Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries - the original books were written by L J Smith and the TV show was developed by Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson. This story is the product of their characters and world and my imagination. Any recognisable lines (verbatim or amended) from Vampire Diaries episodes belong to the writers, not me.
Klaus
Caroline was coming along nicely.
She really was very intelligent and, despite her unfortunate tendency to cling to her human morality, she was taking very well to vampirism.
She and Stefan didn't get on. It was rather amusing to him, considering that his own list of victims far surpassed Stefan's, but the Ripper had killed her parents. Klaus had rejoiced at the deaths of both his parents at his own hands, but he supposed it was different with Caroline, since she had apparently actually loved William and Elizabeth Forbes.
She drank human blood, at least, even if she seemed to care too much about leaving her donors alive. He could live with that, since at least it made her an inconspicuous predator. It could have been much worse – Stefan had once revealed that he had spent four months drinking entirely animal blood in between two Ripper phases, which Klaus thought was both disgusting and idiotic, considering how weak it must have made him.
Caroline was an apt pupil when it came to fighting.
Of course, she had never managed to come close to hurting him, but he was confident she would be able to hold her own against vampires who were a few decades or a century old, at least long enough to find an escape route or for help to come.
He realised, with a jolt of surprise, that the 'help' he always visualised was himself.
Odd, really, that he was so attached to her.
Klaus had sired many vampires in his time, some to act as distractions for Mikael or his numerous other enemies, some out of boredom or interest or revenge or as part of one of his plans or simply for fun.
He'd never coddled them as he did Caroline. She might consider him a harsh teacher sometimes, but he was being unusually gentle with his newest acquisition. He didn't teach her by using pain, he kept her safe within his home, waiting for the time she would be able to control herself enough to go outside, and he let her roam freely around the house, taking full advantage of his library.
Caroline Forbes was a fascinating little thing. By all rights he should have ended her as soon as he realised she was the daughter of a hunter, but it had been too late at that point. She had burrowed under his skin and made herself at home there.
He found that he didn't really mind.
Of all the baby vampires he had dealt with, Caroline was probably the most controlled.
Perhaps it was the fact that she'd had some knowledge of vampires before she was turned, thanks to her father, or it could just be her personality – her perfectionism and her need to be in control.
Whatever the reason, she often acted like someone who had been a vampire for years, not just weeks. She was still prone to emotional outbursts every now and then, but she hadn't tried to attack Stefan since the incident in the library and, when she fed, she left the donors alive nine times out of ten.
"Do you … are you … all the people you kill … how do you justify … why?"
Caroline was clearly flustered and angry, unsure how to articulate what she wanted to know.
He'd expected something like this to happen eventually. She knew something of who he was, but he'd known there would come a point when her frustrating moral code would force her to confront him. She was more comfortable with him now, willing to ask questions she would have left alone a few weeks ago.
"I have never claimed to be a good man, Caroline," he told her, "I am the monster that gives other monsters nightmares, the warning whispered in the dark, the destroyer of people and cities alike. I do not regret what I have done, nor will I change. You aren't human anymore, sweetheart, and we are bound by different rules."
"So … you just kill … for fun, for sport? You would murder fifty people for no reason at all?"
He shook his head, "unprovoked wholesale slaughter for amusement is more my brother Kol's area and he is currently … taking a little time to re-evaluate his priorities. A thousand years I have walked this earth, Caroline. I have been responsible for my share of massacres, but I have had my reasons. Sometimes, in our world, examples must be made … especially with witches and hunters and those who would expose us to the world."
That wasn't to say he valued human life in the same way Caroline did but, for the most part, everything he did was for a reason. He killed for sustenance, for revenge, to send a message.
For Klaus, massacres needed to have a point. To wipe out a dangerous coven or to send a message to an errant vampire, for example. They were not nearly such an effective tool as the world moved on, though, as humans became more advanced and began to pose a real threat.
"And Stefan?" Caroline asked, "he's a Ripper? He kills randomly."
