When Caroline was young, she used to be afraid of the dark.

That was, until she learned how to light a candle.

It fascinated her how the little flickering flames of light could banish the dark. More importantly, how they could banish the boredom of silence and loneliness. Another candlelight equals another shadow of herself dancing on the walls or ceilings. Sometimes they talked to her, although it was dismissed by the adults as merely the overflown senses of a magical child.

Like almost any other child in the world, she went through the fire phase. And like most children born with magic, that phase translated into a disastrous period of pyromania. However, unlike other young witches, her fire phase ended in her nearly burning down Sheila Bennet's living room – Sheila was the one in charge of teaching the coven children that year, and it was just unfortunate that the older woman had a particularly strong penchant for vintage wooden furniture.

That was the day Caroline realized she was different. In the following months, she was stuck with the simple incantation of incendia when her peers got to have fun with locater and trapping spells. But fun was the furthest from her mind at the time. Under the close supervision of both her mom and Sheila, she practiced with nothing but candles, day in, day out. Eventually she learned how to contain her magic, at least with that one spell, casting with a precision unachieved by even some adults. But she kept the habit of practicing with candles, made a game out of it actually. She used to play magic whack-a-mole all the time with Bonnie, one of them lighting candles in the room at will, the other trying to put them out as quickly as possible.

To this day it was one part of Caroline's long-winded nightly rituals to practice with the dozens of candles in her room, between her skincare routine and social media night cap. She'd light the candles one by one without incantation, and then snuff them out in the exact same order. It soothed her to know that she had perfect control over her magic, and every time she was finished with the process she was left calm and at ease.

Today was not one of those days.

When she doused that one last flame, her room sinking back into the silver-lined darkness of a breezy night, Caroline span around and, upon the shocking sight at her window, screamed.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Situating himself quite comfortably in the frames of her open window, Klaus had the nerve to look like some oil painting from the classic times where the good side of his face was perfectly accentuated by the natural light source of the moon.

It had to be the angle. Nobody had the right to look that effortlessly nice at this hour. Caroline herself was in her oversized comfy T-shirt and pajama bottoms, without any makeup on. Not that she cared how she looked in front of him. She was only indignant because of his untimely intrusion.

"Such language."

His untimely intrusion and his attitude. And those stupid dimples. No more.

"What are you, Peter Pan?" She shrieked at him, hoping his vampire hearing would suffer.

But Klaus couldn't have looked more nonchalant, "I've been called worse."

"Well I'm about to do way more than calling you names if you don't get the hell away from my house."

"Is that the way one treats one's fiancée?"

Caroline raised her hands at him indicating the painful magical consequences he was about to face, "I don't know about one, but I definitely will fry your brains in the next minute."

"So I gather you're fine with me making some threats?" He was smiling like the Cheshire cat. It was not a good sign.

"What?"

"Oh you know, just your run-of-the-mill witch-hybrid interaction," Klaus held out a finger and started doodling on the invisible barrier that kept out any vampire without an invitation, as a teacher would on a blackboard. "You break a few blood vessels in my head, I make some threats towards the well-being of your loved ones, you break a few more, I make good on one of, if not all of the threats, and you give me what I want. You know the drill."

"You are sick," Caroline glared.

"By some standards, I suppose," Klaus tilted his head, seemingly conceding to her point. "While by others, I might be considered 'welcome', or 'invited in'."

Caroline weighed her options for a minute. She decided it was not worth it fighting him over this when she was going to marry him in three days anyway, not to mention her hopes of freeing Tyler. She'd just ask her mom to sell the house and move afterwards. The farther the better.

"Fine, come in, what do I care."

"Your hospitality is unparalleled," Klaus smirked, landing in her bedroom with a swift jump.

"Not as spectacular as your threatening skills, obviously."

"Now now, I didn't technically threaten you, love," Klaus drawled as he strode around leisurely in her room like he owned it, and Caroline was feeling increasingly exposed to be arguing over technicality.

"Whatever. Why are you here?"

"Can't I check on my lovely fiancée?" He was now hovering over her desk, where the plan of his house lay spread out with a bunch of colorful sticker notes attached to it.

