Hello, all! Here is yet another chapter for you all to enjoy. I have to warn you guys that this chapter was hard to write for a reason, since there will be quite a few changes that you might or might not like. Still, there are revelations that are very important, so I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
Also, I just want to thank you guys so much! This story reached over 20,000 views and it's all thanks to you! Lots of love for you all!
Now, for those amazing reviews:
-jayanimukta: Well, we already talked and I appreciate your opinion, so no harm done. I'll stay true to this story and where I want to take it, so I hope you stick to the story until the very end!
-xenocanaan: You are very much welcome and I hope you enjoy this next one! I know that I've been saying that I'll deviate from the story soon, but I will. It's just that it's a slow process to help the story grow naturally. Also, this is me being curious, what do you mean about deviating, especially concerning the Salvatore brothers? I already have some possible plans for them, but I am interested to know.
-Guest: I am happy to report that I have finally reached the reunion between Gwen and Rebekah, but it's a struggle, so I hope you like how they'll move forward when I finally publish that chapter. As for Klaus and Gwen, well, you'll have to read and find out. Also, the dinner party has already been written! Stay tuned for that! It was a struggle, but I am satisfied with it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Vampire Diaries and claim no ownership over anything pertaining to it.
there goes the neighborhood
.
.
.
The sweet aroma of French toast filled the air of the spacious kitchen of the mansion Klaus now occupied and shared with Gwen and a few hybrids.
Gwen placed two slices of the sweetened bread on a plate before working on two sunny-side-up eggs and three strips of bacon before she arranged the items to her liking; each egg was placed on top of a French toast with the bacon on the side. As a finishing touch, the half-fae poured syrup around the toast and served herself some freshly squeezed orange juice before taking a seat on a stool at the kitchen island with her breakfast. She dug into her food and sighed in satisfaction, since she had gone to bed the night before without eating dinner, preferring not to cross paths with Klaus when tensions were still high.
It had been difficult for Gwen to fall asleep the previous night, mostly because her argument with Klaus concerning Rebekah had been on repeat in her brain throughout the night. It made her so angry how Klaus was able to keep his sister daggered when his reasons for keeping his family in a death-like sleep were nonexistent. Gwen wanted to understand him, and she did, but only up to a point. She knew he was afraid of being alone or abandoned, so he prefers to carry his family around in boxes because it gave him a sense of security, especially when Mikael was hunting them down with the truth concerning the death of his wife and mother of his children. Yet, Mikael was dead and no longer a threat, so there was no need to keep his family daggered. Then again, a lot more people know what Klaus did, so she imagined that Klaus wouldn't want to wake any of his siblings for fear that they might learn the truth and abandon him. And knowing Klaus as well as she did, she knew he would first work on eliminating any trace of what he did to his mother before waking his family.
One of Klaus' hybrids walked by the kitchen doorway, breaking Gwen away from her thoughts.
Adding to her frustrations toward the Original hybrid, Gwen also felt uncomfortable sharing a home with people she had never met before, who also happened to be hybrids. It didn't help that the hybrids walked around with vacant gazes. Juniper had once explained to her that it was a rare thing that happened among vampires, so Gwen was surprised to see that every single hybrid so far was afflicted with what Juniper called sire bond. She made a mental note to ask her friend about it later.
"Good morning," Klaus greeted as he entered the kitchen with a glass full of blood in one hand, his lips quirked up in a small grin.
Gwen's response was a mere glance before going back to her breakfast, something that irked Klaus since he disliked it whenever she was upset with him. He knew that her foul mood would last until he changed his mind about keeping Rebekah daggered, so he needed to figure out a way to placate her anger in some other way. Of course, that was easier said than done. He found himself reminiscing about years past when it was so much easier to handle Gwen she was a small child and only needed a nice piece of dessert to get her in a good mood. He groaned when all he could hear was Juniper's voice singing in his mind, warning him about the consequences of always trying to shield Gwen from everything, how he'd have to deal with a very rebellious teenager when she would grow tired of being passive with him.
"Where's Bekah?" asked Gwen, breaking the silence between them.
"Safely stored away," he answered after clearing his throat.
Gwen hummed with a nod of her head, munching on a piece of bacon.
"Any plans for today?" asked Klaus, approaching Gwen with slow and careful steps.
After gulping down a mouth full of food, Gwen said, "I don't know. Can I have plans?" She looked up at him as she shrugged her shoulders, her eyes lacking the warmth Klaus was used to seeing in them. "Or will I return to being the bird in a gilded cage?" As the words left her, she felt a pang of guilt when she saw the hurt in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."
