Thanks again for your reviews and also to anyone who is following, favouriting or only reading this story! The response is brilliant!=) Thank you!

So, here comes the next chapter. I guess there will be three or four more including the epilogue, but nothing is really set in stone yet.^^
I am sorry for the mistakes I made. I tried to erase as many as possible!

I hope you will enjoy it!=) Fell free to follow, favourite or review!

Title: How Far We've Come - Matchbox20

"Klaus!"

The brush in his hand kept moving as if nothing could disturb it. The hand behind it was steady and it kept calmly drawing line after line and colouring stroke by stroke the white canvas in front of him until it would magically transform into a beautiful piece of art that should have been kept somewhere in a museum protected from the sun light.

"Klaus!"

Beethoven's Symphony No 9 filled the room with violins, flutes and cellos. It was as if a whole orchestra was playing full blast right there in the room. He dipped the brush into the red paint and added another line onto the canvas in front of him. Thanks to his impeccable hearing he was able to hear the calls anyways but despite that fact he pretended not to hear the loud angry footsteps on the stairs over the loud Ode to Joy.

The door flew open then as if a wild animal had jumped violently against it almost breaking the hinges.

"Klaus!" Heavy breathing followed the loud voice.

The hybrid finished his lines unhurriedly before he put the brush into a glass of water. He calmly turned the volume of the stereo down with the remote control before he turned around with a smug expression on his face.

"Now, stop the screaming mate, would you? I have already heard you miles away. What is it that you want?" The smirk never left his face when he looked at his hybrid in front of him.

Tyler's fists were clenched and his shoulders were tensed. He almost trembled with fury and fear.

His throat was suddenly dry.

Klaus stepped towards him. "What is it, mate? You look pretty desperate."

"You did this!" The other snarled and there were angry tears in his eyes and his voice. "It's all your fault!"

He screamed.

"What is?" Klaus asked innocently.

"I bit Caroline!" Tyler was furious. He could hardly contain himself not to punch Klaus right across the smirking face. He wanted nothing more than to wipe that mocking stare right of his bastard face.

"Did you not?" Klaus was still smugly playing the innocent. "Why would you do that?" His raspberry lips were pulled into an amused grin and his eyes flashed eerily joyful.

"You need to save her!" Tyler told him despite the fact that he wanted to kill him which of course he couldn't. Would never be able to. And Caroline would die without his help. She would suffer through hallucinations and simply fade away and there was nothing Tyler could do about instead of begging Klaus to save his girlfriend's life.

"Do I?"

"Please, you are the only one who can save her!" His voice cracked.

Klaus licked his lips enjoying watching Tyler struggle with his tears.

"And I think you are right there." He turned around to grab his glass of Bourbon that was resting next to his easel. He raised it to his lips and took a sip.

"I will do what you want, but please save her! She has nothing to do with this!"

Klaus raised a finger. "And I think that is where you are wrong. I think she distracts you too much from your duties."

The tears were silently running down Tyler's face while his chest was so tied up with fear that he couldn't get any air into his lungs.

"Save her!" Tyler yelled anxiously while he suppressed a sob. "I will do everything you say!" His chest ached from the chains around his lungs.

Klaus turned around still grinning to himself. He placed the glass back to where it had been standing before. But his grin suddenly froze when Tyler uttered silently:

"Don't let her die on her birthday."

The grin vanished for a second and his forehead crumbled.

However, when he looked at Tyler again the grin was back in place as if it had never left his face.

"Now, why didn't you say that before. I guess congratulations are in order." He stepped towards Tyler and stopped only inches in front of him. Klaus looked down at his subject. "Do not forget your place, mate. You will do as I say!" He growled dangerously and added in a lighter and amused tone. "I dare say that you won't have any choice."

The hybrid left the room without another word but the air behind him definitely screamed victory.

Tyler's shoulder slumped forward and he buried his face in his hands.

Klaus rubbed his face when the memories came back to him as if it had been yesterday.

