Chapter 10: Cold hands
Alaric felt numb.
He stared at the nurses and doctors as they shook their heads and apologized to him but he couldn't understand how it had happened. All he knew was that Caroline was still unconscious and could be waking up at any time, and when she did she would be alone.
All alone.
As he considered reentering her room, a voice broke through between the different medical terms that was being tossed around in the room as the medical team tried their best to make sense of the odd situation. But they couldn't, they didn't have all of the pieces to the puzzle to understand it. Hell, Ric himself did and he still couldn't believe this was actually happening.
"How is she?" Stefan said as he stared at the doctors before turning to Ric again. "Is she awake?"
The numbness lifted at that question, like a fog having clouded his senses and mind. Now he could finally form thoughts again, however they were fully consumed by blind rage and before he knew it he had attacked the younger Salvatore with his fist.
"Ric! Easy, buddy!" Damon hissed as he showed up to grab onto his friend's shoulder, but Alaric shook him off.
"Look, Ric. I'm sorry about what happened –" Stefan began as he stood up after having fallen to the floor from the spontaneous punch.
"Get. Out." Alaric said through clenched teeth, already feeling his hands wanting to hit him again and again. "Or the next one won't be as easy to recover from."
Stefan exchanged a look with Damon before his older brother pulled at Alaric, turning him away from the man responsible for the death of his unborn children.
"Hey, let's go get wasted like never before in a bar far away from Mystic Falls, hm?" Damon said carefully, with sympathetic eyes. "I'll even give you blood to make sure your human limit won't become a problem, what do you say?"
"I'm not leaving Caroline alone!" Ric protested, offended that his friend would even suggest such a thing.
"Is she awake!?" Bonnie's voice disrupted Damon's response as she and Enzo came up to the three men.
"Not yet." Alaric gritted out, casting a glare at Stefan's direction. "I thought I told you to leave."
"I'm here for Caroline, Ric." Stefan said slowly.
A cold chuckle escaped his lips at that. "Do you seriously think that she will want to see you after what you did?" he asked incredulously as a bitter smile spread across his lips. He took a step towards him with the anger still floating through every vein in his body. "After your decision to save Elena caused the lives of the children she was carrying? After you chose Elena… Over your own girlfriend."
Stefan pressed his lips together firmly as Ric continued moving towards him, keeping silent as he went on.
"You were the one who convinced her to do the spell. She wanted to trust you, to believe in you." Ric said venomously as he poked his chest with his index finger, letting out another cold chuckle. "And so, she went against her better judgment. She had us both go against our better judgments."
His face turned into stone as he watched guilt fill Stefan's eyes. "And all because of your selfish vendetta against Julian." he said with a dangerously low voice.
"So, tell me Stefan…" He leaned in close to whisper the next part even though everyone would most likely hear the next part perfectly. "Was it worth it? Was my children dying worth coming to your brother's girlfriend's rescue yet another time?"
"That's enough, Alaric." Valerie's voice suddenly announced her presence as she stepped to Stefan's side. "As apologetic as I am for your grief…" she said with a shake of her head before she glanced over to Damon. "We don't have time to point accusatory fingers at anyone right now. Julian will soon catch up with us. We need to leave before he does."
"Then leave." Ric told her before looking back at Stefan again. "Julian's beef isn't with me and Caroline. Just you and your brother. You said so yourself."
"That doesn't mean he won't come after you." Enzo protested, making Alaric glance back at him. "Or Valerie, or me, or Bonnie for that matter. We all had a part in this. He will not take too kindly to that. No matter what losses we may have suffered due to our roles in our plan to end him."
"Enzo and Valerie are right." Bonnie said. "Arguing about who did what isn't going to get Julian off any of our backs. We need to leave Mystic Falls, all of us. Including you and Caroline."
"Then I'll go to Dallas with Caroline as soon as she wakes up. But he…" Ric pointed at Stefan with a glare and nod of his head. "Isn't going anywhere near her."
"Ric, I know you're upset but that isn't very fair –" Damon began but Ric cut him off.
"None of this is fair, Damon!" he growled before his chest filled with the drowning reminder of the consequences from having mistakenly been dragged into the supernatural drama and having lost everything once again because of it.
His hands shook as he fought back the tears and heartbreaking grief. "My daughters are dead because of you. Because of all of you." he said, his voice breaking slightly.
