Author's note: As a cop, Caroline had seen her fair share of the bizarre. But throw in Hot Gym Guy, a wooden stake and his conspiracy nut job neighbor, and this was shaping up to be her weirdest dispatch call yet.
"...that satisfactory sense of superiority the members of the police force get...by which the vanity of power is soothed, and the vulgar love of domination over our fellow creatures is flattered as worthily as it deserves."
― Joseph Conrad, Secret Agent
Of all the ways Caroline had fantasized about seeing Hot Gym Guy again, rescuing him from a wooden stake was not one of them. She'd been on her usual nightly patrol when dispatch had sent her to check out a disturbance at one of the secluded mansions along Moonstone Drive. She'd parked her police cruiser at an imposing wrought iron gate but didn't bother pressing the intercom when she heard two men shouting at each other near the back of the property. After scaling the immense gate tipped with decorative fleur de lis, she stealthily had moved across the immaculate lawn, crouching behind a cluster of marble statues to get her bearings.
She was taken aback by the scene before her — familiar dirty blonde curls and dimples that belonged to Hot Gym Guy, a sexy stranger from her gym she'd developed a crush on and what appeared to be a furious, unstable man threatening him with a large wooden stake. "I've come to send you back to hell, demon!"
"I don't know what you're on about, mate, but I suggest you get the fuck off of my property before I show you a demon," Hot Gym Guy growled, the dominant tone in his voice sending a pleasurable shiver down Caroline's spine.
Normally, Hot Gym Guy's voice had a teasing lilt as his accent did more for the English language than Shakespeare and the Oxford Dictionary combined. In fact, she'd taken to monopolizing the weight rack and bench on the other side of the gym just so she could hear him interact with the personal trainers (and have a perfect, unobstructed view of his well-toned...everything). And his incessant gym groupies, she scoffed, recalling how giggling women would pretend to run into him and then ramble on and on about how going to the gym was practically a spiritual experience and how they could tell he felt the same way.
To his credit, Hot Gym Guy projected polite disinterest in his gym groupies and then went out of his way to try to catch her eye as he pointedly chose machines next to her, always seemingly on the verge of speaking to her but never actually making a move. Which was for the best, Caroline kept telling herself. While she'd love nothing more than to indulge in some of the deliciously raunchy fantasies she'd constructed about Hot Gym Guy, she knew better than to start something with a civilian when her life was so dangerous. Not to mention complicated.
Another shouting match between the two men broke out, bringing Caroline back to the present as she stood up, announcing authoritatively, "Mystic Falls Police Department! I need both of you to calm down and let's settle whatever the problem is here."
Hot Gym Guy's gray eyes widened with recognition as he glanced over at her, and she felt herself grow uncomfortably warm at his blatant perusal of her uniform. Not now, she inwardly lectured herself, focusing on the potentially dangerous situation at hand. "I'm Officer Forbes. Now, tell me your names and what's going on here."
"Klaus Mikaelson," Hot Gym Guy introduced himself, jerking his chin angrily at the agitated man still shaking the enormous stake in his direction as he scoffed, "And this is my gormless neighbor, who's clearly gone starkers."
The stranger kept his wild gaze on Klaus as he told Caroline shortly, "Alaric Saltzman. And I swear to you, officer, I'm a sane man who's recently learned the world has gone insane." Sweating profusely, his light brown hair was plastered to his forehead as he regarded her gravely. "The world isn't what we thought it was! There are unnatural, dark creatures who threaten mankind's existence! Have you ever seen things you can't unsee, officer?"
"More than you know, Mr. Saltzman," Caroline answered, unable to keep the edge from her tone as she thought back to some of her darkest moments.
Klaus impatiently said, "Well, I've seen my share of oddities as well, mate, but that doesn't give you the right to just barge in here and threaten me with that hunk of wood."
"You know nothing," Alaric told Caroline peevishly, "Only I can save us all from this creature!"
She nodded, calmly telling him, "Okay, Mr. Saltzman, and what do you think he is?"
Whipping out a battered old cross, he screeched, "He's a vampire!"
She raised an eyebrow, doing her best to process Alaric's words with a perfectly blank expression. At Klaus' startled laugh, she flicked her gaze to him, allowing herself an indulgent moment to take in the magnificent lines and the hint of power she detected in Klaus' muscular frame. "A vampire," she said slowly, keeping her tone matter-of-fact. "You said you were a rational man, Mr. Saltzman, can you tell me what proof you have against Mr. Mikaelson?"