Back then Caroline had been the means to put Tyler into his place and to get the Sheriff's support.

Back then she had been nothing but collateral damage.

Klaus stared at the empty canvas in front of him. His muse wouldn't strike him today, which wasn't too surprising since Caroline had probably taken her with her. She had always been his inspiration, so right now he looked at a white endless waste land and the memories that formed clear pictures in front of his eyes looked as if he was watching a black and white movie.

"Are you going to kill me?" Her voice was so small and her eyes showed remorse and fear.

"On your birthday? You really think that low of me?" He asked a bit incredulous even though it shouldn't surprise him.

But then she did surprise him.

"Yes!"

Not many dared to talk honestly with him and maybe that was why he had been taken in by her, because even on her deathbed she had determinedly looked into his eyes and told him that she didn't think there was any good inside of him, even when he was the only one able to save her life.

He was used to people who would desperately beg him to spare them from death. He had heard it all over the centuries. People always got desperate in their last hour and promised him everything under the sun, lied to him.

But Caroline didn't beg when he entered the room. She made sure that he knew that she despised him and that was something new.

He wondered: had he attempted to kill her would she have begged for her life? Maybe.

Klaus took the blanket to examine the bite. "That looks bad." He wanted to keep up appearances and play the role of the saviour never the less. "My apologies, you were known as collateral damage it's nothing personal." But Caroline didn't grant him that role. She stared at him as if she wanted to say: Spare me that crap!

She had spunk and he liked that, plus that even in death she still looked radiant and it intrigued him how someone could keep this light so bright even with that malice in her eyes. It was hypnotizing.

"I love birthdays."

Caroline scoffed. "Aren't you like a billion or something?"

Klaus had wanted to laugh at her when she had said that. "You have to adjust your perception of time when you become a vampire Caroline. Celebrate the fact that you're no longer bound by trivial human conventions. You're free."

"No, I am dying." He realized that she really didn't believe that he would save her and yet she still would keep up appearances.

She was so young. It was only her first birthday as a vampire and she was ready to die? Seriously?

Suddenly Klaus had felt strange. Suddenly he felt like he needed to persuade her to not let him be the one that would extinct her light.

She wouldn't simply stoop and beg.

Just like him.

Klaus grabbed the canvas hastily and with a scream he tore at the white linen. It ripped apart with a nasty tearing sound.

He couldn't face his memories anymore.

He broke the frame as well. It cracked loudly and fell with a hollow echoing sound onto the floor.

He just couldn't.

It had been that first vampire birthday when he had actually spoken to her for the first time.

The white pieces of the linen sailed to the floor like feathers where they settled down silently.

It had been the first time after centuries that he had lain awake all night long to think about someone who should not have mattered to him at all and yet he remembered how he had not gotten her image out of his mind for the whole night.

There was a knock at the door.

Klaus growled. "What?" He was in no mood for company and kept staring at the empty easel.

"Nik." Rebekah slipped carefully into the studio. She looked at the torn pieces on the floor and stepped hesitantly closer trying to figure out how bad it was. "Are you okay?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Bekah. Why would I not be?" He asked defiantly in a low voice turning away from her.

Instead of snapping Rebekah smiled friendly. She had fought with Stefan earlier about how to handle Klaus these days and she had let herself be talked around into trying to stay calm and show understanding. It was not easy for her to show sympathy for Klaus who hadn't shown her much sympathy himself over the past thousand years, but Stefan had persuaded her to try and be the greater one of them. His attitude was definitely rubbing off on her and Rebekah had wondered how good Stefan really was for her, but only for a second though.

"You trying to paint?" She asked.

"What do you want, Rebekah?" Klaus snarled aggressively.

"I just thought that…"

"What about this idle chitchat?"

Rebekah sighed. This was harder than she had thought! "Okay fine, but no one can tell me that I didn't try!" She mumbled impatiently giving up.

Klaus gnawed his teeth. He had recently developed a new sense for when he reacted too rash and Rebekah was obviously disappointed, but he wouldn't admit it that easily.

