Chapter Nine:
A few days later Elena and I were jogging around the block when we both got the feeling like we were being followed.
We then looked behind our shoulders and saw that a man was running behind us so we increased our speed and started making turns whenever we could.
We then looked behind us again and saw that the man wasn't behind us so when we turned around to continue running we were surprised to bump into him.
"Excuse me. I should have been watching where I was going." The man said to us.
"Don't worry about it." Elena said to the man.
"You have a nice day." The man said to us.
"You too." I said to the man.
The man then ran away from us and then we made our way home.
An hour later I was sitting in a booth at The Grill sketching the patrons when I saw Klaus and the man who was following Elena and I earlier walk in and then walk over to Elena and Damon who were over by the bar playing darts and sort of flirting with each other.
I then used my werewolf hearing to listen in on their conversation.
"Don't mind me." Klaus said to them smiling.
"Klaus." Elena said to Klaus.
"You're gonna do this at The Grill? In front of everyone? A little beneath you, don't you think?" Damon asked Klaus.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink with a mate." Klaus said to them.
Klaus then looked over at the man.
"Get a round, then, would you, Tony?" Klaus asked Tony.
Tony then walked away.
"Surprised you stuck around long enough for happy hour." Damon said to Klaus.
"My sister seems to be missing. Need to sort that out." Klaus said to them.
"Cute, blonde bombshell, psycho? Shouldn't be too hard to find." Damon said to Klaus.
Klaus then took the dart that Damon was holding out of his hand and walked towards the dart board.
"Truth is… I've grown to like your little town. Thinking I might fancy a home here. I imagine you're wondering, how does this affect you? The answer is, not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves… you can go on living your little lives how you choose. You have my word." Klaus said to them.
"What more could you possibly want?" Elena asked Klaus confusedly.
"Well, for starters… you could tell me where I might find Stefan." Klaus said to them.
"Stefan skipped town the moment he saved your ass." Damon said to Klaus.
Klaus then threw the dart at the dart board and it hit the bull's-eye.
"Well, you see, that is a shame. Your brother stole from me. I need him found so I can take back what's mine." Klaus said to Damon.
"That sounds like a Klaus-and-Stefan problem." Elena said to Klaus.
Klaus then walked up to Elena somewhat threateningly and Damon got in front of her to protect her and he let out a chuckle.
"Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart." Klaus said to Elena.
Klaus then walked away from Elena and Damon and then made his way towards me.
I then quickly went back to my sketching like I've never stopped to eavesdrop but Klaus seemed to have known that I was listening in on his conversation by the way he was smiling at me when he sat down across the table from me.
"Well, aren't we the little eavesdropper, love." Klaus said to me.
"I was just curious as to why you would still be here and now I know." I said to Klaus.
"Do you know what they did to my sister?" Klaus asked me.
"I honestly don't. I thought she ran away when Mikael came to homecoming. And why are you looking for Stefan? What did he take from you?" I asked Klaus.
"Just leave it alone, love. I don't want you involved." Klaus said to me.
"But I can help you find them both, if you let me." I said to Klaus.
"Just stay out of this, Caitlin. I don't want you in the middle of this." Klaus said to me.
"Well, it's too late for that. I got involved the moment you got my sister involved. So, you can either tell me what I need to know to help you, or you can keep your mouth shut and I'll just have to figure it out for myself. What's it gonna be?" I asked Klaus.
Klaus then let out a frustrated sigh.
"Stefan stole four coffins containing the rest of my family. I was going to wake them up and reunite them but Stefan took them before I could do it." Klaus said to me.
"Coffins? Okay, creepy. I assume you've searched the obvious places. Cemeteries, funeral homes, hospital morgues around the area?" I asked Klaus.
"My hybrids found nothing." Klaus said to me.
"Okay. So, where would he be able to hide four coffins without looking suspicious or out of place, but it's not too obvious?" I asked Klaus.
"You got me, love. I haven't the clue." Klaus said to me grinning.