"I never should have trusted you or this plan or anything you said. I should have left with Caroline the first chance we had before someone had the crazy idea of using the twins' magic to kill a five-hundred-year old vampire and his whole freaking vampire army!"
He shook his head as he fought hard not to let his emotions overtake him. "And now I can't look at anyone of you without feeling…" he glanced around at the others before grimacing. "Revolted." he said.
Everyone avoided his eyes as they seemed to finally accept their responsibilities in all of this. He waited a long moment for them to say something but when Bonnie finally spoke up he decided he didn't want to hear any of it anyways.
"I'm so sorry…" Bonnie said as she approached him but he turned away from her and left to go to Caroline instead, leaving all of their supposed friends outside in the hall.
As he entered Caroline's room he studied her shortly before having to look away, not finding it in him to look at her as she no longer had the evident reassurance of the twins' presence.
"They're gone." Caroline's raspy voice suddenly made him flinch as he looked at her stirring while still not fully awake, her eyes heavy and clouded with sleep.
He clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth, not sure of what she was referring to. The twins or his only chance at happiness, at finally having a family or the future that had been waiting for the four of them just around the corner... Because it was all gone.
"I'm so sorry. It's my fault…" she whispered with closed eyes as she seemed to slowly doze off again.
Furrowing his eyebrows, he walked over to her and pressed his hand over her forehead, stroking her hair. "It's not." he assured her. "It's not your fault, Caroline."
And he meant it, he didn't blame her whatsoever. He couldn't blame her, because then he would need to also blame himself… Since they were both equally responsible for their decision. But right now it was just a hell of a lot easier to blame the Salvatore's and the supernatural drama that always accompanied them wherever they went.
"Yes, it is." she sniffled silently, a tear running down her cheek. "I was the one who put him there."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, utterly confused to her half-conscious confession. She didn't answer though, having fallen back asleep with the single teardrop frozen at the corner of her mouth.
He gulped and took a seat next to her bed, holding her hand closest to him with both of his as he closed his eyes and tried to imagine where they would go from here.
After all, Caroline had lost just as much as him. They were in this together. And she would probably be the only one capable of understanding what he is going through. All they had was each other now.
Klaus woke up to voices.
It took a long while for him to recognize them and to understand that they were talking about him, but once it all came to focus again he was ripped back into consciousness.
Sitting up in a loud gasp, he stared wide-eyed at the faces around him as everyone seemed to have been silenced by his awoken state.
"Aurora?" he croaked out, panting as he felt completely exhausted as if he had been fighting to stay alive.
"She isn't found yet." Elijah said, walking up to him to help him stand as he had been lying on the hard marble floor next to a fountain filled with blood.
"And Tristan?" Klaus asked as he leaned against his brother for loss of balance.
"Still drowning in the Mississippi River, fortunately." Elijah said as Klaus took in their surroundings. "The bad news being that Aya has vanished as well as the golden dagger that was used on you."
Klaus flinched at the memory of the weapon being plunged into his chest and draining his life. He glanced down at himself and furrowed his eyebrows at his soaked clothes. "What did they do to us?" he asked, looking up and noticing the dead witches spread out around the room.
"Freya has a suggestion." Elijah said. "We can discuss that later however, as of now we need to leave the compound and make sure you heal properly."
Klaus pushed his brother away from him, staggering slightly as he did so. "I will not leave until I have Aurora's heart in my hands and her head buried under cement as well as that godforsaken dagger melted into an accessory to go with her rotting corpse."
"Vivid image." Hayley muttered from behind him, making him spin around in confusion.
"Hope?" he asked as his heart stopped for a moment, he had been so caught up with getting his revenge that he had forgotten just how easily he could still be brought to his knees.
"With Josh at the mansion." Hayley said, answering his worries. "And we should really get out of here to make sure Aya didn't decide to give her a home visit."
Klaus smiled a little with some kind of pride as she had had the same fear as him, but quickly hid it with a cold expression as he once more remembered a red-headed devil that needed to be vanquished. "You two, go. I'll find Aurora; she should be close by if whatever spell used on us required the two of us to be in the same room." he said with a nod towards Elijah.
He disappeared before any of them could protest and started scouring the building for her. Aurora would meet a cruel yet fair fate; Klaus would ensure it.
