Chapter 22: Things we've lost
He spent a thousand years running from his father and in all that time Klaus has never felt dread like he is feeling in this moment. The thought of his daughter and Caroline being in danger was enough to send him into to a blinding rage. He forced his body to move faster toward the house and knew that Hayley was on his heels, no doubt in the same state of panic that he was.
This was his fault. He was stupid not to think about what was right in front of him, that she was in danger. He thought back to earlier in the day. It was so simple. All they had to do was free the werewolves and be done with it. But it wasn't as simple this time. This time he was met by a person he thought he would hopefully never see again. A person who brought information that sent ice through his veins.
Earlier that day
Klaus was frustrated and that was putting it lightly. The sooner the werewolves were free the sooner they could leave. But Elijah wanted to scout the area first to make sure that they knew what they were walking into. Not that it mattered anyway. One way or another all their enemies would fall. If a thousand years had thought him anything it was that the original family would persevere.
He let out a growl of annoyance from his spot in the tree line that surrounded the small compound they were going to enter. "They'll be back soon, so could you stop with that" Hayley said, the annoyance evident in her tone. "Shouldn't you be worried your precious Elijah" Klaus snapped in response. "I am and I know you're worried about everyone too but the attitude is not going to help anyone" she retorts.
Klaus says nothing in reply but knows that she is right. "Look, we're going to get this done alright. We're going to win and everything will be fine. We're at the finish line remember" Hayley says with hope. Klaus smirks at her, "Since when did you become so optimistic?" He teases. She rolls her eyes good naturedly, "Well when you spend time with Caroline it sort of rubs off on you" she says.
Klaus looks away with a hint of a smile threatening to break out on his face. Even after everything she's been through, the blonde always had a way of being optimistic that was uniquely 'her'. Where many other vampires would succumb to the darkness- like the Salvatore's and he and many others he knew throughout time did-she always kept her light.
She was caring, kind, forgiving and many other things that he wasn't and while it could be said that she was still young with an eternity ahead of her, he hoped that it was a part of herself that she would never lose.
"You do love her don't you?" Klaus' head snaps up at the question. He did love her but saying it out loud meant that he had a weakness that could be exploited. Hayley could see the battle in his eyes, "and judging from that look, you haven't told her" she adds.
Klaus sighs, resigning himself to the fact that they were having this conversation. A conversation he knew Hayley wouldn't let go off. He wasn't used to having conversations such as this with the brunette. It seems she's picked up some habits from Elijah.
Klaus however was not willing to go down without a fight. "Why don't you mind your own business or since you are so interested in my relationships, why don't I pry into yours? For example do you love Elijah?" Klaus questions with a smirk. "Yes" Hayley says as though it's the most natural thing in the world and his smirk drops. "It's something I've tried to fight, especially after Jackson died" she takes a calming breath as the memories come back, "but I realized that you can't fight the way you feel and sometimes you have to gamble with the most important thing you have in order to gain happiness" she ends with a small smile. "And what is that?" Klaus questions. "Your heart" she replies. "And maybe you were right" she adds, "talking about this with the father of my child is weird. Especially when we're talking about your brother.
Klaus chuckles at the comment. "Yes and now you know why I don't want to put myself through the awkwardness."
"We'll just so you know, I like Caroline. She's good for you. You're so much more tolerable with her around" Hayley teases.
He was about to give a witty retort when he sees Elijah and Alaric walking toward them. "What did you find?" was the first to question Klaus asked. "There are about a dozen guards around the perimeter and more inside" Alaric states. "Nothing we haven't come across before while doing this" Elijah adds. "As I've already said. Now if we're done with wasting time, shall we?" Klaus says in an annoyed tone, back to his usual self.
Klaus moves toward the front of the compound with Alaric in tow as Elijah and Hayley move toward the back. They take a moment to check if the guards have changed their positions and move in once they see the guards haven't moved.
Klaus moves with agility as he rips out the heart of the guard and moves for the second and then the third. Behind him he sees Alaric lifting his crossbow and taking out three more guards.
Klaus moves toward another vampire when the sees two guards coming up behind Alaric. He was more than happy to let the human die but he knew the blonde waiting at home for him would be hurt by the loss and that made him feel guilty if he didn't try to save him.
With a heavy sigh he speeds toward them and digs his hands firmly into their backs. In one swift motion their hearts are removed and falling unceremoniously to the ground. "Why did we decide to bring you" Klaus asks rhetorically. Alaric doesn't pay attention to him and moves toward the front entrance. Klaus looks up to the sky, with what seems to be his thousandth sigh for the day, wondering just why he had to deal with the human. Maybe he could just kill him and tell Caroline that it was an 'unfortunate' accident.