"Can you stop using that word?" Caroline stalked over and rolled the plan up, putting it away on one of the shelves, "this is an arranged marriage, I'm not playing house with you."

"Not using it doesn't make it any less true," Klaus shrugged, before throwing a teasing smile her way. "And I see you're playing quite nicely with my house. Great choice by the way. That's one of the best rooms, has a view of the garden and all."

He was referring to the second-floor bedroom with an en-suite bathroom she'd circled out in the plan. Caroline snorted, "comforting. Better look at the garden than you."

A hint of mischief flashed through his eyes, but before Caroline had the time to get suspicious, he threw her off with a grin, "and pray tell what you are doing right now, love?"

Caroline was startled. She didn't remember the exact moment she began staring at him, his cheekbones and chin appearing more chiselled than ever in the soft moonlight. She cleared her throat, careful not to avert her eyes, not willing to give in now that he'd pointed it out, "I'm watching you to detect any signs of lying. You never know with someone like you."

"You look beautiful tonight."

Caroline's breath hitched. She did not see that, or the blush on her face coming.

"There. Was that a lie? Or Was I telling the truth?" Klaus's eyes were dancing with mirth.

He was such a jerk.

"You were telling the truth in order to lie," Caroline crossed her arms, her chin raised.

"Astute," Klaus licked his lips and Caroline found her eyes incorrigibly drawn to the sight. "Very charming trait. Let's hope you can tell when the real lie comes along."

"Wouldn't it be easier if I just treat everything you say as a lie?"

"Probably," he clasped his hands behind his back and resumed his inspection of her room. "But where's the fun in that? And by the way, you're welcome to order any furniture you want for your new room. Hire a decorator if you'd like. Let them contact one of my hybrids for billing information."

"I am not asking Tyler to run my errands. Or anyone for that matter."

"Oh right, Tyler," the look of realization on his face was entirely too dramatic to be real. "How was your little reunion?"

"Eventful," she bit out, trying to find the right moment to broach the topic of emancipation.

Klaus hummed, "teenage love, separation by fate, changes over time. Heavy motifs, I'm sure."

"Let Tyler go," she blurted out.

Apparently her mind had decided this was the right moment.

She couldn't read Klaus's expression with his back to her, his tone unconvincingly calm, "and why would I do that?"

"You can't just keep someone as your servant against their will! It's wrong, and inhumane."

Klaus laughed, the muscles of his back shaking elegantly like a beast hiding in shrubbery, "sweetheart, there are so many inaccuracies in those words I don't even know where to start."

"Try me."

"For starters," Klaus turned around and bent down a thumb, "we are not human, so 'inhumane' shouldn't really be our concern. Secondly, I wouldn't call members of my pack my 'servants'. We have compelled humans to fill that title. And third – which I am sure Tyler must have told you – I am not holding him against his will."

"The hell you aren't! You have a sire bond over him. You could easily make him do something he doesn't really want to, and he'd do it anyway."

"Like you are marrying me for your coven?" Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"It's not the same!" Caroline scoffed, "I'm doing it out of my own free will."

"Are you really?" Klaus ran his thumb along the bottom of his lower lips, his smile calculating, "funny. I was under the impression that you did not particularly care for this turn of events. Perhaps you are secretly charmed by my unruly ways after all."

"Don't flatter yourself. I may not want this, but I'm doing it for the people I love."

"Then is it so different from Tyler doing something out of respect for me? Or his loyalty to our pack?" Klaus challenged her with his eyes, "our decisions are always swayed by our obligations towards others. Is there really such a thing as free will? Or is it simply an illusion people conjured up to glorify certain priorities?"

Spoken like a true dictator.

"I'm not having a philosophical debate with you," Caroline pinned him down with another glare. If only looks could kill, or at least, cut. "I don't care about your million and one minions. But let. Tyler. Go."

Klaus's face was suddenly pensive, his eyes examining her like he was trying to figure something out, "are you protesting because the sire bond is 'inhumane' in general? Or just because Tyler is under it? Stick to one argument, love."

"Does it matter?" Caroline frowned, "just tell me what you want in return."

He made a humming sound from the back of his throat, which seemed to vibrate all through the room, including Caroline's own body. She swallowed hard, waiting for the answer.