Klaus took a deep and calming breath, understanding where Gwen was coming from. He knew that he deserved her stinging words. He hated that he had only given her a sheltered life, but he couldn't risk her safety. He also hated himself for daggering his siblings but blaming them was much easier on his conscience. "I deserved that," he told her, exhaling as he looked down at the red liquid that he swirled in his glass. "I deserve a lot of things, so don't apologize for being honest. I want you to know that I only ever want for you to remain safe."
"So that I stay ignorant?" Gwen argued as she turned to him, having finished eating her breakfast. She noticed the distress in Klaus' gaze, so she sighed. "Nik," she began. "I've known you my entire life, but you've kept me in the dark about important things, like how you keep your families in coffins. I didn't even know that you had a family all this time. And I know perfectly well why you've done this." He looked up at her with furrowed brows, so she elaborated. "You don't want to lose me, but this isn't the way to do that, just like keeping your family with daggers in their hearts isn't the right thing to do just because you're afraid that they'll abandon you."
Taking a deep breath, Klaus took a moment to gather his thoughts. He felt so bare. He was oftentimes annoyed with how well she could read him and his emotions as if he were one of her favorite books that she knows from cover to cover.
"I won't condemn you for your actions," Gwen assured him. "But I won't overlook them. I will defend you against the world, but don't expect me to stay silent when we're behind closed doors."
When he was about to respond to Gwen's remark, Klaus paused when his senses picked up a presence in the room. By the scent, the Original hybrid already knew who the stranger intruding in his home was, which only served to dampen his day. "I'm surprised you're still in town," he said out loud and turned away from Gwen, his eyes landing on Stefan, who was leaning against one of the kitchen's doorframes.
Gwen frowned as she followed the older hybrid's line of sight by looking around him. Her eyes widened when they settled on a grinning Stefan. She hopped off the stool to stand beside Klaus. "Stefan?"
"I gave you your freedom," Klaus sighed as he took a step to slightly hide Gwen behind him. "You could have gone anywhere, yet you have quite the nerve to show up here in my home."
"I live here, Klaus. This town is my home," Stefan argued, shrugging the shoulder he wasn't leaning on.
"Well, if we're playing this game, then I was here first," Klaus shot back in return, smirking at Stefan.
"You know," Stefan hummed as he pushed away from the doorframe to approach Klaus, "I don't like your hybrid friends. They're everywhere, kind of like fleas. I want them gone."
"Yeah, well, I kind of like having them around," said Klaus, his eyes narrowing on Stefan. "Especially for when I have a loved one in the hospital and there seems to be a snake slithering about."
Raising an eyebrow in question, Gwen looked up at Klaus. "What?" She then glanced at Stefan.
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. Stefan almost did something very, very stupid," Klaus told Gwen before directing his attention to the vampire, whose composure seemed to falter for a moment. "Come now, you didn't think that you got away because of your skills and smarts, right?"
Stefan maintained the grin on his face, his eyes still locked with Klaus'.
"You know, I'm hurt," Klaus said, faking the hurt tone of his voice. "I hoped that when I freed you, we'd pick up where we left off, but here you are, guzzling vervain like the rest of them, I'm sure." And his guess was correct since he picked up on the potent scent of the well-known plant that was poison to vampires coming from Stefan. "So much for friendship," he huffed before taking a sip of the blood in his glass, keeping his eyes trained on Stefan for any sudden movement.
"Friends don't strip friends of their free will," Stefan retorted.
Gwen hummed with a small nod of her head. "He has a point."
"Okay, granted, that was a little extreme," Klaus agreed with both Gwen and Stefan.
"A little?" Gwen deadpanned.
"You know I tend to get a little moody from time to time," Klaus defended himself to Gwen before looking back at Stefan. "Just ask any of my siblings. Speaking of whom, isn't it time you handed them over?"
"Klaus," Stefan began as he took another step closer to Klaus, squaring up to the older immortal. "Get your hybrids out of Mystic Falls or I will remove them myself."
Klaus growled through an exhale, his blood beginning to boil. "You see, if you continue to threaten me, I'm going to be forced to retaliate. Kill people, and it'll get messier than the whole Jeremy situation."
"Do whatever you want, I don't really care." Stefan's grin widened as an idea occurred to him. "Or maybe I do. Maybe I care so much that I'll drop Elijah in the Arctic."
Gwen made a face at the threat. "That's just stupid."
"I have to agree with her, Stefan," said Klaus. "While my brother won't die and I have all the time in the world to find him, yours isn't as durable and neither is anyone else that you say you no longer care about." He took another sip of his drink. "Now, go get my family, or I will start painting your house red with the blood of everyone you used to love, starting with your brother. I'll be generous and give you until midnight to have your fun but do mind the clock when it strikes midnight."