"You're not helping. Okay, the key is Stefan. We find him, we find your coffins. I'll keep an eye out for him and you try talking to Damon again. He has to know where he is." I said to Klaus.
"I like the way you think, love." Klaus said to me.
I then put my sketchbook and color pencils into my backpack and then stood up.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a coffin stealing vampire to find." I said to Klaus.
I then began to walk away but Klaus stopped me by grabbing my wrist gently.
"Wait." Klaus said to me.
"What is it?" I asked Klaus.
"I got you a birthday present. I've just been waiting for the right moment to give it to you." Klaus said to me.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that." I said to Klaus.
"Yeah, I did. After what my father put you through, you deserve this." Klaus said to me.
Klaus then pulled out a black rectangular box out of his pants' pockets and then opened it to reveal an 18ct gold plated Swarovski necklace that was in my name.
"Oh, my God. It's beautiful." I said to Klaus breathlessly.
"You like it?" Klaus asked me.
"Like it? I love it. Thank you." I said to Klaus smiling.
Klaus then took the necklace out of the box and held it in his hands.
"May I?" Klaus asked me gesturing to put the necklace on me.
"Yes, of course." I said to Klaus.
I then turned around and moved my hair out of the way so that Klaus could put the necklace on me.
Klaus then unclasped the necklace and brought it to my neck and then clasped the ends of the necklace together.
I then turned around to look at Klaus after fixing my hair.
"Thank you, Klaus. I'll never take this off." I said to Klaus.
I then kissed Klaus on the cheek and then I walked out of The Grill.
Without knowing it at the time Elena and Damon had seen the entire interaction between Klaus and me.
That night Ric and I made dinner while Elena set the kitchen table because we all wanted to confront Jeremy about being fired from The Grill and cheating on his midterm.
"Are you ready?" Ric asked us.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I said to them.
"Vampires, hybrids, and Originals? No problem. My rebellious brother? I'm worried." Elena said to us.
"Proof you're still human." Ric said to Elena.
"Lucky you." I said to Elena.
Jeremy then walked into the house and then walked into the kitchen.
"Just in time. We're cooking." Elena said to Jeremy.
"Sorry, just passing through." Jeremy said to us walking over to the fridge and opening it.
"Aww. Well, I thought we'd all stay in… have a meal together, like a typical atypical family." Ric said to Jeremy.
"Well, why?" Jeremy asked us closing the fridge confusedly.
"Maybe because you got fired and you didn't tell anyone." Elena said to Jeremy.
Jeremy then let out a sigh.
"Look, can we do this later? I made plans with Tyler. He's right outside." Jeremy said to us.
"Wait. When did you start hanging out with Tyler Lockwood?" Ric asked Jeremy confusedly.
"I don't know. Does it matter?" Jeremy asked us.
"Yeah, Jeremy, it matters. He was sired by Klaus. He's dangerous." Elena said to Jeremy.
"He can still hear you. He's right outside. Besides, you of all people are going to lecture me on who I can and can't hang out with?" Jeremy asked Elena in disbelief.
"He does have a point, Elena. Damon and Stefan aren't really standup guys either." I said to Elena.
Elena then glared at me and I raised my hands up in the air in a gesture of peace and then she looked back at Jeremy.
"What is with the attitude?" Elena asked Jeremy.
"Whatever. This is lame. Tyler's waiting." Jeremy said to us.
Jeremy then tried to walk out of the kitchen but Elena stopped him.
"No. Oh, no, no, no. You're not going anywhere, especially not with Tyler." Elena said to Jeremy.
Jeremy then looked at Ric and me for help.
"I'm with her on this, Jer. Sorry." Ric said to Jeremy.
"Don't look at me. I just want us to have a nice family dinner." I said to Jeremy.
"All right. Fine. You want me to stay in? Let's all stay in, then." Jeremy said to us.
Jeremy then looked at the front door.
"Yo, Tyler, come on in!" Jeremy yelled at Tyler.
