing as well, and sure enough, the smell of fresh blood was being carried by the summer breeze.
"Damn it," Caroline groaned, pushing herself up off the ground where she'd been kneeling beside the safe. "We have to get to him." Because Stefan and human blood could potentially lead to down a very dark path.
"He needs to heal, Caroline," Rebekah pointed out, rising as well. "And animal blood will take forever to make that happen. He needs human blood."
Then he could have some blood bags because newly awakened Stefan might not care if he bled a human dry in order to heal, but Caroline had a feeling that her friend would care once he came to his senses and Stefan didn't need any more guilt on his shoulders. She also didn't like the idea of Silas finding him first and what could happen then. Caroline took off after Stefan, hearing Rebekah do the same and worried what they might see when they finally found him.
Stefan had found a hiker who had scraped his arms and knees after tumbling down one of the trails and was currently feeding from the young man. The man looked at the two of them, terror clearly written on his face, eyes seeming to plead for help as the life was drained out of him. "Stefan stop!" Caroline yelled, trying to push her friend off of the man.
Thankfully he wasn't back up to his usual strength and Caroline was easily able to push him away, sending him back into one of the trees and pulling the terrified man away. She ripped at the man's shirt and pressed the fabric to his wound before ripping into her wrist and pressing it to his mouth, forcing the blood down to heal him. She then locked her gaze with his. "You got disoriented on your hike, but you're okay now. You didn't see anyone else out here. You're going to go home and go out with your friends tonight and have a great time. Buy the first round of drinks."
The man murmured back the words as her own wrist healed and she watched his wounds do the same. Rebekah was holding down Stefan, forcing him to remain where he was against the tree as the man rose to his feet and headed back down the path. Stefan growled, snapping at Rebekah and trying to push her off of him. His thirst wasn't satisfied, the veins around his eyes still showing and his fangs still out. Rebekah tried to appear bored, hardly caring about his attempts to shake her off of him considering how much stronger she was than him, but Caroline could see the worry in the girl's eyes.
"Do you remember what you told me?" Caroline asked, walking over to the two. "In the bathroom after I became a vampire?" Stefan stopped snapping, stopped his thrashing and focused on her. "No matter how good it feels you'll fight it off, Stefan, that blood rush that wants to claim power over us." She mimicked the breathing he'd shown her, cupping his face in her hands like he had done to her over a year ago. "Bury it."
Stefan closed his eyes, repeating the same motion and both girls felt him relax in their grips. The veins melted away, his fangs ascended and he kept on breathing. "Caroline," Stefan finally whispered looking back at her as Rebekah released him completely. Caroline moved forward, hugging him hard and trying to keep back the tears over what he must have been going through.
He clung back to her; burying his face in her shoulder as he tried to push back all of the memories that were threatening to overpower him. Panic wanted to grip hold of him and never let go. "Silas," Stefan started, remembering why he'd been in the water in the first place.
"We already know," Rebekah replied, and he glanced over at the other vampire as he still held onto Caroline, offering as much comfort to her as he was taking. "And we need to get out of these woods before he decides to come out and play with us all over again."
"She's right, we do," Caroline stepped back from Stefan, looking him over once. "There's so much to tell you and Matt has blood bags so you can keep working on regaining your strength." Preferably without killing anyone.
Stefan nodded, at a loss for what to say, what to do. He had so many questions. Like how long he had been down in the water and why was it that Rebekah and Caroline had been the ones to find him. And since when were the two of them this civil to one another? But all of them could wait until they were out of the woods and hopefully as far from the crazy immortal that Stefan had a feeling was watching their every move.
To say that Klaus had been unsettled after Rebekah's phone call was a bit of an understatement. Silas was an enemy he had thought buried and done with, a being who wouldn't pose any sort of problem to him any longer. Part of him wanted to say to hell with the immortal, let him drop the bloody veil and get what he wanted so long as he didn't have to endure the torment of Silas in his mind again, twisting everything and causing pain Klaus had no intention of enduring ever again. It'd been on the tip of his tongue to order Rebekah and Caroline to return, ready to head to the miserable town to forcefully remove them from the situation if need be, but then Rebekah had filled him in on everything. How Silas apparently needed the Harbinger in order to accomplish his task.
The part of Klaus that was solely focused on his own survival wanted to cut his losses and turn his back on Caroline, to let her face whatever horrors the immortal had for her by her lonesome. But that part was quickly squashed, pulled out of his chest and torn into pieces before it could take root. The mere thought of leaving her to face that monster had him shaking, his hybrid features coming to the forefront, and the need to kill, to rip someone to shreds for even daring to look at her, let alone threaten her.
He'd left Elijah and key members of his pack to take care of the witches, calling in on a few favors he was owed by other witches-utilizing whatever threats or playing into their own need for the knowledge he held in his mother's grimoires or those of other witches he'd slayed through the ages to get them to come and do his bidding. He didn't trust the New Orleans witches, not after the attempt on his and Elijah's life only days before, and needed others that he believed he could rely on to look after the city until his return.
Klaus had thought of leaving it in the hands of Caroline's Coven. After all they would do everything in their power to keep up the precarious balance, but it seemed they would be accompanying him to Mystic Falls, whether Caroline approved of their travel or not. And he knew she didn't, that she'd want them as far out of the line of fire considering Silas needed them, but as her Coven they couldn't let her go unprotected when they knew she was facing a threat like Silas.
