CHAPTER FIVE

A FAMILIAR FACE

The massive door to the Mikaelson mansion opened to reveal a very surprised-looking Klaus. He gazed at her wide-eyed, but smiling, and despite everything that had just happened, there was a tiny flutter in her stomach at the sight of him. Tiny. Uh-huh.

"Caroline. To what do I owe this unexpected yet immense pleasure at this," he glanced at his watch, "ungodly hour? And at the risk of coming across as utterly impolite, why do you look like a marine after a reconnaissance mission through some muddy jungle?"

"We need to talk," Caroline said curtly and pushed past him into the house.

"By all means, do come in," he chuckled and closed the door behind them.

He led her towards the study, holding the door open for her. "Is there anything I can get you, love? Coffee, tea… B positive?" he smiled a genuine smile. How did he know that? Ugh, never mind that now.

"No thanks. Klaus, something just happened and I need a few answers from you."

He sat down across from her, frowning, obviously surprised at the sternness in her voice. "You have me all intrigued, sweetheart. Please go ahead."

Taking a deep breath, she glanced over at him. She needed to keep her eyes on his face, to see his reaction. "I went to the little lake in the Eastern woods at dawn. You know, the one with the small clearings on either side?"

"Yes. We used to call it The Devil's Teardrop at one time. I don't know if it still has a name at all nowadays. What were you doing there at this early hour? And please do tell me you did not go all by yourself, love." Caroline could hear the concern in his voice, and she had to fight hard to keep the warmth inside her from spreading.

"It's actually none of your business, but I needed to be alone for a while. I had many things to think through, and there never seems to be a moment's peace in this town." She saw that he really didn't like the idea of her wandering around the woods all by herself, but he just nodded and motioned for her to go on.

"So I had been there for a while when I noticed someone watching me, hidden behind the trees. He came out when I called." She saw Klaus' jaw tense. "I had never seen him before. I would have remembered someone like him. He was… ugly. Very ugly. There was something so cold about him, it gave me the creeps. And then he greeted me by name." She looked away for a moment to collect herself for what she needed to tell him now. "He knew a lot of things about me. And then he mentioned you. He said that I had… managed to capture your interest." She looked down at her hands.

"Was that news to you, love?" he teased gently, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"He also said," she continued, ignoring his remark, "that he had unfinished business with you and that he believed that I… that I was the key to get to you. He told me to give you a message." Looking up, she saw him stiffen, his face no longer smiling.

"What message?"

Now it was Caroline's turn to tense. "I don't know what the actual message is, but he said you will know once I tell you what happened. He… tortured me." She couldn't help the damn tears that were starting to spill again. Angrily, she wiped them away, but they didn't stop rolling. She lowered her face to keep him from seeing.

Klaus was out of his chair and on his knees in front of her in the blink of an eye. Very gently, he took her face in his hands and tenderly wiped away her tears with his thumbs. He lifted her face so she had to look him in the eye. There was anguish and concern mixed with a deep dark rage in them, and it made Caroline's stomach twist. With a barely controlled, steely voice, emphasizing every single word, he asked, "What did he do to you?"

"He…," she started to say, but the tremor in her own voice stopped her. It seemed that the whole experience had affected her more deeply than she had initially thought. Or maybe the shock was just catching up with her. Great timing. She shook her head and looked at Klaus, silently asking him to give her a moment. He stunned them both as he slid onto the couch and pulled her into his lap. One arm came around her, and he gently nudged her head until it rested on his shoulder. His hand remained in her hair, and she could feel his fingers very softly caress some strands. There was nothing the least bit seductive about his embrace. It was meant to comfort, to reassure, to protect. Caroline wanted to protest, but she just couldn't. It felt so good, so warm, so safe. Klaus' arms tightened around her, wordlessly letting her know that nothing and no one would get past him right now. She buried her face in the crook of his shoulder and wept.

When her sobs finally started to subside, she felt reason gradually returning to her. He was still holding her close, giving her his warmth and his strength. It helped. It helped her more than she was willing to admit. He had been right to just stay silent, for there were no words that could have consoled her, and he must have sensed that somehow.

As she was beginning to feel a little better, she also started noticing a couple of very disconcerting things. How she fit into his embrace so perfectly. How the curve of his shoulder was so outrageously comfortable. How she had to fight the urge to snuggle even closer and wrap her arms around him… This is so wrong, Caroline! Wrong, wrong, wrong! Then why does it feel so absolutely right? Very reluctantly, she stirred and slowly slid out of his embrace to sit next to him. He seemed as unwilling to let her go as she was to leave his warm, protective arms.