A knock on the door a few hours later woke Ric up as he had apparently fallen asleep at the chair next to Caroline. For a short moment he forgot about what had happened and managed to temporarily convince himself that the twins weren't gone. But one glance at Caroline was all he needed to be dragged back to the devastating reality and he gulped hard at the reminder…
They're gone.
Another knock pulled him out of his thoughts and he walked over to the door to see if Stefan had returned, his fists already clenching and unclenching at the thought.
But it wasn't Stefan at the door, it was Bonnie with Enzo and Matt standing behind her.
"Can we see her?" Bonnie asked pleadingly.
Ric saw the worried look in her eyes mirrored in the two men as well and nodded. "She's still sleeping." he told them as he opened the door wider to let them in.
Bonnie walked over and sat on the side of the bed, taking Caroline's hand in one of hers while stroking her cheek with her free one. "Hi, Care." she said with a thick voice.
Matt went to stand on the opposite side of the bed, taking Caroline's other hand in both of his with a sad frown on his face. "We're here, Care." he said.
Ric glanced over to Enzo as he stood at the foot of the bed, looking unsure of how to act and what to say or do.
"She woke up earlier." Ric explained, mostly to Enzo as he related to the lost expression that the Brit carried since he himself wondered whether he should give Caroline some time with her childhood friends or stay in case she woke up again and asked about the babies… He shook off the horror of having to replay the events to her and looked at Enzo as he seemed to wait for a further explanation. "She didn't seem very lucid though. Was rambling on about something… I think she was still technically asleep."
Enzo nodded silently before looking over at Caroline. "Whomever said misery enjoyed company, had obviously known the Salvatore's." he muttered before glancing back at Ric. "I am sorry for your loss."
"Yeah." Ric said and decided he needed some air, or rather; some alcohol. He heard Bonnie starting to chant something to help Caroline heal faster before he grabbed his jacket and headed out for the closest bar.
That night, as Ric sat with his third scotch in hands, he began to blame himself for the first time that day. And that caused him to throw another three drinks back, because he wished he didn't feel the all-consuming guilt that he did. The suffocating heartbreak. The overwhelming pain…
He wished this was all a bad dream that he would soon wake up from. He wished the twins were in his arms and that none of this had happened.
He wished he was numb again. And he lost count of the number of drinks that followed in hopes of achieving just that.
The sobs and pleas of Aurora De Martel was still ringing in Klaus' ears hours after he had imprisoned her in the tomb at the Lafayette Cemetery with the help of Freya's magic. He felt a great relief and satisfaction wash over him at the thought of finally having rid himself of his ex-lover. It felt as if he was shedding away parts of his past with her, corners of his soul that he had thankfully forgotten long ago and that had only caused him trouble when stirring up once more.
He was finally free.
It had taken years to recover from the heartbreak that apparently had been brought upon him by Elijah and fabricated through compulsion, but now he could finally put his past to rest in a way that he hadn't before.
Until now, Aurora had still roamed the world. Still existing in his shadows and bringing her way back to his mind at various, albeit very few, times over the centuries. However, from this night forward she would no longer be a ghost from his past that still haunted him during his darkest times and manifested his insecurities of ever finding happiness.
She was finally put away.
Under his control.
And now he was free to finally seek happiness without fear of losing it due to neither the memory of his heart-break from her nor her presence ensuring he would remain miserable throughout eternity by threatening to alienate the people closest to him…
"A representational spirit world." Freya's words brought Klaus out of his thoughts as he, Elijah, Hayley and Lucien sat gathered in the main living area at the mansion.
"That explains how she manages to work around the flaws of daggering you." Lucien said in agreement as he nodded towards the brothers. "She can't desiccate if she isn't actually in her own physical form."
"That still doesn't explain how she managed to get her hands on that golden dagger." Klaus said, cringing at the thought of the weapon still lost to them.
"Well, I never actually invited her to my apartment so she more than likely had someone else take it from me." Lucien said with a shrug, leaning his hands against the back of an empty chair. "I have video surveillance that can show us whom the traitor is."
"Yet you couldn't manage to make sure no one took it in the first place." Hayley scoffed.
"Well, pardon me. But I was quite indisposed or are you forgetting the vervain ropes and the locker Aurora had me shoved into?" he recoiled sarcastically as he straightened up and snickered, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Remind me again, what is the point to his presence?" Elijah asked Freya while nodding towards Lucien.