He watched how Rebekah crossed her arms and looked at her foot kicking a piece of the ripped canvas through the room. She looked as frustrated as he felt.

Klaus was just about to say something, even though he couldn't give her the comfort that he could as well use himself, when Kol strode into the room without knocking.

"Nik I need to talk to you."

He gave him an annoyed look. "About what?"

"Bonnie…"

Rebekah raised her head curiously.

"What about her?" Klaus asked suddenly alerted.

"You know how you said that she might have contacted you. Well, I certainly did speak to her and…"

"Wait what? Contacted you? How? She isn't awake, is she?" Rebekah asked confused, but Klaus didn't listen to her, for all his focus was solely on Kol now.

"What did she say?" His voice was quiet as if he was out of breath.

Kol stalled. "The witches have Caroline."

Klaus hit the easel that fell with a loud thud to the ground. "Bloody witches!" He had suspected as much.

"There's more." Kol went on quickly. "They formed a hex which will be completed by Davina's death. Their aim is it to extinct the vampires. So they hexed a virus that will age a vampire in weeks until he turns into a pile of ashes. Once the spell is completed the vampire who has it now is able to contribute it to other vampires and once they are infected they will be able to contribute it as well. As soon as they bite someone they will infect each other and slowly the vampire race will extinct."

Rebekah laughed out loud. "This is a joke right?"

"I wish it was."

Klaus was breathing heavily and his jaw muscles worked uncontrollably.

"There's one more thing." Kol added. "The vampire is called Larron. I didn't know where I have heard his name before but now I remember. We met him the day when we freed Josh. And he has one extra speciality. He is able to compel Caroline. I guess that as soon as he is able to infect vampires he will compel them to spread the virus."

Klaus dug his nails into his palms. "I am going to kill them all!"

"They need to finish the spell within the next two days which means that they will act any time now. We have to start preparing ourselves."

Caroline knew what was about to come.

She stared at the painting on the wall and waited.

The painter had used vibrant colours and simply made an uninspiring mess of them on the canvas. The strokes looked uncoordinated and random. There was no love in the painting what so ever. The artist seemed to have been in a rush instead of taking his time to choose the colours and mix the right nuances. He hadn't picked out the canvas carefully to check out on any flaws of the material. He hadn't considered any brushes that would have probably worked better for the thick paint. He didn't spend much time with his work and scrawled his tag carelessly in one of the corners creating a black mess.

In short he hadn't done anything that Klaus would have done.

Or maybe Caroline was just imagining all of this because she wanted to see differences between this work and Klaus' works.

Last night she had had some kind of a breakdown when she had heard his voice. Her morning had been horrible and actually being able to hear his voice had brought back many feelings that she hadn't been prepared for.

It was as if suddenly becoming homesick by the sound of your parents' voice or a familiar smell or the sight of something familiar when you are far far away from home. Yes, she was homesick and that was why she had to change her strategy.

That she had managed to get her hands on a phone had been a total coincidence, but today she would be cleverer. She was a fighter and she would fight!

There were steps in front of her door and it opened after a short knock.

She smiled determinedly. She would get out of this nightmare!

"Hello Princess."

"Hi."

Larron stepped into the room and closer to her. "How are you feeling today?"

Worse than yesterday. "I am fine."

He returned her smile and looked her up and down. Then he squinted and closed the distance between them. Caroline tried her best to refrain from taking a step back. She pressed her teeth together and held her breath. Larron's hand reached out and he pushed a strand of her blond hair back behind her ear. She forced her hands to stay put instead of slapping him across the face.

"Your hair looks different today."

Crap! She forgot to pull it up in that stupid bun. She had been more focused on getting that horrible make up right.

Her heart started to beat quicker the longer Larron stared at her.

She smiled and tried to distract him from the little fault. "I thought I would try something new. Don't you like it? I can pull them up if you like me more like that?"
Uh, she shuddered at herself and felt disgusted. She would never ever say something like that.

