DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, or any of the spin offs. I'm simply using the world and its characters to create a version of events that I think is entertaining.
A/N: Here is chapter two of Still Breathing. Some important things happen in this chapter, including the first appearance of our favourite Hybrid.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and if you do please leave a comment. Anyone logged into an account who leaves a comment before the next chapter is posted will receive a message including a preview of what's to come.
CHAPTER TWO:
'A foolproof idea, so don't ask me how
To get started, it's all uncharted.'
Uncharted by Sara Bareilles.
CAROLINE'S P.O.V.
Beats of sunlight crawled through the open curtains and bright light flooded my eyes. I pulled my blanket over my head, trying to shield myself from the early morning sun. The soft bed beneath my body was more inviting than the early morning New Orleans sun, and I sunk back into the comfortable mass of blankets that lay on top of me.
The comfort was ripped away too quickly as the warm blankets flew from the bed, letting cold air hit my body. I let out a sharp growl and threw one of the extra pillows towards the end of the bed, hoping to hit Katherine, who I knew would be the one to ruin my perfect night's sleep.
"Good morning to you too, Sunshine. It's time to get up for breakfast. I don't want to see what Kida will do to you if you let her food grow cold again."
Groaning, I rolled onto my back, still shielding my eyes from the sun as I opened them once again. I peeked out from beneath my arm, and there at the end of my bed, just like I knew she would be, was an immaculately dressed Katherine. Hands crossed over her chest defiantly. A playful smile on her red lips. I reached for another pillow and flung it her way. She caught it with ease and threw it back at me with her enhanced vampire strength, taking the breath out of me.
We had only been here for a couple of days and I was already sick of Katherine's early morning cheerfulness. Every morning, just before 8am, she would barge into my room and fling the curtains open, waking me up for breakfast. And it's not like I don't like being up early. In fact, before the whole 'being unconscious for two weeks' thing I was routinely awake at 6 in the morning. However, my body was still getting used to being human again, and for some reason that also meant that my body wanted to constantly be asleep.
I swung on pyjama-clad leg over the edge of the bed, followed by the next, and rubbed at my still-tired eyes. Katherine stayed where she was, watching me with equal amounts of concern and humour. I pushed myself up and stretched my arms above my head, groaning at the pull in my muscles.
"We'll figure out a plan soon. We just have to tread lightly."
"I'll be down in five minutes." I said, ignoring her question while I walked past her and into the adjoining bathroom.
I heard Katherine leave behind me as I closed the bathroom door and leant against the sink, groaning at the fatigue that still ran through my body. No amount of caffeine seemed to help my ever-present tiredness, but hopefully my body would adjust soon.
I looked at myself in the mirror, grimacing at the dark purple bags under my eyes and the birds nest hairdo I was sporting. I managed to make quick work of my hair, tugging and pulling at it with my hairbrush until it finally submitted and let me draw it up into a ponytail. Then I applied the minimum amount of makeup that I could get away with, threw on a plain white t-shirt, a pair of yoga pants, and Ugg boots. It was going to be a long day.
#
The tension between Katherine and Nadia was consuming as I stepping into the room for breakfast. It was considerably worse than it was when we had first arrived. I didn't know if they had taken the chance to talk to each other about their mother-daughter issues yet, but from the rising discomfort in the room I would guess that they hadn't.
I plopped myself down at the large dining table that stretched the whole length of the room, taking my place in the end seat next to Katherine, and across from Nadia. They each stared at me as I sat, probably glad that there was someone else there to occupy their minds.
"Good morning, Caroline." Nadia was sitting back in her seat drinking a glass of wine, dressed in an outfit that looked like it could be worn on a runway somewhere. "Did you sleep okay?"
I smiled politely across at her, trying not to show the nausea I felt sitting amongst the Petrova family mess. "Yes, thank you. It would have gone a lot better had it not been for Katherine's unorthodox wake-up method."
Katherine let out a snort while Nadia just raised her brow and smiled softly. I rested my arms on the hardwood table in front of me, pain shotting up my back as I tried to sit straight. Katherine's humour disappeared as she caught the look of pain on my face. She opened her mouth but I quickly told her that I was fine and that it wasn't too bad.