But Klaus was taking his sweet time. He started measuring her room with his damn leisure steps again, looking over everything with – dare she say – fascination, which was so creepy because who would take such an interest in a twenty-year-old's bedroom other than another twenty-year-old? Whether she wanted to admit it or not, the move made her nervous. He made her nervous.

Caroline watched with wary eyes as Klaus neared her bed, his attention immediately drawn to the colorful crystals she hung above the nightstand. Before Caroline could stop him, he picked a pink one up in between his fingers, and soon a look of surprise swept over his features.

"Hey!" Caroline rushed over to snatch it from him, "do you have no manners? You don't break into other people's rooms and snoop around their stuff."

Klaus, however, completely ignored her words, "did you make those yourself?"

Caroline sighed. No need to deny it now that he'd felt it with his own hands.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes. I call them my memory stones."

She'd been making them since her teenage years, storing her most-cherished memories inside crystals so that she could relive them. The one that Klaus just picked up held the memory of her, Bonnie, and Elena having a sleepover together when they were kids. Although an outsider like Klaus would only feel the emotions of happiness and affection instead of seeing the actual memory.

"I don't think this comes from any existing spells," Klaus was staring at her intensely. "Does it?"

"You think you know all the existing spells?"

"I pride myself in learning what is useful."

Somehow that comment vexed her more than she'd expected, her reply coming out almost petulant, "well I'm sorry for boring you with my useless magic."

"On the contrary, sweetheart," Klaus ran a finger gently across the row of strings as if playing a harp, the shadows of dangling crystals echoing on her wall like a call from the past. "It's...poetic. Unlike some derivative spell this is sheer creation, and from someone so young no less. I'm quite sure most of your coven weren't capable of doing something like this when they were your age. Probably still not."

Caroline felt the beginning of a blush, and she conveniently covered it up with a scoff, "you're just saying that. I bet you're laughing inside at the 'sentimental trinkets', or whatever you call it."

Growing up she'd heard enough comments like that, about how Caroline was not good at real magic and the only thing she could manage was bedazzling parlor tricks. But truth was she loved her little tricks. Memory stones, perfumes with the distinct scents of people she loved, little charms on a bracelet that repeated words of encouragement upon touch...These were the things that she truly loved about magic. That it was grounded by the colors and warmth of life, but slightly better. Closer to dreams.

"I prefer the term 'spark of ingenuity', if you will," Klaus's eyes still haven't left her stones, the moonlight reflected by the crystals mirrored in them, deceptive, but all the more enticing. "Are you aware of how much power you truly hold, Caroline? To achieve something like this, you need to have a firm and precise hold of a person's consciousness, or even unconsciousness with your magic. It is a feat many witches failed to accomplish despite a lifetime of endeavors." He turned to her then, his eyes gleaming with a passion that half scared and half provoked her, "it's remarkable, love. One tiny tweak here and a minor adjustment there, it'll easily help you extract information from someone's mind, or better yet, shape it to your liking."

Caroline bristled, "is that all you can think about? Manipulating people, hurting them for your own gain?"

Klaus shrugged, a cavalier smirk on his lips, "just a suggestion, love. You should know better than to judge so swiftly."

His fingers mindlessly traveled to another crystal and picked it up for closer examination. Caroline's heart sank when she realized the green color. It was made five years ago, the color chosen to match the wild nature of werewolves.

"Who did you make this one for?" Klaus's eyes snapped up, his voice suddenly cold.

Caroline tried to conceal the panic in her own voice, "why do you even care? It doesn't concern you."

"So it's for Tyler."

Caroline bit her lips. Klaus might be crazy, but he was no fool. "We dated for two years. I thought you knew that."

"Ah yes, the story of two young lovers, joined by their own misfortunes, only to be separated again. Tyler's told me all about it. How Shakespearean." His tone was strange to her ears, the soft lilt smooth as silk, but with sharp blades hidden in its creases.

Caroline refused to be intimidated. She made that memory stone with their first kiss in mind. It was filled with love that she couldn't begin to express with words, and even after Tyler left, whenever she held it in her hand she felt comforted knowing that what they had was real. She would not let Klaus ruin it for her. And quite frankly she didn't understand what right he had to take offense.