But Larron seemed to be satisfied; at least his smile didn't fade.

"No, I like your hair like this."

Caroline quickly turned around and away from him. Her face immediately contorted into a disgusted mask. She took a deep breath to soothe herself. Come on, you can do this!

"Why are you so gloomy today, Princess?"

Do not call me Princess!

She hated that pet name. It made her whole body shudder with disgust.

She turned around with a smile on her face. "Gloomy? Why would I be gloomy on my birthday?"

"Your birthday?"

Oh no!

"I believe that celebrations are in order on such a special day, don't you think?"

Caroline! Why the hell did you say that? Why the hell couldn't you just have shut your stupid mouth! There was only one person in the whole world with whom she wanted to celebrate that she was no longer bound by trivial human conventions.

"Do you have a wish, Princess?"

Oh…maybe this isn't that bad! "Mh…" She turned towards the window to look outside longingly. "I would love to see the garden."

Larron put his hands onto her shoulders from behind and Caroline's expression became sour again. She wanted to yell and scream. Don't touch me! But her lips stayed quiet.

"I am afraid that will not be possible. But Tiana is stopping by later, maybe she can bring some flowers?" He turned her around and smiled at her and Caroline fought to smile back.

"That would be nice."

Still smiling Larron closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers. Caroline bit down on the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood.

The other one withdrew but was still smiling. "I will leave you now, Princess."

Caroline nodded.

When the door closed she slumped down onto the bed and hit her face in her hands while she shook it wildly from side to side. She suppressed to scream.

Even though she wanted to jump right out of her skin pretending was way better than having your memory raped without being able to remember or do something against it.

She didn't know why Larron failed to compel her but she guessed that it might have something to do with her mating bond. No one could make her forget Klaus, now she just had to pretend long enough until she could get out of here.

"It is only a question of time until the witches will come here to look for Davina. We need to prepare ourselves." Rebekah said loudly.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They had hardly two days left and there were still so many unanswered questions hanging inside the room like a dark cloud. Damon looked particularly grim and had his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Could be a problem without Judgy." He replied grumpily.

Everyone stole a short glance at the ceiling where Bonnie was sleeping peacefully and soundly. Davina was trying to reach out to her but no one actually believed that she could provoke any change. However, it kept her occupied which had been Elijah's plan all along even though Kol didn't seem to like it at all. He was very quiet anyway, still pondering about those strange feelings that he was feeling lately. Especially in the dream with Bonnie.

He wanted to laugh at himself and shake it off, but somehow he couldn't do that and he felt strangely ashamed of himself which made him feel even more bad about something that should be good.

Elijah was his usual calm self though:

"We will find another witch. Kol?" Elijah asked looking at his younger brother who raised his eyebrows at him looking annoyed. He grinned grimly when everyone waited for an answer.

"Lucky for you lot that I already did make a few calls and that my alliances still owe me. They will arrive today."

"Who will?" Elena asked curiously. Kol grinned cockily.

"The SinLuna twins."

"SinLuna?" Elena wanted to know.

"Twins?" Damon asked.

"Another ancient line of witches, but of course you don't know that." He replied arrogantly.

"They are black witches." Stefan told them having heard the name before some time, but he had never actually met them.

"And? Who cares? Bonnie is not here to give us any crap about it." Damon replied and Elena pushed her elbow into his side. Damon raised his eyebrows at her as if asking: What!?

"Well, let's hope they won't screw us over!" Rebekah said sternly looking at Kol.

"Not the least bit of trust in me sister, I am disappointed."

"They are the best chance we got at the moment." Elijah said knowing that they were powerful witches. He looked at his other brother who was so unusually quiet these days.

Klaus was thoughtful and especially today he looked very much distracted and Elijah wondered why.

Klaus caught his eyes and his lips twitched.

"They will not dare to screw us over, as you so poetically put it, Rebekah." He said sarcastically. "If you excuse me now." He added and walked out of the door leaving everyone to stare after him.