I was saved by Kida wheeling a small trolley into the room. A smile pulled at my lips as the delicious smell hit my nose. She placed a plate in front of each of us, giving me twice as much food as Nadia and Katherine. She then placed a small teapot in between all of us, along with some tea cups, and a bottle of wine.
Our voices came out in a robotic synchronicity as we thanked her, digging straight into our meals. I had to remind myself that I should pace myself when eating so that I wouldn't make myself throw up. I had already made that mistake once since arriving here, and I didn't want to revisit it.
"So, what are the plans for the day?" Nadia asked, looking up from her plate.
"I think it's about time that I message my mum and friends, just to let them know that I'm okay. Tell them something about this 'holiday' that I'm supposed to be on."
"Why don't you just tell them the truth?" Nadia asked.
"You don't know her friends. They hear anything about Caroline being with me, or anywhere near New Orleans for that matter, and they'd be here on some stupid rescue mission." Katherine paused for a moment, sipping on a glass of wine she had poured. "Then, if past experiences are anything to learn from, we know that they'd most likely turn around and make it seem as if the whole situation has something to do with Elena."
"That sounds absolutely horrid." Nadia placed her own glass down on the table, looking towards me. I just sighed and put my fork and knife down on the plate, wiping my hands and face on a napkin.
"Katherine is over-exaggerating. They aren't that bad." I said, my jaw clenched tight as I glared across at Katherine.
She snorted, looking at her daughter. "Yes they are. Anything goes wrong, and they'll swarm ranks around Elena. Even if it has nothing to do with her."
"That's not true, Katherine!"
She sipped on her wine again, smirking at me over the edge of the glass. "Then why aren't you telling them the truth?"
"Because I don't want them to worry. It's better if they think that I'm really on a holiday."
Luckily, Nadia had been quick to change the topic of discussion from me to Katherine, much to Katherine's dismay. It was clear that Nadia was sick of waiting for her mother to open up to her, and it was just as clear that Katherine didn't want to open up at all.
"I don't understand why you won't talk to me about yourself. It can't be hard to reveal just a little bit about your life. From what I've heard you usually have no problem talking about yourself. Why, when it comes to me, do you close up?"
"You don't want to hear all the sordid details of my life Nadia. And I don't particularly want to relive them either."
"I know virtually nothing about the real you." Her voice was raised now and I sunk lower in my seat, wishing that I had left the room before this whole conversation could have begun. "I know the basic rumours and stories that go along with the great Katherine Pierce, but nothing that tells me anything about you. You claim that you want to get to know me now that you're here, yet you don't want me to get to know you."
"I have no problem getting to know you Nadia. In fact, I'd love to know more about the life you've had. But my past, is just that…my past. It's not all fantastic adventures of seduction and escape death. A lot of it is stuff that I don't like to think about anymore. Stuff that I've put behind me."
I gulped as Nadia's eyes hardened and her knuckles turned white against the wine glass she held. I reached for the teapot in the middle of the table, hoping to draw myself further from their conversation. I did not want to get between Katherine and her temper.
Nadia narrowed her eyes further as Katherine cleared my throat. "I'm sorry that I won't talk to you Nadia. It's just…I find it difficult to talk about certain aspects of my past. I know what you want to know, and I won't…I can't revisit that. Not right now. Maybe one day, but I can't just yet."
I gulped down a scalding mouthful of the herbal tea that Kida had brought out and watched as Nadia's gaze softened slowly, but the hardness was still there behind her bright green eyes.
Before Nadia could even respond Katherine got up from her chair, placed her glass down on the table, and ran from the room at top speed.
"I don't know why she finds it so difficult to talk to me."
I focused on Nadia as she spoke, pulling my eyes away from the door where Katherine had just disappeared. I stacked mine and Katherine's empty plates on top of one another, trying to both calm my unsettled nerves and make things easier for Kida when she came to clean up.
"Well, think about it like this: you spent your whole life searching for Katherine, and she spent her whole life running from everything in her life." I said, stumbling over my words as I tried not to make Nadia turn even more aggressive than she looked with her hand still clenched tightly on her glass. "It can't be easy for her to open up after all this time being so secretive and closed off. I bet you that once she gets to know you better she'll open right up and tell you anything you want to know."
