Author's note: Even more drabbles created for the Klaroween Bingo Event! It's been a lot of fun creating these for the event. :) Thank you for the kind reviews; I plan to revisit some of these drabbles later on and expand them into longer stories. Please let me know which ones have caught your interest!
Prompt: Competitive Apple Bobbing
It was for a good cause. That's the only reason Caroline was paying such close attention to the way the water dripped from Klaus' wet curls and onto his bare chest as he lifted his head from the barrel of apples in triumph, taking a hearty bite out of a bright green Granny Smith as the crowd cheered him on. Were apples a kink? Was that a thing?
Taking a long sip of her tequila sunrise, Caroline did her best not to read too much into the way Klaus' gaze never seemed to stray too far from hers while he was on stage with the rest of the local firemen and police officers she'd recruited for the Halloween competitive apple bobbing charity event. Benefitting the Mystic Falls Animal Rescue, the event pitted the two groups against each other, with the audience placing their bets for not only the winning team, but also individual categories like sexiest apple bobbing.
So far, Klaus seemed to be in the lead if the giggling women out front holding up scorecards was any indication. Not that Caroline was jealous. If Klaus wanted to smirk and send his stupid flirty glances at random women, that was his business. They'd met a month ago when his sister, Rebekah, had recruited half of his fire department to help them set up the new indoor play area at the animal rescue. There was some teasing banter, but she was terrible at this sort of thing and couldn't decide if he was into her or was just a ridiculously attractive flirt.
As he exited the stage, he made a beeline for her, but an incredibly pushy realtor who kept having the bartender send Klaus drinks all night, intercepted him with a toss of her long red hair and a contrived throaty laugh. "You were magnificent, darling," she gushed, her ruby red fingernails trailing along his bicep seductively, "it's so good of you to give so much of yourself for such a wonderful cause. I was thinking that you and I could—"
Caroline barely recognized her voice as she shrilly cut her off, telling her, "He's busy!" At Klaus' raised eyebrow and quirk of his lips, her cheeks turned scarlet as she hurriedly stumbled over her words, "He's not done giving himself...uh, I mean giving his time...and uh, he's helping me haul the donated supplies back to the shelter tonight." Where the hell did that awkward word vomit come from? She'd been successfully living in denial about at her growing feelings, but the woman so aggressively pursuing him right in front of her set her teeth on edge and brought out a fiercely possessive side she hadn't seen since high school.
Klaus favored the redhead with a faint smile, politely agreeing with Caroline, "Caroline requires my assistance with quite a few things. I suspect her to-do list is quite extensive." Nodding dismissively in the woman's direction, he led Caroline to a quiet corner, his hand spreading a pleasant warmth through the back of her flapper costume. When she turned to face him, he leaned in slightly, the bite of his cologne sending a pleasant shiver down her spine.
"Sorry about that," she began awkwardly, doing her best not to stare at his incredibly sculpted chest, "she just um...seemed very eager and I thought you might need a rescue."
With teasing dimples, he replied, "Feel free to rescue me whenever you like, sweetheart." Dropping his voice to a seductive whisper he confessed, "And I'd be delighted to give myself over to your cause. Just say the word."
Prompt: "Have you ever seen a horror movie?"
"This looks like a great place to be murdered," Elena joked, peering into the seemingly endless darkness at the cave's opening.
Rolling her eyes, Caroline told her, "If you're not going to take this seriously, I'm sure there's plenty of other freshman dying to pledge Alpha Theta Pi." The hint of warning in her voice was slightly softened by the playful smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "As head of this sorority, it's my job to shepherd our pledges through hell week and this is the last step of your initiation, you know — proving your bravery to your sorority sisters by venturing deep inside these haunted caves."
"I know! It's so exciting to think that soon I'll be a full member of Alpha Theta Pi," Elena squealed excitedly, the beam of her flashlight wildly waving in the night sky. At Caroline's indulgent smile, she quickly composed herself, following her sorority sister into the creepy cave, asking, "So, is this the part where you rehash the old legend about this place?"
Snorting, the blonde shook her head, artfully messy curls dancing about her shoulders. "Hardly. Unlike our other pledges, you're a local, so you probably know the story even better than I do." When the eager pledge stumbled, she quickly caught her arm to keep her from falling.