Stefan's grin fell a bit, but he continued to glare at Klaus, his eyes never straying from the Original hybrid's much more relaxed face.
Just then, Mindy stepped into the room from behind Stefan, eyeing the vampire with wary eyes. She noticed the tense atmosphere surrounding both Klaus and Stefan as they glared at each other with smirks on their faces. "Is everything okay?" she asked Klaus as she focused on Stefan, perceiving him as a threat against Klaus.
"Everything's fine, Mindy," Klaus assured the female werewolf-vampire hybrid. "Stefan was just leaving to once again do as I ask."
What happened next was something Gwen would have never seen coming. She didn't even notice that she screamed or that drops of blood had sprayed on her face as her hands grasped Klaus' arm in a tight grip, her eyes trained on the werewolf-turned-hybrid's headless body that fell to the floor with a loud thud. Mindy's head was lying on another corner of the room due to the force Stefan used to decapitate her with a kitchen knife he had picked up from a wood block in a mere blink of an eye. The half-fae's heart practically stopped as all air left her. She had seen other people get killed in front of her before, but she was so surprised and unprepared this time that she was left in shock.
"Well, one down," Stefan breathed as he dropped the kitchen knife on the island's counter, giving Klaus a triumphant smirk. "You may want to send the rest of them away before it gets messier. Feel free to retaliate in any way you want."
Klaus scowled as he watched Stefan take his leave, tempted to go after the vampire and break his neck, but he was able to control this urge. He didn't know where Stefan was keeping his family and he wasn't going to risk their safety. While he didn't know how far Stefan was willing to take his game, Klaus didn't want word to leak that he was no longer in possession of his siblings who were very daggered and very vulnerable to other enemies he'd rather continue to keep at arm's length.
.
"And you're sure you can't find them?" Gwen asked as she paced around her room that had a bohemian style to it in how it was decorated, having taken a bath to wash away Mindy's blood from her skin and hair.
"Sorry, doll," Juniper sighed in response. "I've tried a few more times, but I am blocked by an impenetrable wall. Wherever those coffins are, someone is using a huge amount of concentrated magic."
"But they're still in Mystic Falls?" Gwen asked into her phone that she held to her ear.
Juniper hummed. "They are. I did a locater spell with Klaus' blood on a map and it stops before it gets to Mystic Falls, but it does nothing when I tried it on a map of the town," she explained. "If they were anywhere else or split up, the blood would have moved in their direction at least. While I can't give you an exact location, I can assure you that his family is still there and together."
"And you can't track Stefan somehow?" Gwen wondered as she sat on the foot of her bed.
"I could, but I don't have anything that belongs to him for me to use to connect with him," Juniper replied. "Besides, if he's hiding away in the same place the coffins are or he's also being protected by the cloaking spell, then there's no point."
"Is a witch strong enough to keep even you from eavesdropping?" Gwen teased.
Releasing a fake laugh, Juniper said, "Unlike Klaus, I don't claim to be all-powerful. I do have my limits." She paused for a moment as a thought came to her. "But the amount of magic I felt pushing me back can't be coming from one witch."
Frowning due to curiosity, Gwen asked, "You sense more than one?"
"There's more than one witch's essence, so I'm pretty sure it's multiple people performing an advanced cloaking spell," said Juniper.
"But there's only one witch in town," argued Gwen. "That I know of."
"Okay, so that narrows down possibilities," Juniper mumbled as she hummed pensively. "If there are no other witches in town but one, then it has to be a place where there's a high concentration of magic. These places filled with magic can be created in many ways, like a sacrifice or a ritual. Also, if a significant number of witches were buried or murdered in the same place, their magic tethers them to this plane."
Gwen raised an eyebrow at this. "So, dead witches?"
"It's a possibility, which would mean that the Bennett witch is manipulating the magic left behind in that place to boost her own," Juniper further explained.
"I'm sorry I'm being such a nuisance," Gwen apologized, feeling bad about asking so much of Juniper and inconveniencing her when she already had other things to deal with. "I just really want all of this to be over with so I can focus on being angry with Nik."
Juniper chuckled at this. "What did he do now?"
"He's keeping Bekah daggered," answered Gwen.
"Why?" Juniper asked, and Gwen could tell that the witch was frowning. "You know, I'll never understand his need to put his family in caskets for such long periods. It's messed up."
Clearing her throat, Gwen thought over what her next words should be. She concluded that a lot of people already knew, so there was no point in keeping it a secret anymore. "I'll tell you, but you have to swear that you won't breathe a word of this. Nik can't find out that I told you, understood?" She sighed as she prepared herself for what she was about to reveal and what Juniper's reaction was going to be. "I will throw you under the bus if you tell on me."
