CHAPTER NINETEEN:

CAROLINE P.O.V.

Sitting close to Klaus on the couch, I gripped his hand tightly as he sat discussing what should happen next. We had all gathered in the lounge room last night, and we hadn't moved to go to bed throughout the night, even though the sun had risen.

I yawned, holding my hand over my mouth and leaned my head against Klaus' shoulder. My whole body was tired. My muscles continued to ache, and I wondered when exactly the tension would go away and I could feel some kind of ease.

"I say we call all of our combined contacts." Katherine was saying, standing next to Elijah as she looked down at the group. "Surely if we flood the town with more people, we'll flush him out."

"Or we'll invite more people, and he would have left town by the time they arrive." Klaus growled back at her.

"I'm just adding some suggestions, Klaus. I know this is time sensitive, but what else do you think we should do? Sure, there's enough people here to help search for her, but if more people were here we'd have an even better chance of finding her."

Klaus gripped my leg in anger. Not hard enough to hurt me, but enough to let some of his gathering anger out. I placed a hand gently over his, not looking up at his face, but feeling him calm under my grip.

Another yawn rippled through me, and although I tried to hold it back it escaped through my lips. I looked down at my lap, to my phone which sat there, and used the hand that wasn't gripping Klaus' to check the time. I internally groaned. It was already after seven-thirty in the morning.

I rubbed my eyes and suddenly got an idea. My mum would surely know what to do about a kidnapping. Not that she had had any firsthand experience. But she would have a better idea than any of the people here did.

Leaning closer to Klaus I whispered in his ear that I was going to go and lay down. Then I pulled myself up from the couch and bid everyone a goodnight.

Slippin away from the room, I left everyone in the lounge room to sit and continue strategizing of what their next move should be. I made my way up the stairs to Klaus' bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, and pulled my phone from my pocket.

It didn't take my mum long to answer with a cheery 'hello'. I sighed and readied myself to tell her what was happening, and why I had called her.

"Hey, mum."

Her cheerful voice quickly turned serious as she heard the tone in my voice. "What's wrong? Are you okay? What did Klaus do?"

"Klaus hasn't done anything, mum." I ran my hand through my hair and looked over at the bedside table where Klaus had left his open sketchbook, filled with portraits of me. "He's been really great."

"But…"

"But something has happened. Someone that Klaus pissed off 500 years ago has decided to take revenge on what Klaus did. And by doing that he, well, he kidnapped Hayley. The werewolf that Tyler was friends with earlier this year."

I could hear my mum's confusion through the phone. "What does she have to do with Klaus?"

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I didn't necessarily want to get into all of the private details about Klaus and Hayley, but I needed her professional advice and I wasn't about to waste time making something up.

"After Hayley had the hybrids betray Klaus, and he killed them, they had a one night stand and somehow Hayley got pregnant. That's why Klaus is in New Orleans. It's a long story that I don't really have time to get into right now. But Andre, the guy, kidnapped her and I wanted to know what we should do."

"When was she taken?" She asked, all business.

"Early last night." I let out a small yawn. "We've been up all night trying to figure out where she could have been taken."

"And you're sure she hasn't run off on her own?"

"Yes, we're sure. She knows it's dangerous for her to leave the house on her own."

"And this person, he wants revenge?"

I thought about the way that Andre had acted the night of the baby shower, how he had seemed happy to see Klaus. He hadn't seemed menacing at all. He didn't look like the kind of person to kidnap a pregnant woman. But then again, Stefan didn't look like the type of person who would tear a person limb-from-limb.

"Yes. Klaus killed his girlfriend back in the late 1400's and he never got over it."

She stayed silent for a moment before replying. Thinking over what I had told her.

"Okay," she started, matter-of-fact. "If you haven't been contacted by this person just yet, and you have no idea where she is, the best thing you can do is to wait until he contacts you. I know it sounds harsh to not look for her, and you don't have to sit around and do nothing. But, instead of searching every inch of the city, and instead of hunting Andre down, the best thing that you can do is to wait until he makes the next move. If you make the next move he could turn volatile, and that would put Hayley at a risk."

"You just want us to sit and wait?" I bit out, my voice harsher than either of us expected.

"Caroline, if Klaus goes out there and hunts Andre down, Andre will most likely realise that there's no way out for him, and then he'll kill Hayley anyway. If you wait until he makes the next move then you can figure out the next best move to make in order to retrieve her safely."