"I'm sorry, Klaus," she muttered, her eyes on the floor. "I didn't mean to break down like that."

He looked at her incredulously. "Caroline. You have just been subjected to some sort of violence, and you seriously think you need to apologize for crying in front of me?"

"I… underestimated the effect it had on me, it seems. I thought I was handling myself pretty well, but apparently I am not as strong as I assumed."

"And this is where you are mistaken, love. You are by far the strongest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Someday, you will finally recognize that strength yourself, and I dearly hope I shall be there to witness that moment." He paused, assessing her. "Do you think you are able to tell me what happened, Caroline?" he asked cautiously.

She straightened, determined to show him she was up to it, and she could see a spark of admiration in his eyes. "See?" he said softly, with a knowing smile, "this is what I mean." Caroline couldn't quite help the faint rush of pride flowing through her at his words and the look in his eyes. Quickly, she shook it off – she really mustn't care about what the Big Bad Hybrid thought of her, right? Gathering her thoughts, she started to speak.

"The man was a warlock." Klaus' eyes narrowed, and Caroline saw a calculating expression cross his face. "At first, he gave me physical pain. Calling it a headache would be like comparing a little trickle to the Niagara Falls. It was the worst kind of pain I have ever had to go through, and it was different from the migraine the witches usually give you. Vervain is like kid's stuff against this. It felt like it was tearing my head apart. Then it spread through my entire body… there was not a single inch of me that wasn't in total agony. It went on forever, or so it seemed to me. In between all the pain, I noticed something… it… it turned him on, Klaus. He got off on seeing me suffer." She shuddered at the memory, feeling Klaus tense. He didn't touch her, but he moved closer, if only an inch. It felt very reassuring. Mostly.

"You said, 'at first'," he remarked. "Was there more?" Nothing is ever lost on this guy.

"Yes. There was." She cleared her throat. "At some point, the pain lessened, and he started to force visions into my mind. You know, like what we can do with other people's dreams, only that I was not sleeping. He did that to my conscious brain. And I couldn't push the pictures away, even though I tried so hard. They were so… overwhelmingly horrible, so barbaric." She swallowed hard, but this time she managed to contain the annoying tears. She looked at Klaus and winced. His face was stony, and something was raging behind his eyes.

"What were the visions, Caroline?" he whispered. "What were they about?"

Now it was she who felt the unsettling need to comfort him. She had no idea what was going on, but something about the look on his face was strangely painful. "Torture," she replied in a small voice. "They were about people being tortured in the most gruesome ways. Men, women… children. There were so many children. And what was being done to them was beyond atrocious. I… didn't know that there were minds evil enough to cook up cruelties like that."

"There are. There always were, and there will always be." She saw him close his eyes for an instant. Was he thinking about his own wrongdoings, she idly wondered. Would he ever give them a second thought? "Did he show you anyone in particular, or were they random people?" he asked after a moment.

"They were mostly random, except for one. The last one. It was a boy, a young boy with long dark hair. He was smiling at first, but then his face started to change. There was blood dripping from his eyes, and his expression became so agonized, so beyond pain… I can't even begin to describe it, Klaus. It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen, and I…" She stopped dead as he jumped off the couch. His face was white as a sheet and she saw naked terror in his eyes. What on Earth could possibly have this kind of effect on him? The mighty Klaus of all people? "Klaus, what…?" "Wait here," he cut her off and flashed out of the study.

Before she had time to recover from her astonishment, he was back, a sheet of paper and a pencil in hand. He sat opposite her again, and without a word of explanation, he started to sketch. More confusion washed over her, but she bit her tongue and let him carry on in silence. His face was tense with concentration, but she could also detect an underlying current of pain. Whatever message it was that the warlock had planned to convey, it had evidently reached its intended recipient with a fanfare. Klaus' hands flew over the sheet as he was speedily drawing something Caroline couldn't make out from where she was sitting.

After about five minutes, his frantic movements slowed down and then stopped altogether. He didn't really look at his drawing once it was finished, but stood up and handed it to her.

Her eyes widened and her breathing stopped. She was looking at a perfect image of the young boy in her vision. Long, dark hair, big eyes, an innocent smile and… dimples. The drawing still in hand, she rose and turned towards Klaus. The agony in his eyes increased exponentially when he saw the recognition on her face. "This is the boy you have seen, is it not?" he asked, even though she was sure he did not need her to spell out the answer anymore.

"Yes," she whispered, appalled. "But how could you possibly know? Who is he, Klaus?"

Her heart seemed to break a little at the crack in his voice. "It was Henrik Mikaelson you saw in your head. The warlock made you see my youngest brother."