"Jeremy…" Elena said to Jeremy.
Tyler then walked into our house and then into our kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table.
Jeremy then handed Tyler a glass of water and then sat down next to him.
"Thanks." Tyler said to Jeremy.
"This is weird. Klaus has hybrids stalking me, and now, you're just sitting in our kitchen." Elena said to Tyler.
"Look, maybe I should go." Tyler said to us.
"No, stay." I said to Tyler sitting down across from him at the kitchen table.
"You're not doing anything." Jeremy said to Tyler.
"Unless, you have to, you know, check in with your hybrid master." Elena said to Tyler as a snarky comment.
"Elena!" I yelled at Elena scolding her.
Tyler then chuckled.
"It's not like that, Elena." Tyler said to Elena.
Ric then sat down at the kitchen table and then looked at Tyler.
"Tell me, Tyler… what is the difference between being sired and being compelled?" Ric asked Tyler.
"Compulsion, that's just mind control. Like hypnosis. And being sired is… It's like faith. You do something because you believe it's the right thing." Tyler said to us.
"So, you believe that serving Klaus is the right thing?" Elena asked Tyler in disbelief.
"I don't serve him. Klaus released me from a curse that was ruining my life. I owe him for that." Tyler said to us.
"What if he asked you to jump off a bridge?" Ric asked Tyler.
"He wouldn't and even if he did, I'd be fine. I'm a hybrid." Tyler said to us.
"Okay. So what if he asked you to rip your own heart out?" Elena asked Tyler.
"Again, he wouldn't." Tyler said to us.
"What if he did?" Elena asked Tyler.
"I don't know. Then I'd rip out my heart." Tyler said to us.
We then all stared at Tyler in disbelief.
"You guys sound like Caroline. Getting all freaked out over something you don't understand." Tyler said to us.
"You're right, Tyler, I don't understand. Klaus has terrorized every single one of us… and you're just blindly loyal to him." Elena said to Tyler.
"You're overthinking it. I can still make my own decisions." Tyler said to us.
Jeremy then got a phone call and left the kitchen to take it and then walked back in and sat back down at the table a few minutes later.
"What was that about?" Elena asked Jeremy.
"It was nothing." Jeremy said to us.
Tyler then looked at his watch to see what time it was.
"I got to go. Um, thanks for the food offer, but, uh…" Tyler began to say to us before Ric interrupted him.
"Next time." Ric said to Tyler finishing his sentence for him.
Tyler then stood up and walked out of the kitchen and then walked out of our house.
Elena, Ric, and I then walked over to the isle.
"Well, that was illuminating." Ric said to us.
"So, Tyler Lockwood is a lunatic who has access to our house." Elena said to us.
"He is not a lunatic. You're both judging him, when you both don't know what it's like to be a werewolf. The pain and fear that we go through every full moon is unimaginable. I don't blame him or the others for becoming hybrids, if it meant control over our curse. If the sire-bond is the price for it, then I would gladly pay it one day." I said to them.
"Caitlin, you can't be serious. That's crazy." Elena said to me.
"I mean, this whole sire-bond thing is wild. I don't even think Tyler's fully aware of what little reason lies behind what he's saying. It's… it's like weird cult logic." Ric said to me.
"Well, it's better than the alternative. Locking myself up every full moon and pray I don't get out and kill some innocent bystander." I said to them.
We then turned around and saw that Jeremy wasn't sitting at the kitchen table.
"Jeremy?" Elena asked Jeremy confusedly.
Ric then saw that Jeremy's Gilbert ring was sitting on a plate on the table.
"That's his ring." Ric said to us.
"Where'd he go?" I asked them confusedly.
Elena, Ric, and I then walked out of the house and saw that Jeremy was standing in the middle of the road.
"Jeremy?" I asked Jeremy confusedly.
"What is he doing?" Elena asked us confusedly.
Then an SUV started speeding towards Jeremy and we began to run towards him.