"This is really eating at him, isn't it?" Damon asked and everyone groaned at the stupid remark.

Elijah looked after Klaus with sad eyes and decided to follow him. He knew that Klaus wouldn't want to have any company, but he didn't want to leave him alone right now.

Klaus simply needed some air so he stepped outside of the house into the still new morning.

The grass and leaves were still wet from the night and the sun hasn't really dared to show its head yet, but the white small puffy clouds promised a sunny day.

"How do you feel?" Elijah asked quietly.

The patio seemed to be their recent meeting point.

Klaus didn't look at his brother. His hands tightened the grip around the banister. "It's her birthday today." He simply whispered and Elijah saw the pain in his brother's face that he wished he could wipe away. Being the older brother he felt strongly responsible for his younger sibling's wellbeing.

"What better motivation is there than that of giving Caroline her freedom back?" He asked.

And a small smile ghosted over Klaus' lips.

He would love to grant her that wish.

"This family has always stood together if one of us was in danger despite all of our differences." Elijah went on. "And it will be no different this time." Caroline has long become a vital part to them and would forever be from now on.

Elijah wanted to turn around and walk away, but Klaus called him back.

"Elijah." The older one looked at him. "I thank you." He said honestly and Elijah nodded. Somehow it was easier for him to tell Elijah what he couldn't tell Rebekah or Kol.

"Tiana." Larron greeted her as he walked down the stairs with Caroline on his arm.

Caroline sighed and played their game as good as she could. In her mind, however, she saw a different scenario then the one in front of her.

Larron smiled at her and Caroline smiled back but her facial expression didn't fit the bright smile. Her eyes were cold and calculating and her smile turned into a cruel mask. Larron widened his eyes and was about to open his mouth to say something, maybe to compel her again. But Caroline was quick with the reflexes of a still young vampire. Before Larron could react she cried out aggressively and pulled his arm onto his back.

She heard his loud and painful screams in her ears when his bones broke with a loud crack. His shoulder was dislocated and his whole arm was on fire with pain. Caroline sneered and pushed him onto the floor. While Larron tumbled down the stairs she focused on Tiana and flashed towards her. Tiana gaped at her open mouthed and was too stunt to react quickly. Just when she was about to give her a headache Caroline grabbed her neck and bit down into her main artery. The blood that she didn't manage to swallow trickled out of the corners of her mouth. It ran down her throat and left a burning trail behind.

She licked her lips.

"Princess? Are you thirsty?"

Caroline quickly shook her head and snapped out of her daydream. She noticed the slight pulsing on her face and realised that her veins were crawling under her eyes. She swallowed the sour taste in her mouth and forced her true face to disappear again. The veins morphed back into her skin and nothing of the bloodthirsty creature was left.

"Uhm, I am fine, I guess." She answered and Larron nodded.

But when she looked at Tiana she saw the suspicion vividly in her eyes.

Caroline flipped her hair back and tried to make an indifferent face towards her. Hopefully her acting skills wouldn't fail her now. Tiana wrinkled her nose once, but focused on Larron after that.

Caroline exhaled inaudibly.

"We need to discuss the details." Tiana announced. "The coven is ready."

Larron motioned for her to go into the living room where they sat down on the big couches.

He pulled Caroline down next to him and Caroline tried not to shudder and slide away from him.

"What is your plan then?"

"We discussed it with the wolves already. They will help us fight the vampires off so we can get the girl."

"How do you plan to do that?" Caroline suddenly asked and immediately bit her tongue. Crap!

Tiana scowled at her and again Caroline focused on her indifferent vacant expression. "From what I gather they are no easy targets, are they?" She asked cautiously and more calmly than before.

Larron didn't seem to notice. "Yes Princess, they are."

Tiana licked her lips and still looked at Caroline before she continued warily. "Well, they will form a distraction. The coven will station themselves close to the well of the Saint Louis Cathedral from which they can draw power."

"Power for what?" Larron wanted to know.