"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad," said Juniper. "I mean, it's Klaus we're talking about. His bar is pretty high on how terrible he can be."
"June," Gwen pressed, needing the witch to promise.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Juniper practically sang. "Now, what did he do?"
"So, Rebekah found out that Nik…kind of, um," Gwen began but paused. "He kind of…killed their mom."
"Say what?" Juniper asked in complete disbelief.
Gwen cleared her throat. "Nik killed his mom, not Mikael."
Juniper let out a hollow laugh. "Can you repeat that one more time?"
With a halfhearted glared directed at the wall and a roll of her eyes, Gwen said, "Nik killed his mother." It became silent for a moment, causing the halfling to frown and check if the call had been disconnected. "June, you still there?"
"Holy shit!" Juniper shrieked, which had Gwen pulling the phone away from her ear for a moment. "Why did he do that?" she continued to yell, but it wasn't as sharp as before. "Wait, how did that happen?" she asked, still processing Gwen's words. "I have so many questions!"
"Klaus!"
Gwen was startled by the loud voice, but she found that she recognized it as she continued to hear it call out for Klaus. "June, I'm gonna have to call you back," she told the still-shocked witch on the other end of the line. She stood up from the bed and began to make her way out of her room that she hadn't left since morning, having preferred to relax in solitude by taking a bath and drawing. "Someone's looking for Nik."
"You can't just drop this bomb on me and hang up!" Juniper retorted. "I need details. This is huge!"
"I'll call you later," Gwen said as she left her room, ignoring Juniper's protests and threats before hanging up the call.
The half-fae stepped out of her bedroom and looked down the empty hallway before making her way to the grand staircase, following the sound of two voices arguing. Gwen stood at the top of the stairs and looked down to find Tyler arguing with one of Klaus' hybrids who was around Tyler's age with a tall and athletic build, fair skin, straight brown hair, and blue eyes. The blue-eyed hybrid had been left behind with the instruction to watch over her while he went to attend a Founder's meeting with the rest of his hybrids, intent on turning the town against Stefan to force the young vampire into a corner with no other choice but to admit defeat and return the coffins.
"What's going on?" Gwen asked, her voice echoing and gaining the attention of the two hybrids who turned their gazes up to stare at her.
Tyler stepped around the other werewolf-vampire hybrid to approach the stairs with desperation in his eyes. "I need to find Klaus," he began to explain with urgency. "Can you tell me where he is?"
"Klaus asked not to be disturbed until he returned," said the other hybrid.
Gwen walked down the stairs to talk to Tyler and glanced at the other hybrid whose name she didn't know. "You're…" she began but gave the unknown hybrid a pointed look.
"Dean," answered the hybrid as he came to stand beside Tyler.
"Right," Gwen sighed as she stopped at the last step of the staircase, giving her a few inches of height that helped her to be at least on the same level of both of the hybrids' faces. Her attention went to Tyler. "Why are you looking for Nik?" she asked him, her brows furrowing when she noticed the anguish that rolled off him in waves.
"Look, I need to talk to Klaus about getting some of his blood," Tyler answered her. "I need it fast."
Gwen frowned. "Why?"
Tyler struggled with voicing words he never thought would ever leave his lips. He hated himself and felt nauseous with the remnants of his girlfriend's blood that still lingered in his mouth, the blood he would have never thought he'd taste. "I bit Caroline." The words were like acid.
"Your girlfriend?" Gwen gasped, her eyebrows rising in surprise. She also noticed the look of shock on Dean's face. "Why on earth would you do that?"
"I don't know! I didn't even know I did it until after!" Tyler exclaimed, throwing his arms up in frustration before raking his fingers through his hair as he began to pace to try and expel the agitation that made his body crawl. He wished he could knock his own teeth out. "Klaus asked me to do it and I told him that I wouldn't, so he said that it was fine, and I thought that was it. I thought everything was fine, but then I bit her out of nowhere," he added before going back to stand in front of Gwen. "I need Klaus to heal her before it's too late. I don't know how long she has."
"Okay," Gwen exhaled, her anger toward Klaus growing. This sire bond business left a bad taste in her mouth. "Here's what we're going to do," she began as she placed a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "I need to get something from my room." She focused on expanding her aura to soothe his own. "You're going to take me to your girlfriend, and we'll have this sorted out."
A bit confused, Tyler found himself calming down as he stared into Gwen's eyes, noticing how her eyes appeared to glow a bit. "Wait, but we need Klaus' blood," he argued.