"Hey, I'm right here!" Lucien quipped. "And for your record, Elijah, I'd suggest you do keep me around since I may be of great use in finding Aya as well as the stolen dagger."
"That's it then." Klaus said with a smirk, walking up to Lucien with dark eyes. "We'll use your blood to track the dagger, since it was your possession after all."
Lucien grimaced at that. "Not quite…" he said guiltily, sighing after a moment in relent as he decided it would be best to cooperate. "It belonged to a witch I found in Russia. And after I took it from her, having forced her to create it in the first place, I killed her and her entire lineage."
"That's just great." Hayley muttered as Klaus grunted in frustration.
"We need to find the dagger as well as that vicious gun before our enemies hear of either's existence and come crawling out of their shadows like demons waiting to strike at me!" Klaus exclaimed in desperation, completely struck by the possibility of his life being threatened once more. He looked around the room as he continued. "At all of us!"
He then turned towards Lucien again. "If you can't be of help with locating the weapons then I see no use in keeping you alive, Lucien. So, you better find me whomever took the dagger from you in the first place and in turn use them to seek out Aya. Or else I might find myself with quite a loss of patience for you and your swaying loyalty."
"If you die, so will I!" Lucien protested. "If that's not enough of a reassurance of my loyalty to you nor evidence that you can trust me while this prophecy remains a threat behind every corner, then what will?"
"Klaus?"
Camille's voice made Klaus swallow his next words to Lucien as he turned around to see her entering the building with her lips pressed into a firm line as her curly hair bounced with every step she took. He found himself studying it for a while, feeling like it reminded him of something, before he shook the thought off and left to accompany her away from prying ears.
"You called and practically begged me to come over here and now I am, so what do you want?" she asked with a shrug, her arms crossed over her chest as he approached her.
"I wanted to tell you…" he began and motioned with his hand for them to move into another room. She understood the gesture and followed him to the other side of the mansion. "That…" he continued as he closed the door behind them after they entered one of the studied. "Aurora has been taken care of."
He watched as she first looked at him in chock and then relief, only to turn into incredulity. "How?" she breathed.
He took a step towards her with a soft smile. "She will remain imprisoned behind bricks and dirt, just like she should've been the moment I discovered her arrival in New Orleans."
"What do you mean imprisoned?" Cami said with an unsteady voice.
"She won't hurt you anymore, Camille." he said seriously, seeing that she was searching for some kind of confirmation.
"You didn't kill her?" she breathed out, the disappointment and anger in her eyes at the statement confusing him.
"I promise you, you won't ever need to fear her again." he said and stepped closer to her only to see her step away from him.
"Why didn't you kill her?" she asked, her voice rising.
"I wasn't expecting you to be upset by me, for once, deciding to not follow my darker patterns." he stated with furrowed eyebrows.
"That's just it, Klaus!" she exclaimed. "You kill people all of the time! … But you didn't kill her." He took another step towards her, but she backed further away from him. "Why? Was it because you couldn't? Because you still have feelings for her?"
"No, I do not have any feelings for Aurora." he said honestly. "I merely wished to have her suffer in a way which could not be accomplished if I had simply ended her life." he admitted and closed the distance between them, looking into her eyes intently. "I wanted her to suffer for hurting you."
"And now I have to live an eternity knowing your murdering ex-girlfriend is still alive and capable of coming after me at any time." she said with a shake of her head.
"Camille…" he sighed, unsure of how he could reassure her that he wasn't going to let Aurora hurt her again. "Aurora turned you in the hopes that my affections for you would disappear with your transition. She wanted to hurt me, no matter the cost. Now she won't be able to hurt anyone again."
"Well, did they?" she asked. "Did me turning into a vampire change how you feel about me?"
He cupped her cheek at that. "No." he said and studied her closely for a moment before a fearful thought hit him. "She wanted to come between us, to ruin whatever we had or could have by planting doubt in your mind. Don't tell me she succeeded." he said and gulped hard as he saw something flicker across her face. "Did she?" he asked.
A long silence built between them, her trying to find an answer and him trying to read it off her face before voicing it. "I have to go" she told him and stepped away, his hand staying frozen in the air between them.
"Camille!" Klaus called after her but she only gave him a short, cold glance that told him to stay away.
He had barely managed to swallow Camille's words when something started stirring in his mind like a bell ringing in the distance. A flash of some kind of memory hit him as he thought of how Camille had stepped away from his touch…
And in the image passing before his eyes – he saw Caroline.