It'd have been easy enough for him to have run to Mystic Falls, but he'd commandeered a private plane and gotten himself and the Coven to the town in about six hours. Klaus had never been one to stray from using compulsion when it suited him and this was an instance where it did. They headed straight to the former Lockwood mansion, the apparent base of operations, and Klaus couldn't help but feel a bit rankled about that fact. He didn't like associating Caroline with anything that had to do with her former boyfriend, no matter how insignificant Tyler was now to her life.
"Didn't think you'd actually come back here," Damon greeted from the steps, watching the line of people exit the van Klaus had gotten for the ride into town, before looking at the Hybrid. "Heard you went and made yourself King. Delusions of grandeur are one of the top signs of insanity."
Klaus ignored him, not really caring to chat with the annoying Salvatore brother. If he had to speak with one of them he'd prefer Stefan, wherever his former friend might be. He walked up the stairs, following after the Coven and sneered when he smacked into an invisible wall. He'd forgotten that Tyler had transferred ownership over to the bartender.
"That had to hurt," Damon grinned, enjoying the moment as he stood behind the invisible barrier.
Matt came running toward the door, offering to help with the luggage, but stopped when he saw Klaus and Damon. He grimaced, not wanting to offer the invite, wanting the Original to be as far away from all of them as possible, but Matt knew that wouldn't happen. He also knew that made him a bit of a hypocrite considering Rebekah was allowed inside. "You can come in," he told Klaus, and then turned away to help one of the witches with their things. Just because he invited him in didn't mean he had to spend time in the Original's company.
"Oh come on, Matt," Damon drawled, shaking his head in disgust as Klaus stepped over the threshold. "You could have at least made him beg for it. Had a little fun with him being all helpless out there while we're all safe and cozy in here."
Klaus had Damon pushed up against the wall, hand locked around his throat, crushing his windpipe as he glared at the younger vampire. "I'm failing to see what use you have for any of us right now, Damon," he informed the boy, smiling at him as his grip tightened, other hand moving to press against the vampire's chest, fingers digging through the fabric and into his skin. "I think I'd do the world a favor if I ripped your heart out now. Would anyone really weep for your demise?"
Damon glowered back, trying to come up with a witty retort. "Stop it!" Elena yelled as she headed toward them, grabbing onto Klaus' arm to try and get him away from her boyfriend. Klaus ignored the girl, knowing it'd be easy enough for him to send her flying across the hallway, but she was Caroline's best friend and Caroline would probably not appreciate him doing so.
"Except for Elena, of course. But perhaps once you're dead and the Sire bond broken, she'll come to her senses," Klaus continued, though he doubted his own words. Damon's death would probably only send the girl into an amusing downward spiral and really, wasn't that enough reason to carry through with his threat?
"Seriously?" Caroline groaned as she headed toward the door to see what all the commotion was about. "You're not even here two seconds and you're already threatening Damon?"
Klaus couldn't help but grin at her voice, that trademark 'seriously' wrapping its way around his heart and soothing his worry about her for a moment. He could imagine the annoyance in her features, the way her nose scrunched up when she was mad at him, not happy with the actions he was choosing to do, and he released his hold on Damon, stepping away from him and the Doppelganger before turning to see Caroline. She rolled her eyes at his appreciative stare, and his smile only widened, amused that he'd been right in his assessment of how she'd look.
"Hello, sweetheart," Klaus greeted, walking over to her in quick strides, ignoring the mutterings of the other two as he looked Caroline over, needing to know for himself that she was alright. He knew burying her mother was going to take a toll on her and the Silas business would only add to that weight already on her shoulders.
"Don't you sweetheart me," Caroline grumbled, hands on her hips as she glanced back toward where her Coven was setting up their books. "I thought I made it clear that I wanted them to stay behind in New Orleans." If they were there then Silas had less of a chance of being able to use them. Now that they were in the same town as her, Caroline worried what the immortal might do to try and force her hand.
"Considering you don't want me compelling Caleb or the rest of them, nor am I allowed my other preferred means of restraint with them, you tied my hands a bit on forcing them to stay behind, Caroline," Klaus pointed out, reaching out to touch her curls, sliding the strand of hair between his fingers. He could see that she was tired, no doubt she'd been looking out for everyone but herself, and while vampires might not have needed sleep like humans did, they did need a time to rest, to relax, and he had a feeling she hadn't done either of those things since coming back to Mystic Falls.
Caroline huffed at that, turning back to look at him. She could see Damon and Elena over his shoulder, watching the two of them, their disapproval clearly written on their faces, and she nearly allowed that to keep her distancing herself from Klaus. But Caroline had missed him, had wanting nothing more than to curl up in his arms far more times than she could count in the last few days, and now that he was standing there in front of her, she wasn't about to allow her friends' looks to stop her from doing so. She stepped forward, hugging Klaus tightly as she pressed her forehead against his chest.
Klaus didn't react right away, startled by the action. He'd been certain Caroline would have wanted to be discreet, not sure what she had told the others about the two of them. That nagging doubt in the back of his mind wondered at times if there even was a two of them. It hadn't exactly been discussed before she'd left and while he clearly considered her to be his, to be his Queen, and that her place was by his side, Klaus wasn't sure what she thought of everything. He had worried that she wouldn't be returning to him, and all he'd have were memories of her in his bed, of her in his city and by his side for a few fleeting weeks and that those instances would haunt him until the end of time.
