In order not to bore everyone to death with the eternal 'thank you', I think I will just switch languages every day! ;)

And as we are still in Norway - takk skal du ha!

Guys, you really warm my heart with your fantastic reviews... big time! xx

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL

He was screaming in complete agony. Blood was flowing from almost every inch of his body, and whenever a wound was healed, the ugly man slashed it open again with dozens of different weapons. Caroline felt his pain, but she tried to concentrate. Something told her very emphatically that it was important not to lose her mind over Klaus' suffering. To distract herself, she focused on the room. There was flickering candlelight, but even in the faint shimmer, she could still see how filthy everything was. Black and brown stains covered the walls and the floor, and there was something medieval about it. It reminded her of a torture chamber she had once seen in some movie. At the far end of the room, she recognized a table. Two goblets were there, and she thought she saw blood drops on the outside. Behind the table, a blotchy tapestry showed a castle on a small hill, towering over a wide river, the keep standing out conspicuously, an unproportionally large flag with a black cross on yellow ground hoisted at its top. The castle was surrounded by rolling green meadows and majestic trees.

There was a clanking sound. Chains. The man was dragging Klaus up and chained his arms so his almost lifeless body was dangling in the middle of the room. The pain inside her seemed to explode as she looked at his broken face. Then she heard a low, mean chuckle from somewhere within the darkness. "Prepare yourself to get what you deserve, boy," the evil voice hissed and she saw Klaus' battered eyes pop open. "You failed your family over and over again. You failed your youngest brother more than once. You failed everyone. Death would be too kind for you, Niklaus. Therefore you shall be treated as the good-for-nothing abomination that you are." Another voice cackled. A high-pitched, cold, nauseating voice. "May I, then?" The first man answered, "Go for it. Don't hold back." Another cackle, and a man stepped into the dim light behind Klaus. He was holding some sort of instrument, the sickening glee she had seen before blazing from his pitch-black eyes. No! No! NO! God, please! Stop hurting him! "Look at me, Klaus! You're not alone. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere! Look at me! I won't let them break you!"

Klaus wanted to scream when he heard her agonized whispers. No. He would not let her see anything further. Not on his life. As he had done the night before, he pressed his lips to her temple. He slid down, stretching out completely so he would be able to gather her as close as possible, and closed his eyes.

She was relaxed, sitting on a wide couch on a terrace, wearing a silky white summer dress, off the shoulder. A colourful cocktail was in her hand, and she gazed at the magnificent view that stretched out below her, bathed in the orange light of the sunset. Dozens of small islands were scattered around the sea, and the warm breeze rustled through the palm trees framing the terrace. Soft music was playing, flying around her with the light wind. She heard footsteps and smiled, turning around. He was approaching her with an admiring smile, holding out his hand. Getting up, she placed her hand in his, and her heart warmed at the way his eyes were caressing her. "Dance with me?" he asked softly, and she nodded, moving into his arms like it was the most natural thing in the world. They danced silently, peace and calm settling in her heart. There was not a worry in the world that could reach her here, under the starry skies, in the tropical breeze. In his arms. She wished the dance would never end. He placed a tender kiss on her naked shoulder and she sighed. She was completely content. "We'll have to leave now, Caroline," he murmured in her ear. "You know you are safe with me, don't you?" She nodded. "Wake up then, my sweet little one."

"Wake up then, my sweet little one."

She shook her head sleepily . "I don't want to. I want to stay there. With you."

Klaus closed his eyes. He would have brought down an entire nation to give her what she wanted. What he, too, wanted. But he needed to know what exactly she had seen. He hated himself for letting her go through this when he could just have told her what Prelati was making her see and then spend the entire night giving her dreams of peace, but it was stronger than him. If she ever knew that there was more to these visions than just the figments of Prelati's imagination, she would run screaming. And he couldn't bear to see the disgust in her eyes once she knew.

"I'm sorry, love, but you need to remember before it is all gone. You can go right back to sleep after that."

"Please let me dream again. Please." Her pleading voice all but made him give in. He couldn't.

"Not yet. Tell me what you saw." He heard her sigh, and she stirred in his arms.