Gwen waved him off as she began to make her way back upstairs to change out of her loungewear and gather her things. "I got that covered, so don't worry. Wait for me outside while I go get what we need."
"Hey, wait," Dean spoke up, stopping Gwen when she was halfway up the stairs. "You can't just leave. Klaus ordered me to watch over you."
"So, come with us. You won't be going against his wishes as long as you're with me," Gwen retorted, disliking how fiercely–or blindly–loyal the hybrids were to Klaus. "Everybody wins." She then continued to climb up the stairs, leaving behind a speechless and unsure Dean.
Gwen went back to her room and closed the door behind her for some privacy. She proceeded to change out of her taupe leggings and the burgundy sweater that she dropped on the bed before going into her walk-in closet in her underwear. She picked out a navy-blue midi dress that had a V-shaped neckline, cami straps, and a back cutout with self-tie closure. She matched the dress with a pair of flat sandals that were camel in color and had a strappy design with an open toe and lace-up closure. She quickly picked out a tan jacket and slipped it on.
The halfling went into her bathroom where she spent a good amount of time gathering what she'd need. She came out with her long hair braided into a loose fishtail over her left shoulder and her purse dangling from her elbow as she wrapped a bandage around her right hand. Gwen quickly but carefully made her way back downstairs, given that the wound on her back was still a bit sore.
Stepping outside of the manor, she found that Dean was already in one of Klaus' SUVs in front of the mansion in the driver's seat with Tyler sitting in the backseat. Gwen made her way over to the car and got in. Dean pulled out of the large driveway and followed Tyler's directions to get to Caroline's home.
After calming down and having been reassured that Caroline wasn't going to die, Tyler sat on the center of the backseat to get a better look at Gwen who stared forward at the dark road being illuminated by the high beam headlights. "Why are you helping me?" he asked her, frowning. "I mean, you don't know me, and you don't owe me anything," he said but not unkindly. He was only stating a fact. "You're on Klaus' side and my friends want to kill him, so why intervene when he's trying to kill them?"
"Do you want me to let your girlfriend die?" Gwen glanced at him over her shoulder, her big eyes giving him an incredulous look. "I don't like death. It's permanent and people shouldn't skirt around it like it's a game, but I've lived around it for so long that I hate how I've grown used to it," she told him. She elaborated further as she turned her attention back to the road. "I can tell that hurting the one you love is eating you from the inside, and it's all because of something you can't control. I feel like I owe you this much for what Nik made you do by taking advantage of the sire bond."
Dean gave Gwen a confused frown as he asked, "Sire bond?"
Gwen glanced at Dean for a moment. "It's a thing that happens when you're turned, but we're not getting into that right now."
"Thank you for this," Tyler murmured as he intertwined his fingers. "You can help her, right? I mean, I thought only Klaus' blood could heal werewolf venom."
"I have my ways," she said with a small smile on her lips. "Faeries aren't just a rare snack or a glorified sacrificial lamb."
Tyler nodded, accepting her vague explanation as an answer. "I don't know how I'll be able to repay you for this."
"I'm not Nik, so don't you worry about favors and whatnot," said Gwen. "That's his thing."
Since Mystic Falls was a rather small town, it didn't take long to reach their destination. Dean parked the car in front of the Forbes family's house, turning the engine off. The three hybrids exited the car and stepped onto the sidewalk with Gwen in between the two men.
"All right, let's go," Gwen said as she went to take a step forward with Dean right beside her as he looked around for any potential dangers.
"I can't," said Tyler, causing Gwen and Dean to turn to him with confused looks on their faces.
"What?" asked Gwen, taken aback. "Why?"
"I doubt I'll be welcome in there," Tyler explained, feeling nothing but shame as he stared up at Caroline's home, her comforting scent reaching his nostrils. He shook his head as the image of Caroline with a bite wound on her neck surfaced to the forefront of his mind. "I've already caused enough trouble. Me being there will only make things worse."
Gwen nodded, understanding his reasons. "Fine, but you should see her later and be there for her. You owe her that much."
Tyler sighed through his nose as he stared at the ground before disappearing in a blink of an eye. Gwen released a deep sigh and motioned for Dean to follow with a small jerk of her head. The pair stepped up to the lit porch and peered through the door's window before Gwen pressed the doorbell. They didn't have to wait long, because Matt appeared from another room, stopping in his tracks when he saw Gwen and Dean standing outside with the half-fae offering a small smile.
Taking a moment to debate on what to do, Matt took a deep breath and went to the front door, opening it as he gave both Gwen and Dean an impassive look. "What do you want?" he asked Gwen. He wanted to be cold or at least a bit harsh in how he spoke, but he found that he couldn't when the halfling leveled him with such a pleading gaze.