He wrapped his arms around her, unused to this sort of contact, uncertain precisely where to put his hands. Seduction he could do, it was almost second nature after so many years of using it to his advantage, but comfort was a foreign concept to him. One he hadn't doled out to anyone in so long and while he'd done it for Caroline a few times in the last few weeks, it was still something Klaus was learning how to do. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, threading his fingers through her hair as his other arm looped around her waist, holding her close.
Damon and Elena left the entryway and while Caroline heard their muttered distaste, she simply didn't care, focused on the comforting grip of Klaus' arms, on the Hybrid's scent that had somehow become something so familiar to her, something that alternated between soothing her and turning her on in seconds. "I am so in over my head," she mumbled, closing her eyes as she breathed him in, trying to take in some of the strength he seemed to silently offer. "It looked like I could hurt him some though. But he heals so quickly that I don't think it'd be fatal." Not while he was immortal at least. "And he has Katherine somewhere."
"The cure is running through her veins. He needs it to become mortal," Klaus mused, remembering Silas' need for the cure only months before. Caroline nodded against him, sighing as she stepped back. He reluctantly let her go, watching her carefully as she smoothed her shirt down, trying to get the new wrinkles out.
"Yeah. Mortal after the veil is down and destroyed and then he can die and be with his love in the afterlife," Caroline grumbled, shaking her head at the notion. If it didn't mean the destruction of pretty much everything they knew maybe it would have been a bit romantic. But considering how many would end up dying or having their own immortal afterlife disturbed for one man, Caroline was failing to have sympathy for Silas.
"No killing Elena or Damon," she told him, pointing her finger at Klaus and narrowing her eyes as she watched him. "Or Matt. Or Stefan. Or Jeremy-though you wouldn't want to with him anyway because he's still a Hunter."
"So you did find Stefan?" Klaus asked, ignoring the rest of what she'd said. He would make no promises on not disposing of any of the others if it kept Caroline, himself or Rebekah safe. The others were collateral damage to be used as needed. "He didn't meet the same end as Bonnie then."
Caroline cringed at the implication, knowing he didn't mean to sound callous about it, more so that he simply didn't care about her friend's death outside of how it had hurt her. Not to mention what had actually happened with Stefan… "Apparently Silas put Stefan in the watery grave we had planned to be his. Stefan's been drowning for the last six weeks. Bekah and I found him earlier today and got him out." She looked away, toward the room where Stefan was resting, drinking his fill of blood bags and trying to not lose it.
Klaus followed her gaze, noting the direction he surmised the other Salvatore to be located. "From your dreary expression I'd wager he's having a hard time adjusting to being outside of the case." No doubt Stefan had been confused like Klaus' siblings usually were after their daggers were removed. Except their death happened once, not repeatedly waking from death only to deal with the horror of it all over again on repeat for an unknown length of time. Klaus wondered just how mad that had made the former Ripper and if that side he enjoyed so much in the vampire would come out to play again.
Caroline nodded, sighing as she looked back at Klaus. "Yeah. So let's go strategize. Because I have a will reading to do in an hour and I'd like to get as much done as possible before then."
Klaus wasn't surprised at all that she was still working through her mother's affairs even with the threat of Silas looming on the corner. Caroline Forbes had probably been multitasking in her mother's womb and no matter how difficult the circumstances became, Klaus had a feeling that was something she would continue to do until there were no more tasks to complete. He followed after her, unable to help wondering if there would be colored index cards on the walls this time as well.
Rebekah dropped another blood bag down in front of Stefan. Perhaps they weren't the best source considering any human blood could trigger his Ripper side-not that she minded that side, after all she'd been attracted to it back in the 1920's-but after drowning repeatedly for so many weeks he needed to feed. He needed to heal his body and satiate that hunger and she wasn't about to go hunt him down enough bunnies to satisfy that craving. Personally, Rebekah didn't see the point in bunny hunting anyway. He could at least go for bigger game, like a deer or a bear. Have a little fun with the chase. She also wasn't sure how much blood one could get out of a tiny rabbit either.
Not to mention all of that fur.
She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought and Stefan chose that moment to look up at her, frowning at her expression. "What?" he grouched, already having drained the blood bag and finally feeling less jittery.
He wasn't sure how long that would last or what might set him off next. Seeing Elena and Damon earlier had sent him spiraling into chaos, pulling at his hair as he somehow managed to hyperventilate. He'd only seen either of them anymore in his dreams, in those moments when he was dead and trying to reach out to them for help, and to see them in the flesh had tricked his mind into thinking he was back in the lake, that he'd wake up from the safety of the mansion only to start the dying process all over again.
"I was just wondering how you managed to stomach rabbit blood all these years. What with the fur…" Rebekah shuddered at the thought of it and swallowed, feeling as though she had some stuck in her teeth and nearly gagged.
"You get used to it," Stefan shrugged, dropping the blood bag onto the table as he leaned back against the couch. "And bunnies are more for beginners or quick snacks."
"Oh of course," she replied, leaning back against the couch as she silently assessed him. At least he did seem to be looking better. No more greyness to his features and also no more immediate elongated fangs at the tiniest drop of blood.
"How long?" Stefan asked, having a feeling that he'd actually get the answers out of Rebekah. The others seemed less willing to talk about it. At least in Caroline's case that was because she was busy dealing with everything else that had happened. Things he didn't even fully understand yet.