"What's your point?"

"Do you still feel that way about him?" Klaus's face was masked with an unreadable expression, his eyes dark and searching. "Is that the reason why you are asking for his freedom?"

"What's it to you?" Caroline frowned, "are you jealous or something?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes, "call it curiosity for now."

The threat was loud as thunder.

However, Klaus was about to find out that it was the worst way to get Caroline to talk.

"You know what? Screw you! If your curiosity doesn't kill you because you're a wolf or whatever, then I will. I'm so not telling you a thing about what I do or do not feel about Tyler. It is, once again, none of your business. I may be your future wife, Klaus, but if you don't learn the word boundary very soon, I have no qualms becoming a widow. I look crazy hot in black." She inhaled deeply, a bit out of breath after her rant, "even if I'm still in love with Tyler, why are you jealous anyway? For the thousandth time, this is an arranged marriage. You don't own me."

"Even if – interesting choice of words," Klaus let go of the crystal, a smile reappearing on his face. Caroline really didn't understand his mood swings. Or his sudden change of subject. "For the record, I did give Tyler the choice. He chose to follow me and be a member of my pack. He is as free as anyone can be in this world."

"When?"

"I don't think it's my story to tell, love."

"Now you're respecting boundaries?" Caroline rolled her eyes, "you know that just sounds extra sketchy, right?"

"What can I say, I'm a fast-learner," Klaus smirked. "And I will try my best to keep you from becoming a widow, however hot you undoubtedly look in black."

"You're changing the subject again. You guys keep saying he had a free choice, but neither of you would tell me the goddamn story! How am I supposed to believe that it's not a big fat lie?"

"Though your loyalty to a friend is quite admirable, I maintain that it's not my place to sire and tell," Klaus replied with a teasing grin, like her boiling frustration was just a child's tantrum. "You know, I've heard a lot about you over the years. Tyler was not one with many words, and in those early months you were all that he really talked about. Eventually he fit into the pack. The sense of unity and connection among wolves – there's no denying it." Klaus's grin slowly morphed into a smile, softer, harder to detect, "the lad's a born leader. Now even the older hybrids look up to him."

"Yeah right. As if they wouldn't turn on him as soon as you give the word," somehow Klaus's words, which were probably meant to be appeasing, only angered her more. The image of Tyler being one of them unsettled her. She couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that his life was now so entangled with these random people, people with whom he didn't share blood or a past.

But they share the present, and maybe the future. A small voice told her. Caroline pushed that voice down.

Klaus seemed to see right through her, "now who's jealous, love? No need to undermine the pack so. You're going to share it soon."

The small jab was more than Caroline could take at the moment, "you know what? Get it through your thick skull that it's not about me loving Tyler or not, it's not about me being jealous of your stupid pack, or any other lie you made up to mess with my head! This is just what you do, isn't it? You play with people. You take away their life and freedom. Like you took Tyler's."

"Like I'm taking yours, you mean?" His voice was so low Caroline had to strain to hear him. The coldness sent chills down her spine. She knew she shouldn't be pushing him, but if there was one thing over which she had less control than she did her magic, it was her temper. Or more specifically, her big running mouth.

"Yes! Exactly like you're taking mine. But if I have to be sentenced to life with a monster like you, I will not watch Tyler suffer the same fate."

Klaus strode towards her until his nose almost touched hers, towering over her with a venomous gleam under his downcast eyelashes, his smile cold and cutting, "how magnanimous of you. Unfortunately, anyone who knows me even a tiny bit will be happy to tell you just how petty this monster is." He ran a thumb slowly across her cheek, and Caroline shuddered. His smile deepened at that, "so mark my words, sweetheart. I will do exactly what you expect me to do. I will use Tyler however I please. As I will use you."

Before he jumped out of her window, he threw one more sinister line over his shoulder, "try figuring out if that was a lie."

For her own sake and for Tyler's, Caroline could only wish it was. But as she looked into the distance where he'd disappeared, her heart was filled with dread.