I groaned and rubbed my eyes with my hands. I was so tired, having stayed up most of the night, and worry gripped at my chest. "Okay. I'll go and tell Klaus what you said. I doubt he'll listen, but I'll give it a try."

"Just be careful okay, Caroline." She said, sounding more worried than I had ever heard her. "You're not as invincible as you used to be."

I smiled as I said goodbye, telling her that I loved her. When I placed my phone down and looked up I saw Nik standing in the doorway with a sad look on his face. I stood up, leaving my phone on the edge of the bed as I walked towards him.

"Hey," I whispered, stepping into his open arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He said against my hair, kissing my forehead. "We haven't made any progress. I just came to make sure you were okay."

I leant up and kissed him gently on the lips. "I'm not going anywhere Nik."

He pressed his nose into the crook of my neck, breathing in my scent before pressing a soft kiss to my collarbone. "I know. But I can feel my protectiveness over you growing with each day. An invisible pull that makes me want to protect you from anyone and everything."

I pulled back and stared into his eyes. "I know it's hard. I'm sure once we get used to the fact that we're mated, it'll get easier."

A small smile broke out on his face and he pressed another kiss to my lips. "I know."

I let my smile fall as I touched his face gently. "I spoke to my mum."

"What did she say?" He said, pulling back slightly.

"She told me something that I know you're not going to like. But, I think I should explain it to everyone, so we don't have to waste time by repeating everything."

"Okay." He said, pulling me from the room and down the stairs. I rolled my eyes as he strutted back into the lounge room where everyone was now sitting down resting their heads in their hands, and looking absolutely defeated. I wondered what Klaus had said to them before he came to check on me.

They all looked up as we entered the room. Katherine groaning and rolling her head around as she looked at the determined look on Klaus' face. Marcel, who had been talking quietly with Nadia, looked at Klaus with a raised brow, then down at mine and Klaus' joined hands. A smirk pulled at his lips as I pulled my hands from Klaus'.

"Caroline spoke to her mum, who offered some advice on the matter." Klaus announced, sitting down in the seat he had been sitting in before.

Everyone's eyes fell on me and both Nadia and Marcel looked confused as what Klaus had said.

"What would Caroline's mum know about a vampire kidnapping someone?" Nadia asked, her accent sounding thicker with the exhaustion of not having slept.

"My mum's the Sheriff of Mystic Falls." I said, pulling at my sleeves. "I thought it might be a good idea to call her and see if she had anything to offer on the subject of kidnapping. She would have learnt about these sorts of things in her police training."

"And what did the good sheriff have to say?" Katherine muttered, leaning forward to rest her arms in her lap.

"Well, her advice might sound counterproductive, but I think it's a good idea."

"Just tell us, Sweetheart."

I took a deep breath and met Klaus' eyes. "She doesn't want us to do anything. She thinks that it would be a good idea to call extra people in, but she doesn't think we should go looking for Hayley, or to make a show about the fact that she's missing. She said that in most kidnapping cases the kidnappers want something, and will contact you when they're ready to tell you what that is. In cases where a major search goes on, the victim gets killed."

Klaus jaw locked instantly and he looked like he might explode in anger.

"But surely with our increased power, that doesn't apply." Rebekah said, playing with her hair.

"Well, I don't think it really matters who you are. I actually think it's a good idea. If we show Andre that we don't care, or that we're not going to walk into whatever trap he has set, then he will contact us and tell us what he wants. I think it's the safest option for Hayley."

"That or he'll take out disinterest as a sign that means he can kill her anyway." Klaus bit out, gripping the arm of the couch tightly.

"I know it's hard, Klaus. I want to find her as much as everyone. But if you go running in and ripping hearts out, then Andre isn't going to negotiate. He's going to kill her. If we play along then there's a chance you can out manoeuvre him."

"She's right." Elijah calmly spoke from his position in his usual armchair. "He'll expect us to go running in. When we don't, it'll take him off guard and he'll make a show of taunting us and telling us what he's after."

Klaus looked to his brother and then back to me, anger still burning behind his eyes. His eyes flashed gold for a second and in the blink of an eye he ran from the room, slamming the front door behind him.

"Always one to throw a tantrum." Elijah muttered, I glared over at him.

"The mother of his child was just kidnapped and it's for something he did 500 years ago." I growled. "He's upset and feeling guilty. He has every right to act out."