"Oh, my God. Jeremy!" I yelled at Jeremy.
"Jeremy!" Ric yelled at Jeremy.
"Jeremy, move!" Elena yelled at Jeremy.
Then before the SUV could hit Jeremy Ric pushed him out of the way so that it would hit him instead and he went over the hood of the SUV and then fell back down onto the street.
Elena and I then ran over to Ric at the same time Tony put the SUV in park.
"There I go again, bumping into people." Tony said to us smiling.
Tony then drove away and Jeremy ran over to us as I checked to see if Ric was wearing one of the Gilbert rings and he did.
"He's gonna be all right. He's wearing his ring." I said to them.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked Jeremy worriedly.
"I don't understand." Jeremy said to us confusedly.
"Who was that on the phone earlier?" I asked Jeremy.
"It was Klaus." Jeremy said to us.
"You were compelled, Jeremy." Elena said to Jeremy.
"We've got to get him inside. Help me." I said to them.
Elena, Jeremy, and I then carried Ric into the house and then carried him into the living room to lay him down on the couch.
"You two stay with him. I'm gonna have a little talk with Klaus." I said to them.
I then walked out of the house and got in my car and drove my way to where Klaus was reconstructing an enormous mansion for his home.
When I got to Klaus' mansion I kicked in the door and let myself in.
"Klaus! Come out here and face me, you son of a bitch!" I yelled at Klaus angrily.
Klaus then walked out of one of the room that were being reconstructed and walked over to me with his hands in the air.
"How could you?!" I yelled at Klaus angrily.
"Sweetheart, I know you're upset, but…" Klaus began to say to me before I interrupted him.
My eyes then turned yellow and I used all of the strength I could muster for that brief moment to punch Klaus in the face which sent him flying across the foyer and landing next to a pair of double staircases.
I then walked over to him and when he tried to get up I slammed my foot down on his chest making him cry out in pain.
I then leaned in very close to his face with my foot still on his chest.
"Stay away from my brother. And stay the hell away from me." I said to Klaus.
I then ripped my necklace off of me and threw it at him.
I then scoffed as tears started to build up in my eyes.
"You know, I'm fool to think that you could be more than what you let others see you as. And all because you were the first guy to ever kiss me. I won't make that mistake again." I said to Klaus.
I then removed my foot from Klaus' chest and then I walked out of his mansion with him holding the necklace in his hands with tears in his eyes the whole time.
After that I went home and when I got there I arrived at the same time Elena did. Apparently she found Stefan and now Damon is talking to him.
Elena and I then walked into the house and we saw that Ric was standing up from the couch groaning in pain.
"Ric, hey." Elena said to Ric.
"When did you return to the land of the living?" I asked Ric.
"Oh, just a few minutes ago. How's Jeremy?" Ric asked us.
"Not good." I said to Ric.
"Hating me. Hating life. Hating the fact that we can't even have a family dinner… without somebody dying before desert." Elena said to Ric.
I then noticed that Ric was looking a little pale and seemed to be in pain by the way he was clutching his ribs.
"Are you okay? You're not looking that good." I said to Ric worriedly.
Ric then started coughing up blood into his hand.
"Oh, my God." I said to myself.
"Ugh. Something's wrong. The ring. Unh." Ric said to us.
Ric then collapsed onto the floor and then became unconscious.
Elena then called the paramedics and they arrived less than five minutes later.
"What happened?" The first paramedic asked us.
"He got it by a car. And he's coughing up blood." Elena said to them.
The paramedics then walked over to Ric and began working on him.
"Get his vitals." The first paramedic said to the second paramedic.
The second paramedic then checked Ric's pulse.
"Pulse, thready and weak." The second paramedic said to the first paramedic.
The first paramedic then pulled out a flashlight and then shined it in Ric's eyes.
"Looks like internal bleeding. We need to get him out of here now." The first paramedic said to the second paramedic.
"Let's move." The second paramedic said to the first paramedic.