"Tyler told me what happened," Gwen answered, her grip on the strap of her purse tightening due to her nervousness. She really was a bit shy now and then. "He asked for help, so here I am."
"Klaus made him hurt Caroline," Matt shot at her. "How do I know he didn't send you to finish the job?"
"You don't, but I only want to help," Gwen pleaded her case. "I can cure your friend, but only if you let me."
Matt didn't have many options. Any decision made could end with Caroline dying. While he was relieved that Tyler hadn't sent Klaus to help, he still didn't trust anyone affiliated with the Original hybrid. Then again, there was only one cure for a hybrid bite. If Gwen had the cure for Caroline, then there wasn't much else he could do but accept her help. He already lost his sister. He didn't want to lose anyone else. His friends were the only family he had left since his mother was never there for him.
"You want something in return?" came the voice of Sheriff Forbes as she appeared behind Matt.
"Nik would, but I don't," said Gwen. "I swear, I only want to help."
Liz considered the young girl, finding herself surprised that another young teenager like her daughter was involved in the supernatural business. She couldn't find anything about Gwen that could threaten her daughter's life, her gut telling her that she had nothing to worry about concerning the young halfling. The other hybrid was another story. "You can come in," Liz said to Gwen before her eyes went to Dean. She was a desperate mother, but she wasn't going to invite one of Klaus' hybrids into the home she shared with her daughter that served as their very own fortress that protected them from unwelcomed monsters. "He stays outside."
Gwen nodded and went to step over the threshold.
Dean quickly grabbed a hold of Gwen's bicep and said, "Out of the question."
"Let go," Gwen demanded as she scowled up at Dean, trying and failing to pull her arm from his grip.
"Hey, man, take it easy," Matt told the anxious hybrid, frowning at the hand gripping Gwen's arm. "She's not in any danger."
"I have no way of knowing that," Dean countered.
"I'm going in there whether you like it or not," Gwen told Dean, locking eyes with him. "I am more than capable of forcing the issue."
"Klaus told me to keep you safe and I can't do that if I am not invited inside. If I can't guarantee your safety, then I can't let you go in there," Dean argued.
"We won't hurt her," said Liz.
"I'll stay outside with you," Matt offered, not wanting to waste more time that Caroline did not have.
Liz didn't like this at all. "Matt, don't."
"You'll have me as leverage in case anything happens to her. Sheriff Forbes can stay on your line of sight," Matt said to Dean as he stepped outside to stand near Dean. "I'm your insurance."
Gwen didn't wait for Dean to make up his mind, so she simply jerked her arm from his hold and stepped inside the home, leaving behind her hybrid bodyguard with Matt. She approached Liz and followed the sheriff to Caroline's room.
The halfling didn't know what she was expecting to find, since she had never witnessed the state of a vampire under the effects of a werewolf bite, but she thought that Caroline was going to look a lot worse when she reached the blonde's bedroom. She was expecting blood coming from Caroline's eyes or mouth and gray skin, but there was none of that. The young vampire did look sick with a sheen of perspiration coating her too-pale skin as she lied on her side on the bed with a thin blanket over her body and her right arm cushioning her head. Gwen could tell that Caroline was in a lot of pain with her eyes tightly closed and small moans escaping her.
"I'll leave you to it," Liz told Gwen before she went down the hall to be able to watch over Matt while also staying alert in case her daughter needed her.
Gwen lifted her hand and softly knocked on the door to announce her presence, which had Caroline inhaling a sharp breath and snapping her eyes open. The vampire's blue-green eyes quickly surveyed her room before they settled on the smiling hybrid. "Hi," Gwen greeted as she took another step further into the room.
Caroline fought to focus her bleary vision as her body burned up even more from the inside out. She was parched and could only think of blood as the only way to cool down, but she still had enough control to know that drinking blood would only make things worse. "What are you doing here?" she asked with a stern gaze, her voice raspy.
"Tyler sent me to help," Gwen explained as she came to stand next to the bed.
"I wouldn't need help if he hadn't done this to me," Caroline huffed, looking away from Gwen.
"He didn't mean to," said Gwen, her eyes softening as she came to sit on the edge of the bed near Caroline's waist. "You have to understand that he has no control whatsoever of what he does or even thinks, not while he's sired to Nik. You all need to stop thinking that this is something he can resist so easily."
Caroline stayed silent at this, still hurt and angry that Tyler couldn't fight against his sire bond to Klaus, not even for her.
"You know, this is the first time I'm seeing Nik in his true element," Gwen sighed. "I mean, I've seen how he can be, but this is different."