He moved toward the entrance and sees that Alaric has killed three more vampires with well placed stakes to the heart from his crossbow. Well at least he had good aim. Klaus takes out the rest of the vampires and looks to Alaric. "Come along human" he says and moves deeper into the compound.
They move through the left hall and see a row of doors on each side. The previous compounds they raided were not like this. Previously all the werewolves were bound in the basement of much smaller compounds.
Klaus opens the first door to find that there is currently no occupant. The walls are white with blood stains splattered across it. A mattress lay on the floor near the window with reinforced bars that go into the wall.
They search the room even though there is virtually nothing in it and then move on to the next. All the rooms are the same. Some have more blood splattered across the walls and floor- depicting the struggle that took place, while others have nothing at all.
They come to the fourth door when they find a werewolf within. He is bound by chains that are reinforced to the floor and is lying on the mattress. Alaric moves toward the unnamed werewolf with caution, trying to inspect if he is alive.
Alaric tried to feel for a pulse at the neck of the werewolf and feels a rhythm. "He's alive" Alaric says, looking at Klaus, "which you already know."
"The perks of not being you" Klaus says with a smirk as his eyes move around the room looking for any clues that might lead to Lucien's whereabouts. His hopes of finding anything were not high however. They didn't find anything in any of the previous rooms and he had no doubt there will be little to find in here.
Alaric bends toward the still unconscious werewolf trying to access the wounds on his arms. Klaus moves to the window at the far end of the room. He uses his hybrid strength to punch the glass. Alaric looks at him in annoyance as he tries to regain his composure form the unexpected fright.
The glass was built to withstand the strength of vampires and werewolves alike so even if one of the prisoners were able to escape their chains, they would have no way of getting out and even if by some miracle they did escape, the compound was so remote they would have trouble getting anywhere on foot. He had to hand it Lucien, it was impressive.
Klaus was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Alaric scream out in pain. Turning around, he saw the werewolf throw Alaric against the wall and ready for another, more deadly strike. In one swift motion Klaus had the werewolf pinned against the wall instead. "Easy there, mate. We're not going to hurt you" he says but the werewolf, seemingly in a daze responds by snarling back at Klaus.
Klaus catches the gaze of the wolf allowing his compulsion to take hold. "Relax" Klaus says calmly and the werewolf does. "What's your name?" Klaus asks. "It's John" he replies. "We're here to help. We're getting you out of here" Klaus says.
Alaric moves toward John and tries to steady him as John puts his arm around Alaric's shoulder. I'm not leaving without my pack" John says sternly as they make a move toward the door. "Where are the rest of them? We haven't seen anyone else so far" Alaric questions the man. I'm not sure but I heard one of my guys screaming from down that way" he gestures to the end of the hall.
Without a word they move forward. Klaus led the way, no doubt if he let the human go first he would die somehow which is the last thing he needs right now. They turn the corner and see another row of doors. Klaus moves toward one but a voice stops him. "Already checked that one" Hayley says as they turn to see her and Elijah look at them at the other end. "There's hardly anyone here" she adds and looks to the werewolf in their presence.
"We've checked the east wing with no sign of any pack members or any of Lucien's followers" Elijah says. "Yeah, same with us" Alaric confirms as he sets John down. "This is the last room" Hayley responds, trying not to think the worst.
Why was there almost no werewolves kept here. This was either a trap or they were too late to save them. "You said your pack was here. If you're lying to me, I will tear your head off" Klaus growls in anger, flashing his golden eyes at John. "I know who you are, hybrid" John replies with fear in his eyes, " I have no reason to go against you. All I want is to get my pack outta here. I swear." Klaus looks at the man, contemplating if he should kill him.
"He's innocent, brother" Elijah steps up behind him and places a hand on Klaus' shoulder. "If this is a trap, you will wish for death"Klaus says, as he moves toward the last door.
He opens it to reveal the last person he thought he might see. "Tyler" Hayley says in shock as she moves toward his unconscious body. "Well, this just got interesting" Klaus says with a hint of venom in his voice. The last time Klaus saw his first sired hybrid, he was depositing him back in Mystic Falls after a failed attempt at trying to kill him. It was stupid of Tyler to think that he could take on an original but it led to a rather wonderful afternoon with Caroline.