Klaus' mind was reeling. He had to sort out his priorities, but emotions were assailing him from all sides, and he was quite simply out of his depth. It was not often that any emotion got the better of him, let alone this many. Caroline started to say something, but he held up a hand to silence her. What was the meaning of all this? There was only one warlock he had known in his lifetime who would readily indulge in this depraved kind of sadism, and that lowlife had been dead for six hundred years. Elijah had seen him burn. Still… Henrik… The man in the alley came to his mind. Hadn't he said something about his 'master' knowing Klaus' deepest fear, and how he would be using it against him? But how could he possibly know? Klaus had never spoken of it, not to anyone. Not even to Elijah, although he suspected that his brother had a fair inkling as to what it was. He closed his eyes and commanded himself to shut and lock his dungeon. This had to be some sort of con, and he would not fall for it. Whoever had done this to Caroline would be found, questioned and pay a hundred times over for even considering laying a hand on her. The mere thought of someone hurting Caroline made him sick to his stomach, not that he cared to think about the reasons for that, and the last thing he needed while trying to find that madman was having to worry about her safety. Klaus had never been one to underestimate his enemies, and until such a time that this mysterious warlock was locked in chains in his basement, he would need to take precautions, and that included keeping Caroline out of harm's way. He doubted she would be in mortal danger at her home, but still – he was not going to take any risks, and… he really wouldn't mind not to let her out of his sight from this moment on. Oh, she was not going to like that.

He turned towards her and saw her looking at him with a mixture of worry and expectation. He knew he owed her an explanation after what she had gone through because of him, but he couldn't give it to her. She would just need to trust him. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes at himself. That was bloodylikely.

"Caroline, listen to me very carefully. I am going to find this man, and I will put an end to him. You have my word. But until I get hold of him, you will need to stay with me. Or with a member of my family should I not be here to look after you. Elijah and Kol will be back by tomorrow, and I will speak to Rebekah to have her return. I have about a dozen guest rooms at your disposal, but I must insist that you do not leave my side until I tell you it is safe to do so."

She stared at him incredulously. Then she folded her arms over her chest and cocked her head. "Are you out of your frigging mind, Klaus? Do you seriously think I will let you use this excuse to try and keep me with you, to lure me into your bed or something like that?" He had expected that, but it still stung. "Do you honestly believe I would take advantage of what just happened to you to try and have sex with you? Think again, love."

Caroline glared at him, but she knew he had a point. She felt almost embarrassed at having made that assumption. Still, she wasn't having any of this. "Whatever. But I am most definitely not staying here with you. You haven't even given me an explanation. What is going on with that guy, Klaus?"

"Can't you just try to trust me, Caroline? This situation is dangerous. It is not often that I say this of anything, but I am dead serious, no pun intended. I want to keep you safe, and I want to prevent something like that from happening to you again. Isn't that enough to make you believe me?"

"You've gotta be kidding me. I want to know what happened to your brother, and I want to know why the vision of him in my mind affected you so much. And I want to know why that asshole thinks he can use that against you, can use me against you, and to what end. What is this all about, Klaus? And don't give me crap about wanting to protect me – after this morning, I have a right to know!"

"Maybe so. But I do not have the answers to all of your questions yet. Suffice it to say that my brother died shortly before my mother decided to turn us into vampires. You could safely state that he was the reason behind it. He was mauled to death by a werewolf, and my mother wanted us to be able to protect ourselves after that. Which was why we were turned. And that is all there is to say," he snapped in a final tone.

"Like hell it is! There is much more to this than you let on. I can see the pain in your eyes. This has something to do with you, so what is it?"

"Let it go, Caroline!" he yelled furiously. "I have nothing more to say on the matter. You will stay at my side, whether you want to or not, and that puts an end to this discussion!" Caroline was about to yell back at him when she got a good look at his face. She saw despair blazing from his eyes, together with hot-blooded determination. He was going to protect her at all cost, she could actually see that. And… why does that feel so damn good?

"All right, Klaus. I will let it go for now. This is far from over, but now is not the moment, I will give you that. But I can't stay here with you, as I'm sure you will understand, and you can't stay at my house either. So why don't we agree on me checking in with you… say, every morning and evening?" she tried to bargain.

He had visibly calmed down by now. Probably hoping that she would let the topic go for good eventually. Well, he was in for disappointment. "Out of the question. You won't be out of my sight, or my family's once they are back, for so much as an hour. But I am of course able to compromise," he conceded with ill grace, which made Caroline snort. "I will speak to your mother and explain the situation to her. And you may invite your friends to stay over tonight, if you feel uncomfortable to be alone in the house with me. Once Rebekah, Elijah and Kol are back, you will have more than enough chaperones to watch over you. Well, maybe you should discount Kol. He is not chaperone material."