"Six weeks," Rebekah told him, unwilling to sugar coat the fact. "And it seems he took your phone when he took over being you. So he kept up his little ruse with texts and voicemails after some weeks of us constantly trying to contact you."
"You tried to contact me?" Stefan asked, rubbing a hand across his face as he tried to take in what she'd said. Six weeks was a long time.
"Caroline had been and when you were hardly trying to get back to her I attempted as well." Rebekah shrugged. After learning of Bonnie's death, she'd attempted to make sure Stefan hadn't met the same fate. If only they had known…
"What's going on with her?" Stefan glanced out of the open door, watching new people walking toward another room with various books and bags. He knew something was up, but no one had tried to explain that part to him.
"Her mother is dead," Rebekah informed him, watching as Stefan closed his eyes at that news, guilt and sadness alternating on his features before he looked at her.
"What happened?" It was something he worried about often. Liz was Sheriff in Mystic Falls, a place that had somehow become a supernatural hot spot. Her deputies were often the ones taken out. It was only a matter of time before she was as well. He could only imagine how devastated Caroline had been, how much she still was over her mother's death. They might not have been very close when he'd first met them but that had changed significantly in the last year or so and Stefan knew his friend would take her mother's death very hard.
"She was murdered to get Caroline's attention in order to get my brother's attention," Rebekah replied, remembering the day they'd received the video and how Caroline had broken down in Klaus' arms. She'd been more surprised to see her brother offer the girl comfort in his own way, even if it had come with him whispering how he'd kill every last person involved.
Stefan opened his mouth to reply to that, but quickly shut it. There was movement in the hallway and they both turned their attention toward it, watching as Elena entered the room. "Hey," she greeted, brushing her hair off her face and Rebekah rolled her eyes at the gesture, turning away from the girl.
There had been a time she'd almost called the girl friend before she was stabbed in the back, another when she'd liked her with her humanity off for a bit, but she'd decided that Elena Gilbert was more trouble than she was worth. Maybe she didn't deliberately play with the Salvatore brothers hearts like Katherine did, but she was still doing it, driving a wedge between the two that shouldn't be there. Rebekah had seen it happen with Tatia and her own brothers, and then later with Katherine because of Elijah's love for her and Niklaus' desire to use her to break the curse, only to see its effect on the Salvatore brothers' centuries later. The Doppelgangers were nothing but a nuisance.
She went to rise, not wanting to be privy to whatever train crash was about to happen but stalled her movements at Stefan's hand on her arm. Rebekah looked back at him, seeing the silent plea for her to stay and she nearly did. She had loved him, had cared for him a great deal and maybe if Klaus hadn't forced their departure from one another something good could have come of it, but he had betrayed her too many times in the past year. Used her own feelings against her and Rebekah didn't want to be a fool all over again.
She shook her head at him and continued to rise, brushing off his arm and ignoring the coolness that seemed to wrap around her. "I'll get you another bag," Rebekah told Stefan, picking up the two drained ones and heading out of the room before her resolve could break.
Stefan watched her go, sighing as Elena continued into the room. He should have been happy to see her, but all seeing her did was bring up the fact that she hadn't heard him calling for her, the fact she'd broken his heart and chosen his brother. If it had been anyone else maybe it wouldn't have stung so badly, but for her to choose his own flesh and blood had been a much bigger knife to the gut. Lexi had been right. Maybe Elena had been his epic love, but he would move on. He just didn't know how long that would take and Stefan had a feeling he'd had the right idea before Silas had forced him into the safe and left him to die. He needed to get as far away from his ex and his brother as possible, to let the wounds heal, and live again.
Except that wasn't possible just yet. They were all in trouble and maybe if it had just been the town, he'd have been able to be selfish enough to slip off into the night and let the others deal with it. But Caroline was in trouble and she had been there for him too many times to leave her hanging.
"Hey," Stefan murmured back, watching Elena carefully as she sat down on a chair opposite him. Awkward didn't even begin to describe the tension that seemed to be filling the room.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked and then looked down, seeming to regret her words. No doubt she realized how awful a question that one was. How could he be okay after everything? "I mean...do you need anything?"
Stefan didn't answer; he couldn't come up with anything for it. Just looking at her seemed to start the walls crashing in on him again. He could almost hear the water, a telltale sign he was about to wake up there again, start thrashing about and trying to do anything to get himself out of the safe, only to die all over again. His hands were shaking, and he clenched them tightly, trying to stave off the panic attack.
Rebekah entered the room again, seeing the signs of him reverting to his broken state. She'd just known this was going to happen and while she wanted to leave Elena to deal with it, to walk away from the drama that was their lives, she also knew that having Elena in the room only seemed to make it that much worse for Stefan. "Come on," she demanded, pointing toward the doorway. "Get out of the room. Can't you see that you're only hurting him?"
It took Elena a minute to realize that Rebekah was referring to her and she rose from her chair, glancing at Stefan. "I'm sorry, Stefan," she murmured, looking back at him for a moment before bolting.
Rebekah closed the door, nearly locked it as well, but she figured she'd glare at anyone else who dared try to disturb him, and made her way to the couch. "You're not in the safe, Stefan. You're in the real world. Not that it's such a picnic here, but you're not dying." And that had to be a plus, didn't it?