"I doubt that." It took a moment for her to reply as she sat and picked at the aging label on the wine bottle. Sighing as she thought over my words. "Anyway, I'm sure it would nice for you to talk to your friends again. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear from you."
It was my time to sigh this time. I knew I had to message everyone and tell them that I was okay, but I knew there would be a lot of questions that I couldn't really answer.
I plastered a well-practiced fake smile on my face as I met Nadia's eyes, standing up from my chair and heading towards the French double doors. "I'm sure that you're right. I'm gonna go and do that now, so I'll see you later on."
I walked slowly through the house up to my room, glancing at Katherine's closed door that sat opposite mine. I shook my head at myself and headed into my room, closing the door behind me and heading straight to the vanity drawers that were placed next to the large bed and sitting down.
I pulled my phone and charger from the top left drawer and plugged it in to charge, waiting a few minutes before it turned on and the succession of dings letting me know of all of the messages that I had missed.
I unlocked the phone, not paying attention to the messages from my friends as I scrolled straight to my mums name and sent her a message letting her know that I was awake and that we were working on talking to the witch that Katherine knew. Then I went through each person and sent them all the same thing:
I'm sorry I haven't returned any of your messages. I got the opportunity to go on an amazing holiday before collage starts and I just couldn't turn it down. I'm sorry if I don't reply to your messages or calls for a while, reception isn't very good where I am. Talk when I can.
Within a minute if me sending the message to each of my friends, the replies started to flood in. I groaned and slowly opened them one by one.
Elena: Hey Care! I'm so glad you decided to go away on a holiday. Bonnie's gone away with her mum as well. I have amazing news! When the wall between the other side was down Bonnie somehow brought Jeremy and Alaric back to life. I'll tell you more when we talk. Miss you.
Stefan: I'm glad that you're okay, Caroline. Everything here is fine. I hope you have a good trip.
Matt: I've been so worried about you Caroline, but I'm glad you're alright. I think after the last couple of years we all deserve a holiday. Even I got away for a little while. I hope the trip is great. Message me when you can.
Tyler: Where are you? I came back to town and your mum said you had left. If you tell me where you are I can come and meet up with you. We can spend some time together before you start at school.
I let my head fall into my hands as I finished reading Tyler's message. That's just what I needed, Tyler tracking me down. If he found out that I was human again he would probably spin it to be about him. And on top of that, if he found out that I was in New Orleans, the same city that Klaus was in, he would start making stupid accusations and fly into a rage.
My phone dinged again and I was thankful that it wasn't another message from him, but a message from Elena instead. Reading over the message I didn't bother replying, knowing that if I engaged in conversation with her it would go on and one forever, and I didn't want to deal with that just yet.
I had other messages from people on the cheer team, and some of my dad's family who couldn't make it to my graduation. I messaged them all back thanking them and letting them know that I was having a holiday and would be out of reach. Then I messaged Matt back and promised to message him back soon, knowing that he was less-likely to pry into every little detail.
I struggled off of the small chair that I had been sitting on in front of the vanity and walked over to the bedside table where I had placed all of the books my mum had packed in my bag. Sitting on the corner of the bed I picked my tattered copy of Twilight from the bottom of the pile. For once I was happy that my mum wasn't up-to-date with what I was into, because although I had absolutely no interest in reading Twilight, I was glad that it was here.
I flicked through the thin pages and felt a smile pull at the corner of my mouth as the smell hit my nose. As I flicked through it the pages fell in a large chunk to the page that was marked by a bookmark. Not marking any particular page in the book was a slip of worn paper with a very familiar drawing on it.
Pulling the drawing out from the pages, I threw the book aside and smiled at the words that were written on the edge of the paper. 'Thank you for your honesty.'