"Klaus, I really won't…"

"Don't make this any more difficult than it already is. For both of us," he interrupted, exasperation clear in his voice. "You have stayed at the Salvatores' often enough, so what is the issue? And don't give me the Big Bad Hybrid routine," he snapped when she started to speak. "Everyone, including yourself, knows that I would never harm so much as a hair on your pretty head."

She knew that. But still… he was Klaus, and she was supposed to have a pajama party with him at his crypt? There had to be an alternative! Racking her brain, she tried to come up with rational ideas on how to arrange things differently. She couldn't think of a single one, and the thought of that warlock getting to her again sent a sliver of naked panic through her system. There probably wasn't a safer place than with the Originals, but still… She finally shook her head, defeated. "But I need to get some stuff from home, I need to talk to Elena and the Salvatores, you need to talk to Rebekah. And… I have to speak with Tyler. How are we going to manage all of that? I'm sure you don't want me listening in on your little chat with your sister, and I sure as hell don't want you breathing down my neck when I talk to Tyler."

Caroline saw his eyes narrow only the slightest little bit at that. But she simply couldn't postpone this talk, especially not when there was a new danger to be faced. She just couldn't have this additional weight on her shoulders. "Please, Klaus. It's important to me."

"I am certain he will understand the situation, and I will give him my word that I will not take advantage of you. He can… come and see you here whenever you like."

"No, it's…not that. It's something else I need to discuss with him, and it can't wait. It really can't."

Klaus sighed. "All right then, another compromise. I will drive you over to the Salvatores' after I speak with your mother. You will call Tyler now and ask him to meet you there later. I will talk to Damon and Stefan; jointly, they should be able to keep you out of harm's way for an hour while I will go find Rebekah. One hour, Caroline. Not a minute longer." Alpha male alert.

"I can't believe I'm actually agreeing to this. Okay. But I need you to promise me two things, Klaus. And I am very serious about this. First, I need you to give me your word that you will hold the peace with my family and friends. My mom, Elena, Stefan and Damon, Matt, Bonnie, Jeremy. And Tyler. No one gets hurt, no one gets killed. Can you agree to that?"

"Yes. You have my word. Unless any of them does anything to put you or my family in danger, I will not go against your friends. But you and my siblings are my first priority here, and they would do well remembering that."

"That will have to be good enough, I guess. And secondly, I want you to promise me…" her voice trailed off as she was caught in a memory of Damon's dilated pupils sinking into her mind. Of the warlock planting visions in her head.

"What, Caroline?" his soft voice interrupted her thoughts. He was looking at her expectantly, genuinely intrigued.

"I want you to promise to never, and I mean never, lie to or compel me. Whatever happens. Even if you think you are protecting me, even if you think it will keep me safe. I mean it, Klaus. Never. For whatever reason." He was looking at her thoughtfully for a long time. Then he nodded. "I give you my word. No lies. No compulsion."

Caroline sighed with relief. "Okay then. Let's go." She rose and started walking towards the door when he suddenly spoke again. "I want you to promise me something as well." She turned around and looked at him suspiciously. He came over to her, only stopping when his face was mere inches from hers. His scent was intoxicating. A strange mixture of musk and something else that made her system run amok. Hell, she shouldn't be noticing at a time like this. She should actually never notice! But her senses apparently had other ideas. His eyes bore into hers and his voice was unusually urgent.

"I want you to give me your word that you will try and learn to trust me."

A swarm of butterflies erupted in her stomach. How could he make her feel freaking butterflies now? She needed to think! Could she trust him? Should she even try? He was difficult, complex and full of mysteries. Should she dare give him the chance to earn her trust? She wondered if there had ever been anyone to give him a chance. Somehow, she doubted it. Well, not that he made it easy for anyone. She cleared her throat, as he was obviously expecting an answer.

"I… will promise to try, Klaus. I know I've probably lost my marbles, but I'll try. Just don't make me regret it."

His answering smile was breathtaking, and Caroline decided to hurriedly leave the room before the butterflies started to do a serious air show. When she reached the hall, she grabbed her phone to call Tyler. It was still early, but what the heck. She was about to push the dial button when his voice came up behind her.

"Here is some honesty for you, love. I really liked to hold you. Very much so."

Grabbing his car keys and jacket, he sauntered past her, leaving her stunned. Air show after all.