Tiana shot another glance at Caroline and it was obvious that she didn't trust her. But she needed to know the plan! Maybe she could do something!

She suddenly cleared her throat as if she had been in a trance. "Uhm, I guess I am going to get myself some blood. I am thirsty."

Larron trailed his hand along her arm when she stood up to walk into the kitchen. His fingers left acidly goosebumpy behind on her arms. When she had her back to the other two people she grimaced with an utter look of disgust and scratched at the skin until it was red. She wanted to shower and rub her skin off of herself until every trace of Larron and herself was gone.

When she walked over the threshold and disappeared into the kitchen and out of view her shoulders dropped. Her whole stance loosened and her muscles slackened. She rubbed over her face once and drew a deep breath.

Come one Caroline, focus!

She told herself and put her hands up to her ears to focus on her vampire hearing.

The voices were muffled but the words were clear.

"How are you planning on getting the girl?"

"We will call upon her powers of the dead witches and draw them towards us. She will come on her own which is why we need the wolves to distract the vampires. We mustn't screw this up."

Caroline gasped. That was their plan?

Her thoughts raced through her mind and she tried to come up with something that she could use.

"Found your blood?" Tiana suddenly asked from behind her.

Caroline spun around and tried to come up with an excuse. "I just figured out that we ran out of B positive."

Tiana squinted at her and Caroline gulped. Had she called her bluff?

Her eyes peeked at the door when she tried to search for an escape route, but the small gesture hadn't gone unnoticed.

Tiana jumped forward and yanked at her hair violently. Caroline screamed and clawed at Tianas' hands.

"I knew that you weren't compelled anymore!" The witch snarled and Caroline screamed again when she felt the familiar pressure in her head.

"You cannot compel me and you won't intimidate me anymore!" She pressed through her teeth. With as much force as she could muster she pushed the witch against the wall. Her vampire voice showed its violence and a grave snarl echoed through the room.

Larron appeared behind her in the door and stared shocked at Caroline's vampire face.

She was about to jump at him to sink her teeth into his neck, but a stinging pain hit her and she fell onto the floor. Her hands held her head and she tried to cover her ears but the sounds were right inside of her head and she couldn't avoid them.

Tiana pointed her palm towards her.

Larron watched the screaming and writhing animal on the floor.

Elijah had decided to make Davina his own responsibility since no one seemed to really care about her. Besides Kol would probably never speak to him again if something happened to Bonnie while Davina was in the same room which was unlikely to happen anyway, but you know what they say about coincidences.

Being his usual polite self he knocked before he entered the bedroom. The picture before him was exactly what he had expected.

Bonnie was lying on the bed while her chest was rising and sinking as if someone was using a pair of bellows to pump air into her before sucking it all out again.

Davina was sitting with her knees raised to her chin on the plush chair behind the bed simply staring at the unconscious witch. Josh must have been pacing because he was standing in the middle of the room.

"I just wanted to inquire if everything is fine in here." Elijah asked looking around.

Davina nodded with sad eyes. She licked her lip and Elijah waited for what she had to say. Her voice was so low that it could have been easily mistaken for the squeak of a mouse.

"I don't think I can do anything for her."

Elijah smiled sympathetically at her. "Do not worry about it. We will find a way to wake her up. It is not your responsibility."

He stepped closer to the bed and looked at Bonnie's face. She really looked as if she was about to open her eyes. Elijah squinted when he thought that her cheek had twitched. He narrowed his eyes and waited. But it didn't happen again. He had probably imagined it.

Meanwhile Josh threw a look at Davina and nodded at Elijah.

Davina bit her cheek looking at Josh and shaking her head slowly, but Josh nodded at her.

Her eyes widened when Josh's mouth opened and the words tumbled out of his mouth.

"Elijah." The original straightened and looked at Josh who nodded at Davina. "Davina wants to tell you something."

Elijah looked at Davina who seemed to sink even deeper into the chair as if it was about to swallow her up and make her disappear. She was obviously still too shy and distrustful. Small wonder, Elijah thought because he knew that trust had to be earned and no one had given her much reason to trust any of them.