"It is getting worse. It seems like he is taking the visions a little further each time." Klaus tensed, but then he felt her inch closer to him. She needed reassurance. He kissed her forehead and hugged her to him. She seemed to relax instantly.

"All right, so the room first. It was dark, only a few candles were lit, and it was really very dirty." She went on with the description of what she had seen. He frowned in the darkness when she mentioned the tapestry and the goblets. Tiffauges. She had been in Tiffauges this time. In that room. He went rigid, and she noticed.

"Are you okay, Klaus?" she asked, trying to move so she could see his face.

"Of course," he answered quickly, "go on." She hesitated, but then she continued.

"It was pretty much the same as last night. You were being beaten to the extreme. At the end, there was this man again. He was about to… he was going to…" She took a deep breath. "He was holding some sort of instrument. It looked like something out of a medieval torture chamber. I have never seen anything like that." Klaus felt like screaming again at the images that invaded his mind now, but he held it together.

"Did he use it?" he asked in as casual a tone as he could muster.

"No, you pulled me out of it before anything else happened. But there was a third man this time. He said that you failed everyone and would now get what you deserved. The man who was going to torture you actually waited for his orders."

Klaus felt the nausea mounting up inside him. His breathing sped up, and one hand fisted in the sheet until his knuckles turned white. "Caroline," he said in a flat voice, "what were his exact words?" She repeated them to him.

Boy.

"And somehow, I… I started feeling everything you felt. It was like he was projecting all of your pain on me."

He flew off the bed like a scalded cat, flashing to the bathroom. Not bothering to shut the door, he turned on the cold water in the shower and jumped under the stream. The fear and the incredulity didn't leave him, and neither did the hate and the self-loathing. He groaned in agony. It would never stop haunting him. Never. Boy. How could he even have thought about finding some peace of mind eventually? And how could he ever have allowed himself to get closer to Caroline and pull her into all of this filth?

She stood in the bathroom door, wide-eyed and deeply scared. He was leaning on the wall in the shower, fully clothed, eyes squeezed shut, water running over him, an expression in his face she had never seen on him before. Oh, but you have. Only minutes ago, in your head.

"Klaus?" she whispered.

"Go away. Go back to your room. I need to be alone."

She straightened and fought down her fear. It was not that she was afraid of him. She was afraid for him. "That," she said determinedly, "is the very last place you need to be right now. Get out of that shower and into dry clothes. I'll go fix us a drink."

He opened his eyes and stared at her menacingly. "Caroline. I mean it," he hissed.

"So do I," she shot back. "Now you will either talk to me or we are going to play a little hide-and-seek in the Norwegian wilderness – who will find Caroline first, the Big Bad Hybrid or the Evil Warlock and his buddies?" She started to move, praying that he wouldn't call her bluff. Before she had taken another step, he was in front of her, soaking wet, his face a mask of rage and storm.

"Don't you dare!" he yelled. "This is not a bloody game, damn you!"

"You're dripping on the floor," she answered calmly. "Go and dry off. Scotch?"

He glared daggers at her. For a few minutes, they stood face to face, trying to stare each other down. Finally, he grabbed the back of her neck. "You have used this card once now. You had better not use it again." With that, he turned and slammed the bathroom door behind him.

When he emerged a few minutes later, his hair was still wet, but he had changed into dry clothes. Snatching the glass she was holding out to him, he slumped into an armchair across from the couch Caroline was sitting on. None of them spoke at first. When the silence stretched into several minutes, she sighed. Knowing herself, she could never win this kind of contest.

"Feeling better?" she asked softly.

He gulped down another swig of his Scotch. "Fine," he grumbled. Apparently, he was trying to avoid talking to her by being monosyllabic. Well, tough luck, mister.

"No, you're not. Talk to me, Klaus. What upset you so much about that vision?"

"I said," he snarled, "that I'm fine. There is nothing to talk about. Full stop."

"Oh really? So you don't deem it worth talking about how you jump up like a bat out of hell, and a minute later I find you fully clothed under the shower? It looks like we have a very different perception of what is and isn't noteworthy!"