My mind slowly wandered to the night that inspired this drawing, then to the moments he and I had shared at the graduation after he'd come to save the day. I was glad that the one thing that seemed to be clear in my mind about that night was my conversation with him. Our witty banter over the money he had given me as a present, and how he had told me he would be my last love…
"However long it takes." I whispered quietly, feeling heat flood my cheeks as I placed the picture down on the mattress beside me. Tyler couldn't even wait a couple of weeks for me to come back to Mystic Falls, but Klaus said he'd wait forever.
What would Klaus think if he could see me right now? Would his feelings towards me be the same if he knew that I was human again?
I sighed and laid my head in my hands. I definitely needed to sort out more than just being human before I returned to Mystic Falls. I needed to figure out what I was going to do now that I didn't have forever to travel the world, as well as what I wanted from my now-limited life.
I stood up from the bed and started to ace the length of the room, ignoring the shooting pain in the back of my legs. Closing my eyes I imagined what Klaus' reaction would when he found out that he didn't have multiple lifetimes to woo me. That's if I was still interesting enough now that I wasn't a vampire.
I scowled at myself, mentally slapping myself across the face. Why was I even thinking about this? Klaus wasn't a boyfriend. I had no claim on him, so why were all my thoughts turning to his opinion of me rather than the guy that I was actually dating?
A heavy breath shook its way through my body as I walked across the room and fell into the vanity seat again, snatching up my phone and opening Tyler's message back up. I stared at his name for a minute before I started to form my reply.
After I typed the message I read over it several times, tears falling down my cheeks as I pressed the send button. I quickly locked my phone and placed it back down on the vanity, screen facing down. Hands on my hips, I took shaky breathes in and out as I thought about how Tyler was going to react when he read my message. My breakup text.
It hurt beyond belief to write what I had written, but I knew in my gut that he just wasn't what I wanted anymore.
I immediately hated myself for breaking up with him through text, but I knew that I couldn't face speaking to him over the phone. I would end up caving and taking it back or telling him where I was. I also knew that he would be furious when he saw my message. We had waited for a long time to be together, but that was the problem. In my mind I knew that we had waited too long. I didn't want the same things as I did when he and I had first gotten together. And neither did he.
I held back tears as I rushed into the adjoining bathroom and turned the shower on, barely getting my clothes off before I climbed into the hot stream of water.
A good shower would ease the aching in my muscles, but it would also hide my tears and stop any residual swelling that might occur.
The hot spray of water ran across my body and I let out a sigh of a mixture of pain and anguish, letting the tears run down my cheeks as I thought over the words that I had sent to Tyler.
Hey, Ty. I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you finally got home. I really needed to get out of Mystic Falls, find myself, and make some series decisions about my future. After two weeks away I've already managed to make some pretty important decisions. I thought about what I had wanted us to be before you had to leave, and how I wanted out future to pan out, but that's impossible now. I'm so sorry, but I think it's best if we go our separate ways.
#
KLAUS' P.O.V.
The colour of the paint was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to the real thing.
I mixed some more white into the mix I already had, making it a pale, blonde tone. I grabbed my thin brush back off of the table and added just a small amount of the paint before stroking the colour on to highlight the parts of the golden hair I had grown to love so much.
After I applied the pale colour I sat back, placing the palette back onto the table with one hand while I grabbed my bourbon with the other, taking a swig as I looked at the half-finished portrait that sat in front of me. No matter how many times I painted her, or how accurate each piece seemed, nothing was as good as the real thing. There was always something that was just wrong with it.
I finished my drink and picked the paintbrush back up, washing it off and grabbing a darker shade of blonde that I had mixed up earlier for the shadows. I could feel the growing agitation as each stroke made my stomach tense and my muscles clench with a distinct feeling of …homesickness.
I growled and threw the paintbrush down on the table, not caring about the splatters of paint that went flying. Standing up from my chair and storming from the room, I held my bourbon glass in hand. I needed something stronger. Something that could help me forget about the blonde beauty that had been plaguing my mind ever since I had returned to Mystic Falls post-curse.
Heading straight to the bar in the corner of the lounge room, I scowled at my siblings that were watching me like some sort of ticking time bomb. I ignored them as I went through the cupboards and pulled out one of the oldest bottles of bourbon that we had in stock. Ripping the lid off I poured it into my glass, some of the liquid sloshing over the edges. Throwing the drink back, I repeated the process twice. Then I started a third time.