"That story always made me sad," Elena mused. "A thousand years ago, a brave Viking warrior was punished by the village witch and supposedly buried alive in this cave — all because he dared to love another." She gave a hopeless sigh, "I can identify with him on a spiritual level."
Moving her flashlight in a steady stream, Caroline chuckled softly, "Can you? Every time I hear that story, I always wonder how much of it is bullshit. I mean, do we honestly think a broad with that much power is going to be that petty over one guy?" Shrugging, she added with a sly wink, "Of course, your situation isn't just about one guy."
Feeling her way across the cool, mossy stone walls of the cave, the pledge gave another hopeless little sigh. "It's just so hard, you know, when I have feelings for both of the brothers. I mean, Damon and Stefan are just so intense and I can't imagine what my life would be like without them. Ever since they moved to town, Mystic Falls is so much more exciting!"
"Juggling two guys, especially brothers is just asking for trouble," Caroline lightly warned with a careless shrug, "I guess I've just always been more of a one-man woman. Not a fan of having to split focus." At Elena's downcast expression, she hurriedly added, "Not that I'm judging! First rule of Alpha Theta Pi — no slut-shaming. And the second rule is?"
Giggling, Elena answered dutifully, "Always use a coaster." Playfully bumping into the blonde as she made her way down the rocky path, she practically swooned as she said, "It's just that the Salvatore brothers are so mysterious. They're like fairytale princes running away from a dark past or something."
"Bitch please — All Stefan seems to be running away from is a good time — he never met a broody pout he didn't immediately steal for his own," Caroline snorted. "Still, he's less awkward than his brother. Have you seen that weird bulging eye thing Damon does at some sorority socials? He should really get that checked out — maybe he needs a different brand of contacts," she mused.
"That's just part of the older guy mystique," Elena insisted, slightly defensive. "But you'd know all about that, right? I know you said you were dating someone older, like out of college?"
A playful smile graced Caroline's lips as she tugged her companion deeper into the cave. "Yeah, he's a bit older. He's not a big people person though, and is kind of private, so I haven't brought him around."
"Wow," Elena observed, "our flashlights keep going out but you haven't stumbled once. You must be able to see really well in the dark — who knows what crazy monsters I'm getting ready to run into down here!"
Snickering, Caroline replied with a wry grin, "Have you ever seen a horror movie? It's always the blonde who gets killed first. And it's always up to the clever brunette to save the day."
"Not this time though," Elena cheerfully predicted, "I saw the shape some of the other pledges were in when you brought them back from their turn in the cave. You were practically carrying Vicki out of here and remember how April passed out? Not that I'm a lightweight when it comes to liquor, but I bet I'll have to lean on you when we make our way back out of here."
Patting her on the back companionably, Caroline reassured her, "I have a good feeling about you, Elena. I bet you'll do some saving one way or another."
A dark chuckle echoed throughout the cave, the tone lightly teasing, "I agree. After all, Elena's the one we've been waiting for — right, love?"
Elena gasped as a beautiful stranger flashed in front of them, his innocent dimples at odds with the terrible darkness she saw in his eyes. When his cruel smile revealed razor-sharp fangs, she shrieked, blindly groping for Caroline. When the dying beam of her flashlight swept across Caroline's face, her scream became a pitiful, wailing thing.
Her beautiful, confident sorority sister's face had transformed into a monstrous visage, complete with curved fangs and a gaze even more soulless than the other creature's. Caroline studied her with a cunning gleam in her eye that Elena had never seen before, finally addressing her with a foreign accent she couldn't place. "All legends begin somewhere, Elena. Over the ages, facts become twisted, rumors turn to certainty, and what we're left with is a hollow echo of what once was. There once was a Viking family, whose matriarch was a powerful witch. She defied nature to turn them into powerful creatures, but when she realized their hunger would never truly be sated, she trapped them in caves underneath their village."
"I, I don't understand," Elena stammered, slowly backing away from the two monsters, only to be stopped by a smooth cave wall.
The man slid his arm around Caroline's waist, pulling her to him to nuzzle her neck intimately. "Fortunately for me, I'd finally won the affections of a clever little thing who had figured out the secret to my immortality. I'd only just turned her when my mother enacted the curse. She's been by my side ever since, gathering all of the necessary ingredients to break this wretched spell."
Caroline smiled at Elena, snatching her wrist in a blindingly fast move before she could let out a startled yelp. "You're the final ingredient," she told her with an inhuman snarl.