"You believe me," Alaric said hopefully, lowering his cross slightly as he continued, "and you'll help me destroy this foul creature if I can prove to you he's a vampire?"
Ignoring the snort of derision Klaus emitted, Caroline gave Alaric a small smile, telling him lightly, "It's my job to protect humanity."
"I've witnessed a giant beast prowling around Klaus' property each month," he accused, waving his cross wildly in Klaus' direction.
Klaus folded his arms across his chest, giving Caroline a skeptical look as he said wryly, "Giant beast. Well, considering how particular my landscaper is about the zoysia grass, surely he would've mentioned if such a creature had botched up his masterpiece."
With a wild glint in his eye that caused Caroline to place her palm lightly on her sidearm in her holster, Alaric yelled, "It's a hellhound! Everyone knows that they are the vampires' guardians."
"Mr. Saltzman, I'm going to need you to lower your voice," she told him, carefully turning her body so that she could tackle Alaric before he could harm Klaus. "Have you noticed anything else?"
Eyeing her carefully, Alaric said uncertainly, "This is all going in your arrest report, right? So, when we take Klaus out, everyone will understand that we had no choice?"
"I'm listening to everything you say," she told him firmly, watching his expressions in the moonlight for the slightest indication that he was ready to act on his outrageous delusions.
Taking a breath as though gearing up to reveal his most damning evidence yet, the disturbed man told her, "I've found dozens of animal carcasses in the surrounding woods. The monster just leaves them there to rot when he's done drinking the blood."
"The State Fish and Wildlife Conservation released a mountain lion this year, you wanker. They're incredibly territorial creatures, so I'd mind your lap dog, mate," Klaus taunted him with a smirk, flashing Caroline a set of dimples that she found far too distracting. Damn it.
Letting out a bellow of rage, Alaric lunged at Klaus, but she easily stopped him with a simple straight arm takedown, trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach when she heard Klaus' low growl of pleasure.
"You don't understand! He's a goddamn vampire," Alaric shouted over and over until he was hoarse, struggling to break her hold.
Rolling her eyes at his stupidity, she executed a standard pull-down with arm compression, quickly pinning him to the ground but reminding herself not to exert too much force. She read him his rights as she handcuffed him, hissing in pain when she put her hand on the grass to stand them both up.
Rushing to her side, Klaus asked in a concerned tone, "What happened, love?"
Caroline finished pulling Alaric to his feet, shaking her head as she said hurriedly, "It's nothing; I'm fine. That stupid cross must have a sharp edge." Muttering as she kicked the metal cross away from her, she marched Alaric across the immaculate lawn back toward her police cruiser to take him to the station for processing.
"I didn't get to thank you, Officer Forbes, Klaus called out, lightly jogging to catch up with her as she pushed Alaric's head down and placed him in the back of her car. She turned to find Klaus standing very close, the steel in his gray eyes glinting as he studied her intently. "Perhaps you would allow me to treat you to dinner to show my gratitude?"
Ignoring that persistent fluttering of her insides at his flirtatious tone, she answered, "I can't; I'm on duty," she told him resolutely, inwardly cursing her complicated life as she reminded herself of the dangers of dating a civilian, being what she was.
"Very well, sweetheart," he told her with a flirty tilt of his curly head, "But I'm not one to give up the chase that easily. We'll chat again at the gym when you're off duty."
Laughing at his persistence, Caroline nodded at Alaric, who was still ranting in the backseat. "I can't believe your neighbor thought you were a vampire. Seriously?!"
"Utter nonsense," he agreed with a deep, velvety chuckle that she knew she'd still hear when she closed her eyes that night. Flashing him a smile, she drove off, resisting the urge to glance back and memorize the way the moonlight seemed to dance on the gorgeous planes of his face.
As Klaus watched Caroline drive away, he stretched languidly, the pull of the moon sinking into his bones as he sighed in satisfaction. The steel in his gray eyes flashed gold as he observed the nearly full moon. "Vampires," he scoffed, "There's no such thing."
After finishing up her report and booking Alaric down at the station, Caroline was happy to come home and put the bizarre arrest behind her. Changing into her fluffiest pjs, she curled up on her couch with a blanket, the TV remote...and a blood bag. Her lips curved around her fangs into a knowing smile as she marveled at the silly misconceptions people could have.