"Having a bad day, brother?" Elijah asked from where he stood next to the window.
I looked up at him and glared. "My day is fine, Elijah. I'm just not in the mood."
"You're never in the mood these days, from what I hear." I spun to face the door, seeing my sister standing there with a smirk on her face and one hand on her hips.
"Hello, Rebekah. When did you decide that you weren't too good for our little family?"
Her lip curled up at me as she strutted into the room, coming to sit on the opposite end of the couch to where Hayler say, who didn't look all that pleased at all.
I drank what was left in my glass before picking up the whole bottle and heading for the exit, wanting to just be alone in my studio.
"Don't pout, Nik. People might think you've gotten soft." I stopped at Rebekah's taunting and turned to face her.
"I am not weak, Rebekah. I am simply sick of people sticking their noses into my business."
"Klaus, we're just worried. You've been in a horrible mood ever since we decided to settle down in New Orleans."
I looked around the room at what was left of my family. My nosy sister, my saint-like brother, and the mother of my unborn child. All of them staring at me. Expecting me to do…something. I scowled again and lifted the bottle to my lips, closing my eyes as I took a large mouthful.
I felt the air around me shift and my eyes shot open to see Rebekah come to a stop at the opposite side of the room. I growled, feeling my face heat up as my vision shifted and the veins pushed their way through my skin. "Give me back my phone Rebekah."
"You know, maybe if you called her instead of moping around the house like a love struck puppy, you wouldn't be so insufferable." She said, tapping away on my phone.
"I don't know what the hell you're on about. But, if you don't give my phone back I'll-"
She looked me up and down, one of her eyebrows arching in amusement. "You'll what? Shove me in a coffin? I'd welcome a nap right about now. At least it would save me from your adolescent pining."
Hayley stood up from the couch, her shirt pulling up to reveal a hint of her growing baby bump. I had to fight to tear my eyes away to look back at Rebekah, who was still flicking through my phone.
"Give. Me. My. Phone."
"Can't you two just grown up?" Hayley yelled as she stormed past me and out of the room. "You're both over 1000 years old and you're acting like children. It's enough to drive me fucking insane."
We all looked at Hayley as she stopped in the entrance hall, hands on her widened hips, eyes angry and lips curled as she yelled at us. I stared at her with my mouth hanging open, shocked by her outburst.
"Rebekah, give Klaus his bloody phone. He's moody enough as it is without you teasing him." She said, before addressing me. "And Klaus, instead of moping around, act like the man you are and call her. It's not that hard."
She stormed up the staircase towards her room, not looking back as she left. I closed my mouth and turned back to Rebekah, holding my hand out expectantly for my phone. She smirked before tapping the screen and throwing the phone through the air into my awaiting hands. Then she spend past me and up the stairs, yelling a 'goodluck' behind her.
I looked down at my phone, my stomach dropped as I read Caroline's name on the screen and heard the faint 'ring ring' of the dial tone. She had called Caroline. I gulped, knowing that even if I hung up the phone Caroline would still receive a missed call from me and then wonder why I had tried to call her.
I made the quick decision to speed up and into my studio, slamming the door behind me as I put the phone to my ear.
"Hello?" The sound of her voice sent a ripple of chills down my spine and I had to shake myself in order to concentrate on what she was saying. "Klaus, are you there?"
"Hello, Love."
"What do you want Klaus?" She said, her voice coated with annoyance as she spoke. I listened carefully at the noise coming from her side of the phone call. Running water.
"Having an afternoon shower, Sweetheart?" I asked, before playfully adding, "It wouldn't happen to be a cold one, would it? Been thinking about me?"
"You wish." She let out one of her full laughs, sending shock waves across my whole body. "No, Klaus, it isn't a cold shower. I just haven't been feeling 100% and I thought a nice hot shower would make me feel a little bit better."
"Are you alright?"
She didn't reply for a moment, and I heard the shower water still running in the background. Even though worry prickled at the corner of my mind, I couldn't fight of the images of her naked and wet in the shower.