Stefan shut his eyes, leaning back against the couch and tried the breathing technique he'd taught Caroline all those months back. Rebekah didn't move from her spot on the couch, didn't reach out for him, or offer any sort of comfort. She simply sat beside him, waiting for Stefan to come to grips with reality and ready to kick out any who might interfere with that happening.
"Am I the only one worried about a plan being created and led by Blondie?" Damon asked, snorting at the very idea of Caroline being the brains behind any operation. These people had to be losing their minds. He didn't care about whatever new apparent "superpower" she had. He wasn't even sure it really existed. Maybe Klaus wasn't the only one with delusions of grandeur.
"Because all of your plans were always so amazingly thought out and executed," Matt muttered from his spot on one of the couches, helping one of the witches sort through the books they had brought with them.
"I'm pretty sure they backfired nine times out of ten and the one time they didn't was a fluke," Jeremy added, never one to miss a chance to put down Damon, as he looked through one of Bonnie's grimoires. He could see her on the edge of the room, watching all of them, and when she was ready to talk to him and offer some insight he'd be her voice.
"The distraction part seemed to work out just fine," Damon commented, glancing over at where Caroline was sitting next to Klaus. She didn't even bother to look up at him, her focus on the map of the town in front of her.
"I'd wager not quite in the way you expected," Klaus replied, arching a brow at the younger vampire, not bothering to hide how smug he was in that moment.
"I never thought she'd stoop so low as to let you between her thighs," Damon told him, and Caroline grabbed onto Klaus' arm, trying to keep him at her side.
She could feel the tension in his body, sense the fury that seemed to surround him at Damon's comment, but the last thing they needed was a blood bath in the middle of the room. "I suggest you hold your tongue before you no longer have it," Klaus warned him, his eyes narrowing furiously.
"Didn't take you as one for sloppy seconds-" Damon continued but didn't get to finish the sentence. His tongue had swollen, overtaking his mouth and making impossible for him to speak. Elena gasped at his side, alarmed over what was happening to her boyfriend.
Davina hummed to herself as she dropped back to the ground, smoothing out her skirt as she reopened her book. "He no longer can use it," she whispered, shaking a little with amusement. "It'll go down in a minute or two. But I'll just do it again if he speaks so rudely of Caroline again."
Klaus arched a brow at the girl, unable to help being a little impressed with her antics, and eased back against the couch. He'd deal with Damon in his own way later.
Caroline rolled her eyes at all of them. She would not be pulled down into their annoying little war of words. There were more important things to focus on. "We need to look for a spell that can turn Silas to stone like Bonnie did. Something that will incapacitate him long enough for us to lock him the hell away and drop his ass off in the ocean." Or maybe carry it back to New Orleans and lock it up there somewhere. Though the thought of the New Orleans witches opening it up and trying to use Silas against all of them had her feeling rather queasy. So ocean it was.
"We could do the one-" Caleb started, and Caroline snapped up, shaking her head at the very idea of it. "It would put him out of commission, Caroline."
"And have dire consequences so no," she snapped, annoyed that he'd even thought of bringing up that one in front of the others. Caleb had brought it up to her over the phone and at first she'd been excited to hear the Coven knew of a way to stop Silas. But when he had told her that the spell required so much energy that they would end up dying she'd quickly put her foot down against using it.
There had to be another way.
"What one?" Matt asked, curious about the spell and trying not to be too amused at Damon's uncomfortableness.
"What consequences?" Klaus inquired, wanting to know if they were ones he'd find to be acceptable.
"No." Caroline stood up, glaring at Caleb. "It's not up for negotiation and you can't even do it without my permission. And I am not giving it."
"Caroline," Rebekah called from the doorway and Caroline was never more grateful for the other girl's presence. "The attorney is here."
Caroline nodded to Rebekah before looking back at the others. "We're going to find another way," she told them before leaving the room.
"What was that about?" Jeremy asked, wondering what the hell had just happened.
"She doesn't want us all to die in order to destroy Silas," Davina informed them, her voice entirely too cheery for having said that information. The others in the Coven snapped their attention to the girl before looking worriedly between one another. Caleb gently pressed some old papers into her hands, willing her to look at those instead of speaking.
"I believe it's time you let us all in on what this spell is, Caleb," Klaus ordered, looking over at the boy. If the only consequence was the death of this Coven then that was definitely something Klaus could stand behind. Even if it might bring Caroline some heartache. She'd get it over it after enough time passed.
"It doesn't matter what the spell is because we can't tap into that level of power without her permission," Caleb sighed, setting down the book he'd been looking through. "And unless someone here can convince her that our doing so would be for the greater good I don't think she's going to give it. Which is why we brought every single grimoire the Coven has and then what you'd let us from your own collection to see if we can find anything else to use."
They had all agreed that they were willing to do so before coming to the small town though. They knew of Silas, of his plan to destroy the Other Side. Perhaps if doing so would send the spirits there somewhere else it might not have been such a bad thing, but instead they would be free to roam the world again. Every single supernatural creature who had died in the last two thousand years and there would be nowhere for them to go if they died again. They'd only continue to return. The chaos that would ensue was too great and Silas needed to be stopped. No matter the consequences to themselves.