"What, you never knew that he's a psycho?" scoffed Caroline, rolling her eyes.
"Not when I was a child. Back then, I only ever knew him as the man who always tried to make me smile and protected me from harm," Gwen said with a faraway gaze and a wistful smile on her lips. Breaking away from memories of her past, she blinked a few times to find Caroline staring at her. "As I grew, I came to understand what he was capable of. I am still getting to know more about this side of him that is nothing but cruel and merciless to those he labels as enemies, but there is good in him buried deep inside." She cleared her throat. "At the end of the day, he's only doing this to get his family back."
"By hurting others," Caroline stated.
"Not that it's your fault, but you and your friends aren't helping the situation by trying to kill him, which only makes Nik retaliate the only way he knows how," Gwen argued before her eyes went to the cards that stood on the nightstand beside the bed. "It's your birthday," she stated before her eyes fell on what she recognized as blood peeking out from beneath the blanket covering Caroline's left shoulder. She lifted her hand but paused as she looked at Caroline, asking for permission. The vampire read the question in the halfling's eyes and nodded. Gwen pulled back the blanket and grimaced when she saw the festering wound. "I can't believe this happened to you on your birthday of all days. If Nik would have known, he probably wouldn't have picked you to be the collateral damage of the day."
"That's comforting." Caroline huffed, her head swimming for a bit. "How old are you? Are you a billion like Klaus?"
Gwen chuckled at this, her hands playing with the hem of her jacket. "First of all, Nik is around a thousand years old, not a billion," she said in amusement. "And second, I'm sixteen. Unlike pureblood faeries, I'm a half-breed. I'm mortal, so I'll grow old and die like any other human, but you vampires have all the time in the world."
"I don't," said Caroline. "I'm dying."
"You don't have to die," Gwen said as she placed her purse on her lap. "I can help you."
Caroline couldn't help but be confused by this, causing her brows to furrow. "Why would you help me?"
Gwen shrugged her shoulders. "It's bad enough that your boyfriend is in a master-slave relationship with Nik, but he also gave you a nice werewolf bite as a birthday gift, which Tyler regrets with every fiber of his being."
While she didn't have any type of relationship with Caroline, Gwen couldn't find it in herself to let the young vampire die when she had a way to save her. She didn't have that apathetic bone in her that allowed Klaus and probably Rebekah to make a different decision. She knew that it could all be for naught since Klaus could kill her the very next day, but Gwen just couldn't stand by when she saw how desperate and worried Tyler looked in his pursuit to save the girl he loved. She couldn't just turn him away; it wasn't in her.
"I am not particularly fond of you or your group for trying to kill Nik, but that doesn't mean I am okay with people dying," Gwen finished. "It's not who I am. Nik says I'm too kind and he's probably right." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small vial that stored a dark red liquid. She took Caroline's hand and placed the vial in it. "You need to drink this, all of it. It'll make you feel weird, but it'll get the job done," she said as she still gripped Caroline's hand, her eyes locked with the blonde's. "You'll be fine after you do, but only if you drink all of it. Consider this my gift to you." She stood up and adjusted her bag over her shoulder as she smiled down at the blonde. "Happy birthday, Caroline."
Gwen turned on her heel and left the room. When she was about to pass Liz, she explained to the sheriff the same instructions she gave to Caroline about drinking the entire vial before meeting Dean outside and leaving to return to her new home.
.
Control was something Klaus needed to have. It was that need for control that had him daggering his siblings and storing them in coffins, to put them to a death-like sleep whenever they gave him too much trouble or threatened to leave him. It was a vicious cycle, one that was the norm for his family for a thousand years. And now, he lost that control when he found that cornering Stefan into a corner was not the best route that he could've taken to get his family back. He was also without his hybrids, which was a downside, given that they served as the perfect disposable soldiers he could use in his dispute with Stefan. The young vampire knew one of his weaknesses and how to exploit it. The entire situation made his skin itch, hating not being able to have any control.
Klaus had to admit that he was impressed with the youngest Salvatore for threatening him with killing Elena, which would leave him without the ability to make more hybrids in the future. Having hybrids wasn't a priority, but he liked having the option.
When his ears picked up on the front door opening and closing, Klaus was reminded of the other person whom he was losing control over, which caused him enough worry to last him a lifetime. The longer Gwen stayed by his side while he was in the middle of what was considered his 'business', the more he regretted taking her along with him. He didn't have much choice in the matter, since she was becoming more outspoken and rebellious in wanting to explore the world and whatnot, so he thought that allowing her that while also keeping her close would satisfy her cravings for life outside the walls he constantly built around her. And while he always strived to give her anything and everything she desired, he was starting to think that her stay in Mystic Falls would have to come to an end sooner rather than later, disliking the potential danger she faced every day that could be lurking around every corner.