"I'm fine. I just…a lot has happened since graduation and I'm just trying to figure some stuff out."
"Do you want to talk about it? I'm an excellent listener." I sat down on my chair and placed the bottle of whiskey, which I was still holding, down on the table next to my discarded paints.
"It's kind of a long story, Klaus. And I'm still trying to figure everything out. Thanks for offering to listen though. I appreciate it."
"I mean it Caroline, you can talk to me about anything. I'll help in any way that I can."
I heard her deep intake of breath, as well as her quiet footsteps, followed by the running water being turned off. She put the phone down, telling me to wait a moment before there was a series of shuffling in the background. I could picture her looking around her bedroom for a change of clothes to wear.
Trying to pull my mind away from what her bare skin would look like, but failing miserably.
She picked the phone back up and with the shuffling of material she sat down.
"I don't know if I should tell you. And if I do, I don't really know how to."
"Well, I for one think you should definitely tell me. And the start is probably the best place to begin."
She let out a nervous laugh that was followed by an exhausted sigh. "Well, I suppose I could start with the fact that I've been unconscious for the past two weeks."
Every nerve ending in my body tingled at her words. My brains scanned all of the possibilities of what could have happened. She was obviously okay now, otherwise she wouldn't be talking to me on the phone. But had she been hurt? Attacked? Captured?
"Something happened at the school after you left me in the parking lot." She started, her voice quiet. Shaking. Nothing like the confident person she was at the start of the phone call. "I don't remember a lot of what happened after that, but I've been getting the blanks filled in. I stupidly tried to break up a fight between Elena and Katherine."
An involuntary growl escaped my mouth at the mention of both of the doppelgänger's. "What did they do?"
"Well," She sighed again, her breath crackling as it hit the speaker in the phone. "Katherine was on top of Elena, and was apparently about to tear Elena's heart from her chest. And then I pulled her off just before Elena…fought back. And when she did, I was the one who was hurt. I passed out and only woke up a couple of days ago."
"Elena attacked you?" My words came out harsh and clipped, my fists clenched and shook as the familiar sensation of a shift spread deep in my bones. I tried to calm myseld down, forcing myself to stop the tremors running down my arms.
"She didn't mean to. She was half-conscious when she did it. She didn't notice that I wasn't Katherine." If it hadn't been for the fact that Caroline had been injured, I probably would have been amused at how quickly she jumped to defend her friend. Typical. Everyone jumped to defend Elena.
"I'm sure she didn't, Sweetheart. Why don't you tell me what happened exactly?"
"I doubt me telling you what she did will make you feel any better." She said, laughing nervously. "If anything it will make you hate her more."
"Caroline," I breathed, my chest pulling tighter and my heartbeat beating louder. "Just tell me what happened."
"I don't think you've ever been this worries about me. It's nice to know that you care so much." Her voice hitched in her throat as she started to cry.
"Of course I care, Caroline. It's impossible not to care about you."
Silence washed over us as I heard her grabbing around for a tissue. The worry and anger were at war in my body, each one trying to prove themselves stronger as I fought hard to keep them both at bay. I was worried about Caroline and about what had happened to her, bit I was furious that Elena had somehow hurt her. Even if she wasn't aware of it at the time.
"That means a lot. Probably more than you think." She said, sniffling quietly. "I'm just so angry and upset. I'm upset that I'm in this position now, and that it was Elena that put me here. Not to mention that she was going to do this to Katherine. Katherine, of all people!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Sweethear." I whispered, reaching out to grab the edge of the table until it nearly buckled and snapped under my strength, trying to prepare myself for the bad news.
"I'm afraid to say it out loud. I can't bring myself to say the words." I could hear the panic rising in her as her breath hit the speaker faster and faster.
I couldn't handle the waiting. It was like there was an invisible pressure that was closing closer and closer around my body. I tried to control my rage, not wanting to upset her further, bit the wolf inside of me was growing restless with the need for control. "Just tell me, Caroline."
"Elena shoved the cure down my throat." She said, shouting the words through the phone.
Everything stopped. I couldn't tell you how much time passed. My brain fought to try and comprehend exactly what she had said. Elena had cured her. Cured. As in, she was human.