But Caroline didn't want that to be the answer. She didn't want anyone else to die in order to stop the immortal and she insisted they find another way. Caleb doubted that there was one, but they would look. If anyone could convince Caroline that their sacrifice was needed he figured it would be Klaus. He just hoped some of these other people in the room with them would look out for her when he was gone.
"That doesn't even make sense," Damon replied as best he could, grateful his tongue had deflated some. Though he pretty sure that everyone else in the room was insane. "Caroline Forbes does not have that kind of power." She was loyal and a damn good friend but the way they were all talking about the blonde vampire made no sense to him.
"She can do things now that she wasn't able to do before," Elena told him, remembering the dark light that had shined around her friend's hands. She looked over at the Hybrid, glowering at him. "I know what you're planning. You want to use her for your own gain. You knew, didn't you? What she would become? That's why you were always constantly after her."
"You would do well not to speak of matters you know nothing about," Klaus's smile was anything but pleasant as he looked over at her.
How dare this girl think she could speak to him in this way. Did she not realize that her being Caroline's friend was the only thing keeping her from death at the moment? She had killed his brother and there was nothing more that Klaus would like to do than reciprocate the favor. Though perhaps he'd kill her and slice off Jeremy's arms. He could still through that, but he'd no longer be a threat. Klaus could only imagine how Caroline would react to their deaths or dismemberment and figured he had years to exact his revenge on the Doppelganger and her kin.
"All of it. The apparent drawings. You inviting her to that ball. The prom dress. Even showing up to help Damon when she called. It was all an elaborate plan," Elena nodded, convinced that she was correct in her assessment. Why else would this ancient vampire have acted as he did with Caroline? He wasn't capable of love. That wasn't what it was. "We won't let you take her from us."
"She's her own person, Elena," Klaus replied, smirking as he rose from the couch. He could care less what the girl believed about his intentions towards Caroline as long as Caroline herself knew the truth. And she did. "I couldn't make Caroline do anything she didn't already want to do. If she chooses to leave you, it's because she's realized she has no more use for you and it's time for her to live the life she was destined to live."
"And you think that's with you," Elena shook her head, unable to believe it. There had to be compulsion involved. Something to have Caroline willingly be anywhere near the monster.
"I know it does," Klaus informed her before striding out of the room.
"Ass," Jeremy muttered, wishing for the last few weeks back that had been free of any Original drama.
"He's right though," Caleb murmured, looking back down at the books. "Whatever Caroline decides to do is up to her, not any of us. You can't force her to do anything." And not just because he and the rest of the Coven would stop them if they even dared to try, but because it was ultimately Caroline's decision and no one else's.
"What's keeping her here anymore anyway, Elena?" Matt pointed out. Her mother was dead. Why in the world would Caroline want to stay in the town? He didn't even really any longer. But he had the mansion and a job and maybe once he figured out what he wanted to do with his life he'd leave as well. But he couldn't fault Caroline for wanting to get the hell out of their town.
"She's our friend, Matt," Elena couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't lose her too. Not with Bonnie being truly gone. She needed Caroline in her life.
"It's not like she's dying, Elena," Jeremy murmured, concentrating on the book in front of him so he didn't have to look at his sister.
"She said we could visit," Matt added, before turning his own attention back to his book.
Elena glared at the doorway that Klaus had exited, barely hearing the others' words. Maybe she couldn't force her friend to do anything but she sure as hell was going to try and knock some sense into her before it was too late and Caroline had made what Elena considered to be the biggest mistake of her life.
Locked to a radiator wasn't exactly how Katherine had wanted to spend the day, but at least the immortal hadn't made good on his threat to break her limbs to keep her from running away. Movies had made it look so damn easy to get out of the damn things and she'd been trying for hours to do so, utilizing whatever she was able to get her hands on to try and pick the lock or break the chain. Tried to twist her hands to somehow slip out of them and had even contemplated breaking her own hand to somehow get them off, but she'd decided not to do that until she knew for certain it would help her remove the handcuffs.
The sound of the door being unlocked had her on high alert, attention snapping toward it and waiting to see Silas. Instead it was a young woman who entered with a tray of food. Katherine opened her mouth to speak.
"Don't even bother," the woman snapped, setting the tray down on the floor before her. The grapes rolled off the plate at the impact, sandwich sliding undone and bottle of water rolling away. She kicked it back toward Katherine. "Ain't supposed to listen to a word you say anyway."
Katherine narrowed her eyes, mentally cursing Silas as the woman left as quickly as she'd arrived. Part of her thought of pushing the food away, but she was starving and hadn't eaten since the night before. She looked over the tray for anything that she might be able to use in the situation but there wasn't anything small enough to work into the keyhole. No matter, she'd just keep looking out for an opportunity to escape or get the upper hand somehow.
She had not survived for the last five hundred years to only die because of some madman's absurd true love fantasy. And so maybe she also had Caroline to worry about after leading her mother to the slaughter, but new Harbinger powers or not, she wasn't about to let the small town blonde be her downfall either.
Caroline pressed her forehead against the door after she closed it, thankful that the attorney was leaving. It wasn't that he wasn't a nice man, Elena had been right in her assessment of him. It was more that going over everything that had to do with her mother's will and estate had drained her considerably. She could only imagine how it had been for Steven and her mother after her father had died. She hadn't been part of that process aside from attending the funeral. No wonder her mother had seemed even more exhausted that week.