Tony then stood outside the doorway to our house.
"Let's not and say we did. Why don't you two meet us at the hospital?" Tony asked the paramedics compelling them.
"What?" I asked Tony confusedly.
The two paramedics then gathered their things and then walked out of the house.
"No. No, no, no, wait. No, wait. You have to help him." Elena said to them pleadingly.
The paramedics then got in their ambulance and then drove away.
"What are you doing?" I asked Tony confusedly.
"You can still save his life." Tony said to us.
Tony then held up his hand.
"Here, take my blood." Tony said to us.
Tony then let out a sigh as he tried to enter our house.
"I can't get in. You're gonna have to invite me." Tony said to us.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked Tony.
"Klaus asked for his family. You didn't deliver." Tony said to us.
Ric then started to wake up and began coughing and Elena and I ran over to him.
"Ric." Elena said to Ric.
"Oh, my God. He's conscious." I said to Elena.
"We're right here." Elena said to Ric.
"Stay with us." I said to Ric.
"He's gonna die. You might wanna invite me in." Tony said to us.
Tony then fell to the floor of the porch and Elena and I saw that Jeremy had shot him in the back with an arrow.
"Jeremy." Elena said to Jeremy.
"He's not dead yet." Jeremy said to us.
Jeremy then walked into the house and began walking towards the kitchen with a determined look on his face.
"Where are you going?" I asked Jeremy confusedly.
A few minutes later Jeremy walked out of the kitchen holding a meat cleaver in his hand and then began walking towards Tony.
"What are you doing?" I asked Jeremy confusedly.
Jeremy then kneeled next to Tony and then chopped his head off with the meat cleaver making both Elena and I turn around and scream.
"Now he's dead." Jeremy said to us.
Jeremy then stood up dropping the meat cleaver to the floor and then looked at Elena and me.
"We've gotta get Alaric to the hospital now." Jeremy said to us.
Elena, Jeremy, and I then took Ric to the hospital to get checked out and while he was there Damon gave him his blood so that he'll heal quicker.
Elena gave Rebekah who was lying daggered and desiccated in a cell in the cellar to Klaus in exchange for Jeremy's safety.
A couple of hours later once everyone had calmed down from the night's events Elena, Ric, and I made the hard decision to have Damon compel Jeremy to leave Mystic Falls since it was no longer safe for him here.
I hate compulsion. I really do, but if this is the only way to keep Jeremy safe and give him a normal life that he deserves, then so be it.
Elena, Ric, and I then walked up to Jeremy's room and Elena knocked on the door.
"Hey. Can we talk?" Elena asked Jeremy.
Jeremy then let out a sigh and sat down on his bed as we all walked in.
"What did I do now?" Jeremy asked us.
"I've been thinking about what you said earlier. About how we should pack up and go." Elena said to Jeremy.
"Elena, I didn't mean any of that." Jeremy said to Elena.
"But you were right. You shouldn't have to give up a normal life just because of us." Elena said to Jeremy.
Damon then walked into Jeremy's room.
"What's going on?" Jeremy asked us confusedly.
"Your sisters thinks… we should have another one of our talks." Damon said to Jeremy.
Damon then walked over to Jeremy and sat down next to him on his bed.
"Here's the thing, Jeremy. You're gonna go out of town for a little while. A long while. You're gonna stay with some nice family friends in Denver. You're gonna be in a new school. And meet new girls. Living girls. You're gonna drink a few beers, take an art class, you can do whatever you want." Damon said to Jeremy compelling him.
Ric then looked at Damon.
"Tell him he's going to leave Mystic Falls behind. And never think twice about it." Ric said to Damon.
Damon then looked over at Elena to get the okay to compel that to him and she nodded her head.
"You're gonna leave Mystic Falls behind and never think twice about it. You're gonna have a better life, Jeremy." Damon said to Jeremy compelling him.
After that Elena walked Damon out of the house and I walked into my room and got ready for bed with tears in my eyes.