I was shaken out of my inner turmoil by a loud, gasping sob. Her cries grew louder and louder, each one like a thousand bullets hitting my skin. The sounds muffled, and I knew she had put the phone down.
I sat, staring around my studio at all of the sketches and paintings that I had done of her since being here in New Orleans, and I tried to imagine what Caroline would be like now that she was human. She definitely wouldn't want to be with me now. She would want to settle down and live out her human life. She wouldn't waste what time she had with me.
She picked the phone back up, having stifled her sobs slightly, her breathing having returned to semi-normal. "Are you still here?"
"Yes." I said, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat before continuing. "Yes, I'm still here Sweetheart."
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I didn't want this. It was never an option for me. There were other people who wanted it more than I did. Like Elena, or Stefan. Rebekah even wanted the cure. I never contemplated what I would do if I had it. And now I've had it thrust upon me and I don't know what I'm supposed to do.
Before this I had as long as I wanted to decide my future. I could spend hundreds of years travelling the world before deciding on a career. That's if I even wanted to build a career. Now I feel like my whole life has just imploded. And on top of all of that, I'm the furthest I've ever been from home, with two people whose attitudes to one another make me a big ball of anxiety."
She stopped abruptly as if she had just realised she had said too much.
I tried to take in everything she had said. She was really human. I took a small bit of comfort in the fact that she hadn't willingly taken the cure, but it didn't change the fact that she was still hu- "Who the hell are you with and why aren't you in Mystic Falls?"
"I'm fine Klaus. I'm just over exaggerating." I could almost smell her lie through the phone. My other senses picking up on the lilt in her voice.
I gripped the table even tighter in my hand, the wood finally breaking under the pressure, leaving a hand-sized hold in the edge of the table top. "Don't lie to me Caroline. It's taking all of my self-control not to snap and run straight to Mystic Falls to give Elena a visit. I want to know that you're okay. Who. Are. You. With?"
One beat…two beats…she didn't reply. Three beats…four beats…a deep sigh. "No one in Mystic Falls, except for my mum, knows what happened. Elena was unconscious as soon as she shoved it down my throat, and then mum told everyone that I had gone on a holiday instead of telling them that I was actually unconscious."
"If you and Elena were both unconscious, then how did you get home without everyone else knowing?" I waited, trying not to sound too aggressive through the phone, but knowing that I was failing miserably. She stayed silent again, not answering my question.
"Katherine carried me home to my mum and explained everything. I suppose she felt…something, about me saving her from being cured. And then after two weeks of me being unconscious my mum decided that something wasn't quite right, and for some reason she sought out Katherine instead of my friends. I'm not too sure why.
I mean, imagine my surprise waking up in the back of Katherine's car, hallway to…well, hallway here. It came as a bit of a shock. But Katherine's been pretty decent considering she doesn't have to be nice to me."
Another chunk of the table broke off and feel to the floor as I held onto it with a death grip. She was off somewhere with Katherine. Katherine! And someone else. Someone who, from what Caroline had previously said, didn't get alone with Katherine either. "Where are you? I can come and get you and you can come and stay with me."
Her tone hardened and I could picture the skin between her eyebrows furrowing up in anger. "I'm perfectly fine where I am Klaus. I don't need you, or anyone else, running in and protecting me. I can take care of myself."
I bit back the growl that threatened to escape from behind my teeth. "You're human now, Caroline. You can't protect yourself the way that you could when you were a vampire. Let me protect you. Just tell me where you are."
"I'm fine where I am. Katherine is being decent, and our host doesn't have an issue with me, it's Katherine she's having issues with. I don't need your help."
"I'm not asking you again, Caroline. Tell me."
She sighed angrily, and I could hear the shift of material again as she stood up. "All I'm going to tell you is that I'm closer to you than I am to Mystic Falls. That's all you get. I don't want you tracking me down and ripping out people's hearts before you ask questions. Once things settle down more we can sort something out, but in the meantime you interrupted my shower. So, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go and finish that and then get dressed ready for lunch. Bye, Klaus."
"Goodbye, Caroline." I whispered, but she had already hung up.