She couldn't help but think that she should have helped around the house more than or not complained about who knew what that week, but it didn't really any longer. There wasn't any way to change what had happened in the past, how she had behaved, and her mother and she had parted on good terms, just as she had done with her father, and didn't that mean something?
There was still so much to do, plans to be made, and she needed to find out if the others had made any headway on finding another spell. Because they had to. She refused to let them all die to stop Silas. Enough people had died and Caroline knew that more would eventually, that was life, but she couldn't stomach the thought of more dying because of him. There were tons of spells in the world. There had to be another one that worked. She wouldn't settle for anything less.
Pushing away from the door, she headed toward where she'd left the others but steered to the right to check in on Stefan. Rebekah had been watching him, which Caroline could only imagine how awkward that must have been after everything the two had been through, but it seemed like a better idea than having Elena do it. Being around her or Damon only seemed to set him off on a panic attack.
Caroline quietly opened the door, peeking her head inside and quirked her lips at the two of them drinking bottles of rum. 'I've got this,' Rebekah mouthed and Caroline nodded, shutting the door again before Stefan could notice her. He had enough drama going on with him without her adding her own.
She wasn't even five feet away from the door when Elena stepped into her path. "We need to talk," her friend started, and Caroline glanced up at the ceiling, mentally counting to ten and reminding herself that Elena didn't deserve to be the outlet of her growing frustration.
"What about?" Caroline asked, hoping this was going to be something relevant to everything that was happening. Maybe Jeremy had an idea from some Hunter source or whatever. She couldn't help but be a little optimistic.
"Klaus." And just like that, all of her optimism deflated in an instant.
"Elena, we are not doing this right now," Caroline sighed, and moved to step around her, but Elena was having none of it and stepped with her, blocking her path.
"He is using you," Elena started, wanting to get it all out in one fell swoop. She knew if she gave Caroline a chance to interrupt that the other girl would. "He probably knew you were destined to be this Harbinger or whatever it is since the beginning. He's got plans on top of plans. We all know this. He's probably been working on this one for a thousand years like the breaking the curse one."
"If he'd known about what I am now back then he'd have killed me on sight," Caroline replied, taking hold of Elena by her arms and forcefully moving her out of the way. "And I meant it when I said I wasn't doing this now. Feel free to try and convince me that Klaus is only using me for whatever another day. I just had to figure out what to do with my mother's estate so excuse me if I'm not in the mood to discuss anything else of importance right now."
What she wanted to do was drink and Caroline knew where all the good liquor was stashed in the house-well unless Matt had moved it-and so she headed away from her sighing friend and toward the room Tyler had always hidden a couple bottles inside. She didn't expect to find anyone else in it and she definitely didn't expect to find Klaus inside of it. Caroline blinked when she spotted him lounging on one of the couches drinking whiskey straight from the bottle.
It reminded her of only a few months back when Hayley, Tyler and her had been trying to trick him with the whole breakup plan. What fools they all had been. She quickly strode across the room and took the bottle from him, taking a long sip as he pulled her down to sit on his lap. Caroline didn't say a word, just leaned back against his chest as she drank more. She wasn't in the mood to chat, her mind a mess of emotions and words and too much going on in it. She was tense, her whole body seemed to be in knots, and she hated that feeling. Her control seemed to be slipping through her fingers and she didn't know how to grab hold of it again.
If Klaus had heard her conversation with Elena in the hallway-which she was certain he had since his hearing was better than her own-he didn't mention it. Instead he slipped his hand under her top, fingers ghosting along the skin above the hem of her skirt which caused shivers to run up her spine. She had missed his touch, his hands on her and her own on him had been something she might not have experienced a whole lot of, but what she had experienced had her craving more.
His other hand swept her hair away from her neck, exposing the skin there to him and Caroline closed her eyes when she felt his breath on it before his lips were pressing against her. She let out a contented sigh, relaxing a little, before tensing all over again as Klaus' hand drifted to her thighs, tugging her skirt higher. "You're tense," he murmured, nibbling on the shell of her ear and drifting his fingers against the side of her panties.
Caroline was well aware of what he was intending to do next and she whimpered at the thought, all for him helping her release some of her tension, but they were in the Lockwood house. Her ex-boyfriends house. The house of Mrs. Lockwood who he had murdered. She didn't know if she could let Klaus pleasure her like that on the very couch that her and Tyler had made out on before. "You're overthinking," he continued, fingers drawing over the satiny material and she sucked in a breath, done with thinking for the moment, and he ripped the thin fabric from her body before she could protest.
"I liked those," she grumbled, eyes shutting again as his fingers moved back to draw languid circles against her thighs, just ghosting along her core. She shifted them further apart to give him more access and wanted to punch him when he laughed against her neck, entirely too amused.
"I'll buy you new ones," Klaus replied, even more delighted when he found out that she was already wet for him. "Someone's eager."
"Someone hasn't been getting any since she left New Orleans," Caroline hissed, hips pressing up into his hand. One of his hands moved to her stomach, holding her against him as his other fingers sought out the bundle of nerves he knew she was desperate for him to touch. Klaus barely brushed against her clit, lips pressing against her shoulder, further amused when she whimpered in need. "You're making me more frustrated."
Klaus nipped her shoulder then, causing Caroline to reach back and grasp onto his neck to keep her from rocking too hard. "There are others in the house, sweetheart," he reminded, not really caring how loud she got from his ministrations but knowing that she would probably prefer no one else stumble upon them.
