Running on Hate
Drabble request: Tyler kills Liz as part of a sacrifice to kill Klaus, and Caroline goes dark
"When you were in love, you knew no fear or hatred. When you were fearful, there was no possibility of love or hate. And when there was hate, there was only hate."
― Christopher Pike, The Last Vampire
"We can always hate that which we loved, and with a fire as great as our love once was."
― Claudia Gray, Afterlife
It was funny, Caroline thought idly, how every beautiful memory, every precious moment she had cradled, loved, strived to remember through everything, every drop of love she had had for him, every want, every desire to be with him could die in the blink of an eye. Gone, replaced by a complete and total hatred the moment he tore her mother's heart from her chest.
She could feel it in the split second it had taken for her thoughts to catch up with Tyler's actions. The hate, insidious, perhaps always there, building, growing, waiting to snap at the final straw. Every single drop of hate she possessed in her, the hate for Jules, what her father had done, what was left of the hate she felt for Damon, the murder of her father for which Alaric was responsible, even Elena, and she couldn't believe she had once thought that she hated Klaus, because when she directed all that hate at the boy she had once loved, it was by far the most awfully powerful thing she had ever felt, and she knew she had not truly known the meaning of hate before then.
Oh, he tried to justify his actions to her when he saw her in the treeline, tried to pretend that everything was alright, pulling the same bull shit that he needed her to support him that this was about killing Klaus, that it was nothing personal, and her mother would have died eventually anyway, and then she felt herself snap, having remained silent until that time, and she calmly, unbelievably calmly, pulled out her phone and sent a message out. "What did you do Caroline?"
She smiled at Tyler wondering what she have ever seen in him. Had she once thought him selfless? Had she thought him understanding or compassionate? "I told Klaus you were here. I hope he tears you limb from limb and then gives me the satisfaction of seeing him ripping your pathetic heart from your chest."
He ran, the coward; had she once thought him brave? Oh, but she had anticipated this, had wanted him to flee. Caroline wanted him to live in the fear that now he didn't just have Klaus on his tail, but her as well. "Caroline." His voice, oh she had never been happier to hear his voice. It brought immediate comfort, reassurance that whatever she wanted he would try to give it to her. She saw his eyes fall on her mother's broken body, shock registering in his expression, his eyes flying to her face then, before he approached her, wrapping her in his arms to her surprise. It wasn't unpleasant though, it was enjoyable. In fact, it was as though all the hate she felt for Tyler now had helped her to see what her feelings for Klaus truly were; she no longer felt any loyalty to him, and thus could admit that more and more she was falling for Klaus. "What do you want me to do Caroline?"
"I want you to chase him, I want to go with you. I want you to inflict every pain you've ever wanted to on him, and then I want you to kill him." She fought her tears down, pushing them under her hate and anger. She would have time to cry when this was over, when the retribution for her mother's life had been dealt out; when she no longer felt the stinging pain that the boy who was supposed to love her had taken her mother from her because he could not leave well enough alone. Always, always trying to kill Klaus. And had it been worth it in the end?
Klaus didn't fight her, she hadn't expected him to. Caroline had given him permission to do what he wanted without the fear that her affections would be permanently removed. No, there was no chance of that now, not when her affections for Tyler had been removed for good and she wanted nothing more than his painful end. She craved it, a sick and twisted need born of the hate that she felt at every moment; she dreamed of it, her subconsciousness showing exactly what she hoped would happen to Tyler.
They looked for him together; it had not been how she had dreamed of seeing the world, but she would have eternity to do that after all. Now her only concern was helping Klaus find him.
It was funny, she mused, how even in that dark time, or maybe because of it, maybe because she could finally understand some of his actions, she was capable of love, of falling in love. She fell completely and totally in love with him in the depth of her anger and hate, and she wondered how she had ever thought she had loved before. This was pure, all-consuming love.
He looked for Tyler harder when she told him one night, tangled up in each other's limbs, a sheen of sweat covering both their naked bodies, and he called out every resource he had, threatening a good many witches and warlocks, killing pack leaders and becoming alpha so that he could send them out to find their quarry.
Caroline loved it, the sense of the hunt, in a different way than she enjoyed hunting for food. It was different, a different feeling, a different rush when you were hunting for vengeance.
They found him eventually in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Reports that Klaus had received said that Tyler had taken control of a pack, making Klaus laugh. In the year they had searched he had gained control of every pack they had come across, a figure high into the double digits. "Are you sure about this Caroline?" He asked as they were getting ready to strike, their pack, for she was his alpha female, his mate, protected and recognized by the wolves, at their back.
"I'm sure. I hate rarely, though when I hate, I hate murderously."
"Anaïs Nin, you've been reading?"
"Can't let you think you're the only one around with any sense of culture."
He smirked at her, brushing the hair back from her face. "It's a full moon, so they might be able to bite you, though they should want to avoid it like we tested with our pack. You're an alpha male's mate and the smell is evident. They won't want to mess with that. You have been drinking wolfsbane though, right?"
"Yes, we've been over this a thousand times. Our pack wipes out his, and we go for him."
"And?"
"And I take the high ground if any of the wolves try to go after me."
"Let's go then."
She would never understand why they hadn't followed his plans back in Mystic Falls. For the most part they tended to go smoothly. This was one such instance.
The sheer numbers of their pack was enough to completely decimate Tyler's with only few losses for them. And Tyler was easy to find, hiding behind his minions. And he had the gall to call her a selfish bitch when he saw her, when he smelled Klaus on her, and that was when she really knew that she held no lost love for him. It was all gone, and she nodded at her lover, a sick, sadistic smile on her face as the two male's transformed, tearing at each other, Klaus obviously having the upper hand in the fight. It wasn't until Tyler launched himself at her that Klaus really grew violent though, tearing huge chunks of Tyler's flesh off with every bite. And then they were both in their human forms again, and it was horrifyingly beautiful to watch Klaus work, how effortlessly his naked body dodged every assault Tyler tried to launch at him, finally appearing to grow tired with their dance around each other, and burying his hand in his chest, pulling, twisting the heart out of him.
It was satisfying to a degree for Caroline. Oh, she was happy Tyler was dead, but she was suddenly forced to accept why she had wanted him dead in the first place. Her mother had been murdered before her eyes, and now she could finally cry for her, great sobs bubbling in her throat, tears streaking down her face as Klaus calming lifted her into his arms, cradling her to his chest, flashing them to their hunting lodge in the woods. Leaving her only long enough to clothe himself before he sat down with her on the bed holding her for the hours upon hours that she cried.
It was funny, Caroline thought idly, the events that had to occur to bring two people together.
"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