Prompt: Vampire that loves Italian food
If only garlic was lethal. Caroline seethed with rage as she crushed several bulbs to add to the stockpot of prosciutto tortellini soup. Her Italian restaurant, Vesta, was tucked away in a quiet block along the Mystic Falls River, but she'd recently learned that Hybrid Industries had decided to transform the entire block into luxury lofts. The Klaus Mikaelson, CEO of that faceless, clearly evil corporation was coming to dinner that evening to discuss the terms of the transition, and Caroline had every intention of making him change his mind.
Inspired by her love of Italian food, she'd opened the restaurant decades ago, and despite her many travels, it still felt like home to her. One of the unfortunate drawbacks to being a vampire was having to move away every so often so the townspeople wouldn't get suspicious. She always made sure to leave competent managers in charge so that she could oversee Vesta from afar, and then after an acceptable amount of time had passed, she'd return as the owner's daughter or granddaughter to carry on a renowned family legacy that didn't technically exist.
She finished sautéing the pancetta for the Bucatini Carbonara, adding several splashes of a crisp Pinot Grigio to complete the sauce. She'd carefully planned out the meal she would serve Klaus, wishing she knew what he looked like so she could properly visualize eviscerating him in her revenge fantasies. It was beyond irritating that none of her research had turned up a photo on the greedy bastard. She kept picturing a short, balding, surly asshat without a soul who didn't care about traditions or people, who was used to bullying people to get his way.
But not me. And not my restaurant. Vesta was her heart, her first love, and no one was going to take it away from her. Caroline had organized her plans carefully in alphabetical order, preparing for every possible scenario. Her initial plan was to showcase some of Vesta's signature dishes, charming him with witty banter and heartfelt stories of her "family's legacy". Of course, if that didn't work, she intended to compel the bastard to leave her alone and possibly also remodel her kitchen — call it the asshat tax.
Bonnie suddenly interrupted her scheming, poking her dark head in the kitchen and telling her in a hushed whisper, "He's here! And he's...wow."
Raising an eyebrow at her friend's gobsmacked expression, she said dryly, "I can't believe all it takes to impress you is a job title and a bit of money. That kind of blatant overcompensation is a major red flag, you know."
Bonnie impatiently waived aside her comment with a quick nod of her head toward the cozy dining area. Rolling her eyes, Caroline grabbed a bottle of her favorite local merlot and two goblets and strolled into the room to put her plan into action. And then immediately stopped short when she saw him.
Holy hell. Fancy job title, money, and perfect hair? He was a live-action Ken doll and he was sitting right in front of her. No. Klaus was the enemy. She was taking him down. Putting on her most winning smile, she set down the wine and glasses at their booth, shaking his hand as she said, "Mr. Mikaelson, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Caroline."
He stood to greet her, stopping her handshake and slowly transitioning it into an unexpectedly seductive kiss that he placed on top of her knuckles. "Please, call me Klaus, sweetheart." As they settled into their booth, he uncorked the bottle, pouring them generous servings as he commented, "Vesta, the Roman goddess of fire, hearth and home. It's a charming name for a charming restaurant."
Bristling at the hint of condescension in his tone, Caroline told him with mocking sweetness, "Yes, that's what we strive for in our little town — charm. As opposed to faceless, overpriced lofts that suck out every bit of personality our town has to offer." Oops. She hadn't meant to let her temper get the best of her. Looks like she was going to have to compel this beautiful bastard.
His gray eyes twinkled merrily in the candlelight as he smirked, "Aren't you a firebrand, sweetheart? I must say, I'd expected you to attempt some form of flattery, but this is so much more exciting. I'm looking forward to our negotiations."
Time to compel this beautiful bastard. Now she was thinking she might make him remodel not only her kitchen but also her office — call it the unbelievable asshat tax. Leaning forward, she captured his curious gaze, holding it steady as she spoke softly, her tone commanding as she told him, "You will abandon your selfish plans to ruin this neighborhood. You also feel an overwhelming urge to assist me with some restaurant remodeling projects."
Shaking his head slightly, he replied with a chuckle, "You just tried to compel me. Aren't you full of surprises, love?"
As Klaus' wicked smile suddenly grew fangs, she inwardly groaned. Damn it. There goes plan A.