Caroline's 10a.m. brunch with Tyler went as drama-free as possible. Apparently, they both decided that reminiscing over the past was a much better appetizer than any Klaus-talk. Tyler probably didn't know where to start, while Caroline, eager as she might have been to hear the full story, was subdued because she feared that her altercation with Klaus the night before had pissed off the hybrid to the point of no return. So they stuck to the safer topics, alternating between childhood memories and recent adventures as they devoured stacks over stacks of pancakes with all the toppings Caroline could get her hands on.

But finally the time came when their plates were empty and Caroline was out of fresh oranges.

"So," Tyler scratched his head. "Guess I should start the story."

Caroline nodded, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"Okay," Tyler took a deep breath. "So you remember the evening when we were supposed to work together on the social studies project?"

"Yeah." He never showed up.

"It was a full moon."

"What does that have to do with...Oh my god, did you trigger your curse that night?"

Tyler snorted, though Caroline could tell the derision wasn't directed at her, "I triggered my curse alright. But it was a trap."

Caroline's jaw hung open. She couldn't believe this. Tyler had never wanted to trigger his curse, his father and uncle being exiled from coven ground because of that particular sin, and Tyler himself being the pariah due to the dormant genes. Before this point Caroline had assumed that Klaus had something to do with him finally becoming a wolf.

Her eyes burned, and so did her blood, "who did it?"

"Care, if you want me to finish, you have to calm down," Tyler touched her hand. Caroline realized that all the plates on the table were vibrating violently, some of them dangerously close to the edge. She nodded at Tyler, taking deep breaths to rein in her magic while Tyler put the dishes away into the sink.

"Okay, I'm fine now. Tell me who did it."

"It was Grayson, and some of the other Elders."

"What?" Caroline couldn't believe her ears. Grayson Gilbert was more than just the head of their coven. He was also the town doctor, and her best friend's father. Over the years the older man had driven Elena and her to countless places, cracked the occasional dad jokes when they were having sleepovers at Elena's house, and always remembered to get something for Caroline too if he was on a business trip. "How could he…Why?"

Hatred flashed through Tyler's eyes, "he wanted to use me as a secret weapon against vampires."

Caroline frowned, her head dizzy from the shocking news. It made sense, since werewolf bites were fatal to vampires as far as they knew. But... "You were only sixteen! How could they? And what about your mom?" Carol Lockwood would never have agreed to this.

Tyler sighed, "she wasn't there. Your mom wasn't either. Last night she told me that Grayson had fed her some lies about me being abducted by the vampires. She suspected something was not right, but didn't have any proof."

Caroline's heart was pounding. If this was the case, then how many more lies had Grayson told over the years? What else had he done? All her memories of Grayson were swirling in her mind and Caroline wanted more than anything to spend hours just sifting through all of them and figuring out where the truth ended and where the betrayals began. But she reminded herself that now was not the time. So she held onto Tyler's hands and asked him to tell her everything.

And he told her all of it. How they tricked him into pushing someone down the stairs. How they coerced him into promising that he would behave and work for them. But when the moon reached its apex, his transition happened faster than they'd expected, and he broke free before they could trap him with magic. He ran into the woods a fully-transitioned wolf, which was the last bit he remembered about the night. The next morning he woke up somewhere he didn't recognize, naked on the ground, scared and hurting.

"That was when I saw Klaus. He asked me how I was feeling, and told me I could go with him if I wanted to. So I did. He took me in and taught me a lot about being a werewolf. The other hybrids helped too. After a year he asked me if I wanted to truly become one of them, or I could leave and be on my own." Tyler laughed a little at Caroline's furrowed brows, "it's not so bad, Care. Did he have some ulterior motives? Probably. Dude's always plotting like a super villain. But at least he laid my options on the table and let me choose. That was a lot more than what the Elders did."

Caroline didn't reply right away, which for her was rare. Truth be told she couldn't quite figure out her own feelings. She hated Grayson to her guts now, along with whoever was in on the evil plan. She still didn't like the fact that Tyler was a hybrid, or that he was sired to Klaus. And speaking of Klaus...For the first time since he'd barged into her life, she felt a tiniest bit of gratitude towards the man. No matter what his agenda was, he did save Tyler. The Tyler she loved till her heart ached, who was only sixteen, and a newly-turned werewolf. The world would have been a dangerous place for someone like him. For all she knew Klaus was the reason she could see Tyler again, hybrid or not.