"What do you want to tell me, Davina?"

She took a deep breath and thought for the right words. They came easier off her tongue than she had thought and she only stuttered every fifth word or so.

Elijah was silently listening to her and even though she didn't believe in her words he was sure that they held some truth and alarm bells started to go off in his head.

He stretched out his hand and motioned for her to come forward. "Come with me, please. We are going to tell my brother what you just told me."

"But…" Panic spread in Davina's eyes, but Elijah shook his head.

"No need to be afraid. He will not harm you for the information but will be rather grateful. I will promise you that. He will not harm you."

"Come on, Davina. I'll be there with you." Josh told her and held out his hand.

"Please." Elijah said silently.

Davina's chest rose just like Bonnie's did and she finally nodded. She took Josh's hand and Elijah smiled at her thankfully. He opened the door for her gallantly and followed the two into the hall.

As soon as the door closed and the three figures had disappeared around the corner, another figure detached himself from the dark shadows and silently sneaked into the room that the others had just left. It was as if a magnet was drawing him there telling him that he shouldn't leave her alone right now.

"Niklaus."

Klaus turned around to face his older brother.

Elijah stood on the threshold with Davina in front of him. His hand lay protectively on her shoulder. The vampire Joshua lurked behind Elijah and kept watch over the scene. Klaus frowned at the image in front of him.

"Davina wants to tell you something." Elijah said and squeezed her shoulder lightly. Klaus' eyes lowered to the witch's face. Davina bit her lips and looked with big fretful eyes at the hybrid. She knew that he was worse than the others. That he was the one one needed to be really afraid of. No, not afraid but terrified.

Klaus came closer and Davina seemed to petrify like a mouse in front of a predator. However, while the brown mouse could merge with the brown background she couldn't merge with anything. She was visibly in the open and at his mercy.

Elijah nudged the girl. "Tell him what you told me." His voice was reassuring and calm.

Davina gulped down and Klaus had to admit that he enjoyed watching her fear. It was a long time ago that someone had actually quivered before him in fear and he couldn't help the allure that he felt. It felt like the old days when he hadn't pardoned anyone; especially not those who were weak and scared. It was nice to know that he still had it in him, that he still could make people quake with fear even when it was just a girl who didn't know how much power she held in herself.

Klaus folded his hands behind his back and waited looking down at her.

Davina's finger tipped incessantly against her thigh telling him that the girl was already beyond afraid of him. Good.

"Well?" Klaus asked impatiently.

"I…think I… that I…"

"That you what, sweetheart?" Klaus purred menacingly and took a step closer.

Davina chocked on her words but when she stepped back to escape she bumped right into Elijah and suddenly there was no air left to breathe. She started to gasp for air panic-fuelled. Sounding like an animal.

"Niklaus!" Elijah scolded him and Klaus chuckled delightfully taking a few steps back again to give the girl some air. He was enjoying himself a bit too much for Elijah's taste.

"She knows where Caroline is." Josh suddenly piped up in the background to help his friend out.

Klaus' grin faded immediately and he stepped closer when he heard her name. His face was suddenly a mask of utter seriousness.

"What?" He whispered.

He was about to step right in front of Davina again when Elijah raised his eyebrows at his brother and Klaus huffed. Sometimes the two of them simply understood each other without any words.

He remained where he was and looked right at Davina. "Tell me what you know and I promise you that I will not harm you. Now, where is Caroline?"

Davina swallowed and hoped that her voice wouldn't fail her. "I…I am not sure, but there is this legend, that says when a witch dies her powers travel back into the earth if they are not claimed and the ghost of the witch moves to the place that she or her family called home in order to protect it. There is a grand family residence of the Deveraux's at the outskirts of town."

"It would be a perfectly protected place. I don't know if the legends are true, but it is a possibility, don't you think?" Elijah asked and indeed he saw a tiny spark of hope linger inside of Klaus' eyes.

He nodded.