"So it would seem," he replied coldly. Ugh, he was exasperating! Seems the only way to get to him is to jump right in.

"So you did meet Prelati during his lifetime. And that Gilles de Rais guy," she stated bluntly and saw him blanch. His hand gripped the arms of the chair, and she could see he was trying hard to keep it together.

"Caroline," he said through clenched teeth, "in case I haven't made myself quite clear before – I do not wish to speak about this. I'm sorry you had to go through these visions, but I assure you that tonight was the last time, as I will not allow you to do it again and Silv will find a solution soon. You have seen all there was to see, and I am certain it will help us find out more. And that puts an end to the discussion."

He almost had her fooled with those last two sentences, which he spoke in a calm, collected manner. But he hadn't been able to put the pain out of his eyes. They looked almost like she had seen them in the vision – desperate, agonized and hopeless.

What could have been going on between him and those men? Judging by his reactions from the very start, about Henrik and everything else, the visions Prelati had been giving her weren't mere fantasies. She was sure they couldn't have done anything to Klaus – he was Klaus, for crying out loud – but something had happened that had scarred him for life. Oh God, I can't even think about that! I need time to figure this out. And he needs to calm down. He needs warmth. He needs… me.

On an instinct, she got up and walked over to his armchair. He looked up at her with narrowed eyes, seemingly ready to fight or yell or just plain destroy something. Without a word, she slid onto his lap, wrapped her arms around him and curled into a ball. She felt him stiffen and for an instant, she was afraid he was going to push her away. But he didn't. He sat motionless for what seemed an eternity, but she wasn't going to budge. Finally, she felt his arms come around her very hesitantly. She snuggled even closer and tightened her hold, feeling him give a shaky sigh. Her heart went out to him. How could anyone live with this tension, this fear and whatever else this was for such a long time without going mad or exploding? Let me in, Klaus. She wished she dared say it aloud.

After a while, she lifted her head to look at him. His eyes were closed, but there was still a shadow on his face, and his brows were furrowed. She cupped his cheek and leaned into him, placing a very soft kiss on each of his eyes. He opened them slowly and looked at her, pain mixing with wonder and disbelief. She leaned her forehead against his and felt him pull her closer.

"You asked me to learn to trust you," she whispered. "I am trying. But you don't make it easy for me, you know?"

He nodded, and she could sense his hand sneak into her hair. He seemed to like doing that, and she loved the feeling.

"Klaus?"

"Yes, love?"

She hesitated. It was risky, but she had to try. "Can… can I actually give you dreams, too?"

He looked at her, and she thought there was a little more serenity in his eyes now. "To be perfectly honest, I don't know. No one has ever tried. I don't think it would work, with me being an Original. Maybe one of my siblings could, but I have no idea."

"Will you let me try?" She held her breath. This would be a gigantic step for him – allowing someone to actually take a little bit of control over him.

His eyes sank into hers for a very long while. Then he slowly shook his head. "I am sorry, love. I… I can't."

Caroline nodded. She had expected his answer, although she was still a tad disappointed. "That's okay. But remember that trust works both ways."

"You need to rest, sweetheart. I will watch over your sleep." And who will watch over yours?

She kissed him lightly on the lips. She wouldn't push him any further. For now. "Will you be there in my dream?"

He smiled, but there was a strain to it. "If you wish me to be."

"Then take us to see the Northern Lights again, Klaus."

He nodded. She got up and pulled him with her towards her bedroom. She slid under the covers, seeing him hesitate for an instant before he followed. He was about to take her in his arms when she held out a hand to stop him. He looked at her, puzzled. She smiled and laid down, pulling him into her arms and making him rest his head on her shoulder. Embracing him as tightly as she could, she felt him move closer and wrap his strong arms around her waist.

"You're killing me, Caroline." It was barely more than a whisper, but it rocked her to the core. She had been right. He needed her now, even though he would never admit to it. She ran one hand through his hair, the other one holding him tight. Stupid as it sounded, she felt like she was protecting him now. And it felt ridiculously good.

Entangled in each other, they breathed in unison. Her last thought before she drifted to sleep was, No one will hurt you tonight, Klaus.