"You got girl troubles or something?"
"How come I am constantly saying goodbye to you, Caroline?"
"If I wake up to find out that you're dead… Then I will come after you."
Before he knew what he was doing he had begun searching for his phone, finding it underneath some papers in his studio and feeling his heart stop in his chest as he read a name on his display.
He had a voicemail.
From Caroline.
He weighed listening to it right away against saving it for later and started walking out of further listening range from the others and played the message.
"Hi… Um, it's me… I just wanted to make sure you're okay. And also… I wanted to let you know that I took your advice. I'm going to go look for what makes me happy. I have no idea what it is yet but once I find it…" she let out a small sigh before continuing.
"Um, anyways. I really hope you're alright… I-I think… despite everything I truly believe that we all deserve to not be miserable all of the time… Me, Ric… You… We deserve to live the lives we want, not just the ones we were given."
There was a small pause before she spoke again, her voice sounding slightly thicker suddenly. "Take care, Klaus. Bye."
He smiled as a beep signaled the end of the message. Then he decided to return her call but was met with an automated voice recording that made him furrow his eyebrows in a slightly concerned look. The words rang in his ears as he squeezed his phone in his hands, wondering what this meant. Then he tried calling once more only to receive the same message…
"The number you are trying to reach is no longer in service."
The next time Caroline woke up she saw a man leaning against the door to her room. The sunlight making him into a dark shadow and causing strain on her eyes. She grunted slightly as her head ached, resulting in the shadow walking towards her, and revealing Tyler.
"Hi." she said, slightly surprised at both seeing him and at how happy it made her.
He smiled softly at her, walked up to her bed and laid a hand on her forehead. "Hey." he said.
She closed her eyes and sighed at the warmth from his hand. "When did you get here?" she asked.
"As soon as I heard." he said, the sympathy dripping off his words. "I tried calling you but apparently your phone is out of service or something."
She swallowed hard. "Ric and I are leaving." she told him. "We decided it last night."
Tyler nodded and moved his hand to cup her cheek for a moment before letting go of her face and taking a seat on the chair next to her bed. "Damon told me about how Klaus helped him in New Orleans. I guess you had something to do with that?"
She nodded. "I guess we kind of owe him one now, huh?"
"Julian is still out there." Tyler pointed out.
"That doesn't seem to stop anyone from keeping their hopes up." she scoffed, making him raise an eyebrow. "Bonnie, Enzo and Damon are still going after him."
"How are they supposed to do that?"
"Apparently Enzo has some connections in Europe, they think they can find a way to stop him by getting some kind of information. I didn't really get more details than that. And honestly, I didn't ask. It's safer for all of us if we don't know where everybody's headed."
"What about Stefan?"
She swallowed hard at his name, closing her eyes for a moment to collect herself. "Ric and I… we decided that if I'm well enough to travel tonight, then we're packing everything up and leaving it all behind. We're cutting off all connections to the supernatural. No vampires, no Heretics, no witches, no –"
"No werewolf hybrids?" he quipped.
"No werewolf hybrids." she agreed. "We are going to live human lives."
"Is that really what you want, Care?" he asked slowly. "I mean, I never really thought you'd want to leave Mystic Falls because you were running away from something instead of towards it… And New Orleans is on the way to Dallas after all…"
"I'm going to Dallas." she assured. "It's what I want."
A knock on the door stopped Tyler from commenting. As Damon walked into the room, Caroline tensed up. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you about relocating the coffin later." Damon told Tyler, who nodded in response. "Could I have a moment?" he asked with his eyes at Tyler but with a nod towards Caroline.
Tyler looked at her for a moment before nodding. "I'll be right outside." He assured her and squeezed her hand for a moment. As he passed Damon he threw him a stern look and then left the room.
Damon looked at the floor for a silent moment, making Caroline feel restless.
"Are you here to apologize for all the ways you've wronged me because you feel guilty about the twins?" she said with a cold tone.
"No. I'm not here for that. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness for what I did to you. I never will…" he said, surprising her slightly. "I'm here for my brother."
She let out a chuckle as her whole body started shaking with anger. "Oh, you can't be serious." she said. "There's no use, I don't care what you have to say. I will not be pressured into forgiving another Salvatore for their unforgivable sins, simply because it would make everyone's lives easier. I don't care about your guilt or his pain! I'm done with him. For good… And I'm more than done with you."