"Rippers are consumed by their own bloodlust," he explained, "all it takes is a drop of blood, a particularly sweet scent, sometimes just the sight of a human, and then they go into a frenzy. They usually burn out pretty quickly, taken down by hunters or by another vampire whose territory they have encroached upon. Rippers bring too much attention, make the humans nervous. Stefan is something of an exception – he's lasted almost sixty years so far where most Rippers generally don't manage even a decade. From what I've gathered, he goes through periods of intense remorse, hiding away and avoiding detection."
He knew that Caroline usually tried to avoid Stefan, clearly finding it too painful to constantly look at the face of her parents' killer, but she must have noticed the moments when the Ripper looked something other than apathetic or vexed – a flash of guilt in his expression, an inability to meet her eyes.
He wondered if she would forgive him, if she would consider his actions outside his control in some way. Perhaps at some point, but he didn't think it would be soon. While compassionate, Caroline struck him as the sort to hold onto a grudge if she deemed it important enough.
"How do I learn to live with it?"
Her question was quiet, her expression troubled.
He sighed, "you are not a monster, Caroline. You are a vampire. You are strong, ageless, powerful. Hold on to your human memories if you must, but do not let them hold you back and ruin this new life you have been given."
She didn't say anything, just exited the room with a thoughtful look on her face.
Klaus thought about following her, but decided against it. No matter how much he liked his baby vampire – her smile, the curve of her cheek, her fire, her strength, her light, her fierce desire to live – there were things she had to figure out for herself.
Caroline Forbes was no longer human. And until she fully accepted that, there would always be something holding her back from fully embracing everything he could show her.
Klaus was sketching in the library when Caroline walked in to return a book.
He glanced at her and noticed she was looking curiously between him and the drawings he had left out on the table, "did you … did you do these?"
He ducked his head slightly, his art about the only thing that occasionally made him somewhat bashful, "yeah. Actually … one of my landscapes is hanging at the Hermitage, not that anyone would notice."
"You're really good," she told him, eyes bright as she looked through the papers – they were mostly scenes set around Chicago, though there were a few of other locations he had visited.
"It's just a hobby," he explained, "a way to pass the time."
He had so much time, after all. And while he enjoyed travelling, it lost some of its lustre when he was alone.
There was a reason he'd encouraged Stefan to stick around while Rebekah and Kol were daggered and Elijah was travelling in Europe. Eternity got a little lonely sometimes, though he'd never admit it out loud.
"Can I see what you're working on right now?" Caroline asked.
Klaus thought of the pages of the sketchbook that were filled with his baby vampire's face. The majority of the book, if he was being honest.
It seemed wrong, to expose that sort of weakness to her, to admit that what was between them was not a game and that he'd inexplicably come to care.
But she seemed genuinely interested, excited to see his work. He couldn't bear the idea of disappointing her.
Klaus handed over the sketchbook without a word, watching her carefully to catalogue her reaction.
He could pinpoint the exact moment she found the first drawing of her. The widening of her eyes, the little "oh" that escaped her mouth.
"You … you made me look beautiful."
"You are beautiful, love," he said, confused that she didn't seem to realise it, suddenly angry at anyone who had ever made her feel lesser.
"Well, I mean, I know I'm pretty, but in these drawings I look, I don't know … more. Is this really how you see me?"
Klaus had known she had a streak of insecurity, but he thought he'd been clear in letting her know how special he considered her.
"Caroline," he told her, pointing at the sketches, "this is exactly how I see you."
He'd thought she couldn't possibly look more beautiful but, when she gave him a blinding smile, he realised he'd probably tear down civilisations to keep that expression on her face.
It was time.
Some part of him wanted to keep Caroline in his house forever, just the two of them (and Stefan, he supposed, lurking in the background).
He had promised her the world, however, and he would deliver.
She was ready to test her control, to spread her wings a little.
He fingered the box in his hands, opening it up to gaze at the daylight ring inside, delicate and elegant.
The records he had found said her birthday was in a week, and now he had the perfect gift.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.
The next chapter, from Caroline's POV, should be up in the next few days.