He loved the way her body reacted to his touch, the flush of her chest, her breathing becoming slightly erratic as her hips moved to the way his fingers rubbed. Her eyes were shut again, head pressed back against his shoulder as one of her hands clung to his arm against her stomach, the other clutching his shoulder. He had half a mind to bring her nearly to the brink multiple times, have her plead with him to give her release, but he'd seen how exhausted she'd been earlier in the day and that only seemed to have deepened in the last few hours.
Klaus expertly moved his fingers against her clit, knowing she was already close enough that he didn't need to do anything else, that she truly had missed his touch over the last few days. "That's my girl," he breathed into her ear as she finally got the release she'd desired. Klaus smoothed her skirt back into place, bringing his fingers to his mouth and licking them clean as she breathed, slowly coming down from her high.
Caroline was too tired to even say anything about his possessive statement, but made a mental note to discuss it later. She could feel how hard he was beneath her and didn't want to leave him hanging. Not to mention she wanted to feel him inside of her, but she couldn't do that inside the house. She might not have loved Tyler as she once did anymore, but that seemed like an awful way to honor his mother's memory.
"You, me, outside, now," Caroline told Klaus as she rose, yelping when he did so as well, far quicker than she had and looping an arm around her waist.
She didn't expect for him to dash them outside the house and into the surrounding woods, not far from the house, still within sight but far enough away for her to be comfortable with what they were planning on doing. And Caroline knew that Klaus had an idea of what she was after considering he had her pressed up against the nearest tree and was sliding his hands under her shirt again.
It was her turn to laugh at his eagerness and she shoved him away, pushing him toward another tree as she tugged her shirt over her head. His gaze raked over her body, licking his lips as he took her in all over again. He couldn't help but be reminded of when he'd been in Tyler's body, how they'd gotten to this point then, but he would have been damned if the first time he truly tasted Caroline Forbes it was in that particular body.
Klaus enjoyed when she attempted to take control of the situation, ripping his shirt from his body as she kissed him hard. His hands were tangled in her hair, giving as good as he received as he turned them around again, letting her back hit the tree instead. His fingers dug into her scalp when she deliberately pressed her body against his lower half, letting her hand stroke him through the fabric of his pants.
The snapping of a stick had them pulling apart and whirling in that direction. "No please, don't let me stop you," Silas told them, a menacing grin gracing his lips as he looked them over. Klaus grabbed Caroline, forcing her behind him and trying to keep her body out of the immortals sights. "I see you decided to let him ruffle those perfect little feathers."
"Go to hell," Caroline replied, glaring at the man.
"Not in the plans, love," Silas mimicked Klaus' voice, causing the Hybrid to tense at the notion, and Caroline hissed. Klaus let out a growl as he fell to his knees, pain erupting all over his body as the immortal dug its way into her head. "So your Coven is here. Good."
Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, sending a wave of light at him and causing Silas to falter and step back. Pain seemed to wrack through his body as well then and she sent another wave, trying to force him to leave the property or at least release his hold on Klaus. The last wave she sent seemed to do the trick as Klaus pushed himself off the ground, Hybrid features showing as he glared at the immortal.
"We're going to play a game, Caroline," Silas told her. "One I think you'll love. Or well, no actually I'll be the one who loves it. It's called how many citizens of Mystic Falls can I kill every hour before you give me what I want? It starts tomorrow at noon. Be a good girl and have your Coven do what it needs to before then."
He was gone before either of them could react and Caroline reached for Klaus, trying to see what kind of damage Silas had managed to do to him. Klaus nearly pushed her away, reminded of the last time when Silas had attacked his mind and the false Caroline who had come to him at first. "We're going to end him," Caroline murmured, staring hard at the darkness where Silas had disappeared into.
That was his Caroline. Klaus knew it and picked her shirt up off the ground, throwing it to her. "You're going to need to make a decision you won't like, Caroline. No matter what you choose people will die. It's only a matter of how many at this point," Klaus pointed out, watching her carefully as she pulled her shirt back on.
She didn't want him to be right but she knew that Klaus was correct in his assessment of the situation. Either they continued to look for spells that might work and probably got to the hour Silas would start killing people she'd known all of her life. Or she'd grant her Coven permission to take him down and they would end up dying. A rock and a hard place had never seemed more apt to her than in that moment.
"I know," she replied, looking back at Klaus. Though she had no idea which way she would choose. No one deserved to die except Silas and even then, did he? After all, he had been cursed as well. But he'd made his bed, intent on killing others and destroying the Other Side so he could get what he wanted, the rest of the world be damned.
Now she needed to make her own decision and Klaus was right. No matter which way she chose someone was going to die. Caroline didn't have a clue how she was going to decide and for the first time in a long while found herself hating her new status. A niggling feeling in the back of her mind was trying to tell her that the answer was obvious but her exhaustion was making it hard to concentrate fully on anything at the moment. The adrenaline rush she'd been experiencing with Klaus was gone.
"I need blood and then we are going to sit down and do a pros and cons list and figure this out," Caroline muttered, heading back toward the house. After they had changed clothes because she really didn't want to hear Elena's heavy sighs or deal with Damon's dirty comments over their current state of dress.
A/N: Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, liking, etc the last chapter and so on. I don't have anything snappy to say this time so I'll leave it at I hope you enjoyed and the next update should be around Friday!
Have a great New Year everyone!