"Nik!" Gwen called out.
"In here!" Klaus replied from where he stood in front of the lit fireplace in the living room, his arms folded over his chest. The Original hybrid didn't have to wait long for the halfling to find him, sensing her enter the living room a few moments after he answered her call. "I hope you had a more productive night than I did," he greeted as he turned around to find her dropping her purse and jacket on a loveseat. He frowned when something in the air reached his nose, a scent that didn't sit right with him.
"It was interesting," Gwen hummed as she hid her hands behind her back, even though it would be pointless to keep him in the dark about what she did. Her eyes hardened while raising an eyebrow. "Tyler came by earlier, asking to see you because you had the brilliant plan to have him bite Caroline. On her birthday, no less."
Klaus' eyes widened a bit. "It was her birthday today?" He had not known that. He may be a monster, but he did have some standards. He didn't like the notion of killing someone on the day that marked the day they were born, but he thought it was quite poetic. "Oh, well, nothing to do now. I don't plan on giving Stefan anything else than sending my hybrids away. Caroline's life will just have to be the consequences of making me step down."
"Yeah, about that," Gwen began as she looked at her feet, not wanting to meet his intense gaze.
"You didn't." Klaus scowled as he approached Gwen. Now that he took a good sniff of the room, he quickly grabbed her right arm and pulled it out from behind her to stare down at the bandage neatly wrapped around her palm. "Honestly," he hissed as he dropped her arm. "What on earth were you thinking?"
Feeling like she was five years old again, Gwen refused to meet his eyes, knowing the judgment and anger that awaited her being reflected in them. "I couldn't let her die, not when I have the power to save her," she argued. "I owed Tyler that much after you made him sign his own girlfriend's death sentence."
"We've discussed this before!" Klaus bellowed. "You know how dangerous it could be if people were to find out that my blood isn't the only thing that can cure a werewolf bite. No matter what, this is something we agreed to never risk revealing to anyone, except for June, but she gets a pass."
"I know," she sighed as her left hand began to pick on the bandage wrapped around the wound on her right hand, working up the courage to lock eyes with Klaus. Sure enough, there was anger in his eyes. "Look, I made sure not to tell anyone what it was. I also told Caroline to drink it all or it wouldn't work, so there won't be any left behind."
"You know better than to take such a gamble," Klaus huffed as he began to pace in front of the fireplace, already trying to come up with ways to keep secret one of Gwen's most important abilities. "What do you think would happen if word got out that your blood is capable of curing werewolf bites?" he questioned as he went to stand in front of her once more. "And by what Juniper has discovered in her research, your blood is capable of so much more than that."
"I know, Nik," Gwen exhaled, growing more and more frustrated by the lecture she had heard many times before.
"I don't think you do!" Klaus yelled at her, which was all it took for Gwen's bubbling frustration to manifest.
"Stop yelling at me! I get it, okay?" Gwen screamed at Klaus with a glare set on her features, the outburst surprising Klaus. "If you hadn't been such an ass to Tyler and had him bite the girl he loves, I wouldn't have had to help him! It's not in me to be like you and be okay with people dying!" She took a deep breath as water began to gather in her eyes due to how frustrated she felt from everything that had been going on. She just couldn't take the stress that finally caught up to her since she left the hospital. "I'm sorry, okay?" She turned and grabbed her purse and jacket to go back to her room.
Klaus sighed. "Gwen–"
"Lay off!" she yelled over her shoulder and left the room.
With his mouth hanging open in shock, Klaus watched Gwen stomp out of the living room. He continued to hear her hurried steps until she reached her room and slammed the door shut. He could feel the vibration the action caused, which told him how angry she truly was. He realized that he shouldn't have pushed her. It was bad enough that he wasn't there to keep her safe from Mikael, but he also made her feel bad for being who she was.
Klaus groaned, feeling like the day had been too long for his liking.
End of chapter...
So...yeah, that happened. I know there are a lot of Klaroline fans out there, but things happened and one of the most memorable Klaroline scenes didn't make the cut in this story. I took advantage of the scene and instead used it to show you guys where Gwen is mentally and emotionally concerning everything that's happened and to also drop that bomb. I have no regrets, but I am sorry for disappointing those who expected to see Klaroline in this story, which is probably not happening.
I am prepared for angry rants or loving comments, so don't hesitate to share your thoughts. I hope I didn't drove anyone away and are sticking around.
See you guys in the next chapter!