"I'm just so glad you're okay, Tyler," she hugged him tight, feeling his arms around her. A lot of her memories were altered forever today, tainted by darkness and deceit that she didn't recognize with a child's eye, like the burned edges of old photographs. At least the part of him was kept intact.

"You are okay, right?" She asked hesitantly after they finally pulled away, "the other hybrids treating you right? Klaus not abusing you or anything? What about his siblings – you said his siblings were evil masterminds like him, did they do anything to you?"

Tyler really laughed this time, "stop, Care, now you sound like my mom. I'm okay, no one's bullying me, hybrid ability and all." He puffed his chest smugly, "and I doubt anyone would want to answer to Klaus if they tried something."

"Klaus is actually...nice to you, huh?" The word hurt her tongue, but Caroline could sense their closeness from Tyler's account of his alpha.

Tyler made a face, "that's not the word I would use. But yeah, he has his moments. Look, Caroline, I'm really sorry about the wedding, but maybe it's not the worst thing in the world. Klaus promised it would be strictly business, and...I don't know, maybe think of this as a chance to cut ties with the coven."

"What? Tyler how can you say that?"

"Most of these people have never treated you right. You don't owe them anything." Tyler's voice turned serious, "at least promise me this one thing: you'll be careful around the Gilberts."

Caroline snorted, "yeah, after what I've heard today they should be careful around me."

"That's the scary Caroline I know," Tyler ginned. "Speaking of –" He pulled an envelope out of his pocket, her name written in elegant cursives on the pristine cover, "heard you had a 'spat' with Klaus last night."

"Is that what he called it?" Caroline shot him an unimpressed look.

"Actually, yes," Tyler pushed the envelope towards her. "And I guess this is his apology."

"Seriously?" Caroline threw up her hands, "he sent you to do his biddings, when it was what we were arguing about in the first place?" The nerve of that man.

Tyler shook his head, "I'm just the delivery guy."

"Yes, and now it's delivered, I can burn it."

"Your choice," Tyler stood up, looking at the clock on the dining room wall. "I should probably get going. Have some errands to run. You can at least read the note, Care. I think he drew you something."

"As in, he picked up a pencil and doodled some stick figures?"

Tyler shrugged, "the guy's actually pretty good. He gave me some pointers when I was sketching one time."

Caroline knew about Tyler's secret artistic hobbies, but for the life of her she couldn't imagine Klaus giving him tips on lines and shadings. More than that, she found her mind wandering to images of Klaus's fingers running along the paper with the sureness he always exuded, his ring finger bending just at the right angle to smudge a delicate spot, again and again…

"Caroline?"

"Oh, um – nothing," Caroline jerked awake from her ridiculous fantasies. "Just in shock. Are we even talking about the same Klaus?"

"The one and only."

She opened the envelope as soon as Tyler left, curiosity gripping her heart in its nosy little claws. A piece of paper slid out with the sketch of a young wolf, his dark fur tousled with little twigs and leaves sticking to it, his eyes narrowed and teeth bare. It was a threatening pose, the wolf looking like he was about to pounce at any minute. But deep in her heart Caroline knew what he was feeling. Fear. Inexplicable, paralyzing fear. And in that moment she realized who it was.

Tyler.

Was this how he looked like when Klaus found him wandering the woods? Why did Klaus draw her this? Caroline carefully touched the wolf's eyes in the sketch. They looked so real that no one would doubt the artist had put infinite time and care into recreating the subject. She wondered what Klaus saw in those eyes when he first encountered them in the woods. What made him stop? What made him feel the urge to seek out those eyes from his vast jungle of memories and put them on paper?

With myriads of emotions she couldn't name nor recognize warring inside of her, Caroline flipped the drawing over to find a short hand-written note. The bold letters spelling out a few simple lines that she would spend the rest of the day trying to decipher:

Dear Caroline,

All my life I've been reminded once and again of my own impulsiveness, the results of which are often beyond my willingness or ability to explain. I only hope that you understand it better than I do, and find truth where it seems impossible.

Fondly,

Klaus