"Care…" he began but she shook her head.
"Leave, Damon. And don't ever contact me again unless it is to bring me either Julian's or Stefan's obituary."
"I just wanted to explain to you–"
"I don't want to hear it!" she burst out. "You owe me this, Damon. To let me be."
He looked at her with such a pained expression that for once, she actually felt like he was sincerely sorry. And for once he actually respected her wishes and turned towards the door, stopping just before opening it…
"I'm going to fix this, Caroline. If it is the last thing I do…" he promised without turning around, which was a relief to Caroline because a few stubborn tears had started making their way down her cheeks and she didn't want to undermine her determination. She refused to be pushed around any longer, it had already cost her too much.
She held her breath until he walked through the door and closed it behind her. Then the tears started streaming ferociously. Her hands covered her face as she leaned back against the pillows with a pained cry. Her whole body shook as it felt like her whole world was crashing down. She had stayed strong for Ric for long enough, she gave herself one breakdown. Just this once. Because she really, desperately needed it.
"You're here."
Valerie's surprised voice disrupted Stefan's deep thoughts. He didn't mean to sneak up on her, he simply had no other place to go than to her apartment… He looked at her with a devastating look. "I tried to go see her." he said quietly, remembering the pain he had seen and heard from the halls of the hospital.
"Caroline?" she guessed, making him nod.
"I've lost her forever, Valerie. You should've heard the things she said to Damon… I-I don't think I can make up for this. I've ruined everything…"
"That's not true…" she tried to comfort him and brought her arms around him but he only shook her off.
"Alaric lost his kids today. And for what? Julian is still out there somewhere… And now everyone is in danger because of me."
"Stefan, don't do this to yourself." she pleaded.
He turned his back to her and buried his face in his hands. "Wherever I go…" he said, bringing his hands up to grab onto his hair. "I hurt people. I take away other people's happiness. I've considered myself better, better than my brother or Silas or Julian. But truth is, I'm the worst one of them all. Because I think I deserve better. They at least have the decency to understand that they don't."
Valerie's hands rested on his shoulders. "This is the price of immortality, Stefan." she told him, making him turn around again. "You live long enough, you start seeing pain wherever you look. Either amongst others, or inside of you. If you let the guilt hollow you out, then you will indeed be left with nothing."
"What am I supposed to do?" he asked her bitterly.
"Don't let it hollow you out." she explained. "Fill yourself with something else. Anything, just to keep you standing."
"Why?"
"Because I am getting the hell away from here, and from Julian as fast as possible. And I can't do it on my own." she told him, bringing a hand up to his cheek. "Turn that pain into something useful, Stefan. Hate, determination, anger… Whatever you need to keep you going for now… Because we may have a small window of opportunity now, but he will come for each and every one of us. And if you are still beating yourself up like this once he catches up with you, then you'll never be able to defeat him."
He clenched his jaw and looked into her eyes for a silent moment. "What's your plan?"
"We run. We hide. We gather our strengths and we gather more intel, and the next time we try that spell again – we succeed. Even if it takes years, decades…" she looked down at his lips for a short moment before meeting his eyes again, which were now slightly less pained. "After all, we have all the time in the world."
Elijah found his brother out on one of their balconies, leaning against the rail with his hands clasped together and his eyes caught on the street beneath him.
"Did Lucien leave yet?" Klaus asked as he walked towards him, without moving an inch. As if all of his answers were to be found in the gutters of the Quarter, if he only looked closely enough.
"Yes." Elijah said and handed him a glass of bourbon. His eyes searching for whatever it was that his brother was so carefully studying. "We sent him to find the person who stole the weapon from him, perhaps it could lead us back to Aya and the rest of the Strix coven." he told him, just as he saw Camille getting into a cab with the witch Vincent.
The young woman looked up, as if aware of his brother's gaze. As she did, Klaus seemed like he was about to say something, or do something. But their distant exchange passed quickly and the blond soon disappeared along with the car. "Will she return soon?" Elijah asked his brother.
"I'm not sure." he said grimly. "Possibly not."
"Why is that? I assumed with Aurora behind bricks and dust and Aya nowhere to be found that-"
"That what, brother?" Klaus said, stopping in his tracks and turning towards him. "That everything would be forgiven and forgotten?" Gulping down his beverage, he put the glass away and sighed. "It seems I am rather incapable of making the right decisions when it comes to selfless acts and displays of love. I'd blame our parents, but that tale has begun to tire even me out."
"Doesn't make it any less true." Elijah scoffed, gaining a fleeting smile from his brother. "I believe it's best that Camille take her time to cool down before you try your hand at another… gesture."
"I had the same thought actually." he agreed with a somber frown. "She has yet to come to grips with her new state of living, everything must be pure chaos in her mind. I don't blame her for needing to leave to clear it all up."
"Did she say anything to you?" Elijah studied his brother's face closely, seeing something he hadn't recognized in him for a very long time… Selflessness.
"Only that I am not allowed to contact her for a while." he answered, the heavy pain audible in his voice as he spoke again. "Perhaps Mr. Griffith will have better luck of being there for her, of caring for her. Making her feel safe and understood… Considering I myself have only managed to do the opposite these days."
Elijah felt his frown grow as he watched his brother then, trying to think of how to ease his pain when he continued.
"Furthermore, it appears I have nothing left in this city besides my family, which I need to protect at all cost. Therefore, those weapons must be destroyed. And most importantly, Aya shan't remain alive after her betrayal." Klaus said with a determined look.
"What are you planning, Niklaus?"
A small smile grew on his lips then. "An overseas killing spree of course! Will you come with me?"
Elijah squinted at him for a moment before nodding. "As if you need ask, dear brother." he said with a smile.
Lucien hated when his victims ran, foolishly believing he would not catch up with them… He grabbed onto the young man's foot, dragging him back to the alley where he'd first cornered him and squatted next to him on the ground.
"You are going to tell me who you work for or I'm going to show you why I'm the most notorious murderer of New Orleans to date." he said with a wicked grin.
"He will do far worse to me than anything you could ever do." the man spat out.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you…" Lucien chuckled and grabbed onto his throat, gripping tightly. "Now, I need a name. And then I can send you off your merry little way... Who stole my weapons?"
The man fought against his grip and clawed at his hand, making Lucien roll his eyes. But suddenly, something caught his attention. The man's shirt had been ripped during their fight, revealing a mark on his chest which Lucien recognized. He let go of the man's throat and tore his shirt further to look at the mark closer up.
"See?" the man said. "Nothing you do to me can even compare to what I've been through."
Lucien clenched his jaw in irritation. "Well, that's not exactly true…" he said and buried his hand deep into the man's chest, gripping his heart and making him cough in pain. "In the hell you came from, there was no death. But once I'm done with you, you won't be coming back for more." he threatened.
"J-" the man began and grimaced, letting out a grunt. "Julian!" he exclaimed. "His name is Julian."
Lucien smiled. "Really? Well, seems that old friend of mine has been quite busy then."
"Wh-what?"
"Never mind." Lucien said with a sigh. "Enough from you."
With one swift move, Lucien ripped out the man's heart and held it up for him to see. His eyes managed to catch the image before him just as his skin turned gray and he was dead.
Lucien threw the heart away, licking his bloody fingers with a grimace. "Tattletales never taste well." he whined and stood up, kicked the body to behind a dumpster to conceal it.
There was no time for him to go through his usual routine, if he knew Julian well, then the man would already be far away from New Orleans. With his weapons. So there really was no time to spare. "I'll be seeing you soon old friend." Lucien grinned and flashed away, leaving the fresh crime scene behind.
As Caroline helped Ric into the car, she took a deep breath and tried to gather herself. She couldn't fall apart right now. Ric needed her. And she owed it to him to help him through this. To help him start over somewhere far away from all of the horrible memories that filled every corner of Mystic Falls. They were going to survive this, they were going to make this work. They had to, she had to.
With one last look back at the Grill from where she had picked Alaric up, Caroline felt her throat start to close up with sadness. But she fought against it, there was no time to spare. They had already lost the advantage of a head start, they needed to leave immediately. Leave and never look back.
So, she sat down behind the driver's seat. Still having a slight pain in her stomach and feeling clumsy and disoriented now that her body was adjusting to not being pregnant anymore. She had healed already, but the empty void that was left in her hadn't even begun going away yet. And perhaps it never would…
But she couldn't dwell on that for too long. Alaric needed her after all, and at this point he was the only thing she had left to stay strong for.