How things have changed since then. She was no longer just the girl who wanted to go to college. She still had her hopes and dreams but she took a chance on him while trying to achieve her goals. In his thousand years he's never felt this way about anyone, not even Tatia. For the first time in a long time he felt whole.
But there was a hint of...something that plagued the back of his mind. What if she left him. What if she couldn't handle what he was or maybe this was some little game that she's playing and when she's bored she'll leave. 'No one will love you' his fathers voice rang in his head.
He pushed the thought away as Tyler wakes from his unconscious state. "Hayley?" Tyler croaks out in a hoarse voice. "You can't be here. They'll kill you like they did with the others" He adds with fear in his eyes. "It's okay Ty. We're going to get you outta here, I promise" She says and tries to help him stand.
Tyler looks past her to see Klaus and Elijah with Alaric and John behind him. He growls at the smirk he sees on Klaus' face which just amuses Klaus further. "Quite the predicament you've got yourself in" Klaus taunts, "too bad they didn't get to you first instead of the rest of the pack" he adds.
Tyler tries to lunge at Klaus but is unable to due to Hayley's grip on his arm and the fact that he is to shot up with wolvesbane to even fully register his surroundings. Elijah moves forward to try and plicate the situation. "That's enough, brother. I suggest we get out of here before any more guards decide to make themselves known.
"You shouldn't have come" Tyler says as they move out of the room, making their way to the exit, "they want werewolves" he adds and the fear is back in his eyes. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine" she says. "No, you don't understand they were looking for packs from original lines, pure bloods" Tyler argues as they move out of the room and toward the entrance of the compound.
Klaus knew that both he and Hayley were pure bloods. He came from the North East Atlantic Pack while Hayley came from the Crescent Pack.
He also knew that Tyler came from a pure bloodline but was never too bothered to check, after all he was still higher ranked than his first turned hybrid. He was an alpha while the boy was nothing more than a pup. "They got most of the pure bloods already" Tyler goes on, "all they need are the Crescent Pack and Malraux."
Klaus stopped at Tyler's words and Hayley looks on in horror at the thought of one of her pack members being tortured. "Have they found anyone yet?'' he asks, looking at Tyler with deadly golden eyes. "I don't know. I was too busy being chained and tortured. But I did hear one of them bragging about finding the last Malraux Wolf" Tyler says.
Without hesitation Klaus speeds out of the compound toward the house. How could he not have thought of it sooner? He read Caroline's great grandfathers journal. He spoke of being a part of the Malraux Pack, about how they were purebloods which made it that much more difficult for him to bind their werewolf side.
"Klaus" Hayley calls out behind him. "What's going on? " Hayley questions. He slows his run enough to look her in the eye. "Caroline descends from the Malraux pack" Klaus says and takes off into another sprint. He knew Hayley would put the pieces together.
Caroline had been asking Hayley a lot about what being a werewolf is like. What it's like to turn, to be free but Hayley didn't know that the blonde was in fact a pureblood or the last of the Malraux line for that matter.
*KC*
Klaus pushed himself even faster after his phone call from Caroline. He had to get to them. The possibility of him not getting there in time was something he didn't even want to consider.
After what felt like forever Klaus and Hayley finally got back to the house. The sight that greeted them was one that made his stomach turn. He could not look away as he saw Caroline lay on the front lawn, with grey veins spreading through her hands.
She couldn't be dead. Not her. She was supposed to have an eternity. She was supposed to travel the world and discover new things. Watch empires rise and fall with him at her side. And even if she ended up leaving him after a few months together, he still wanted that for her. He wanted her to live.
Unable to move at the sight, Hayley moved past him and rushed into the house. Pushing down the blind rage that was threating to come forth, he moved toward her and fell to her side. He moved his hand through her hair and then to her soft cheek. He moved to pick her up and cradle her gently to his shaking body.
Hayley had come out carrying a sleepy Hope, meeting Klaus where he fell next to Caroline's body. He took Hope from her and held on with everything he had as his tears stared to flow freely. He's daughter was safe but he had lost the one person he cared for.
Hayley looks to Caroline's body and saw the veins spreading across her arms. She might have gotten off on the wrong foot with the blonde but in these last few months they have formed a small bond. Caroline didn't deserve to die like this. It was then that Hayley noticed something peculiar. The veins were all along Caroline's arms but they did not run along her face. She pushes the blonde's hair away from her chest and notices that she is not grey there as well.
"Klaus" Hayley says softly, trying to gain the hybrids attention. She puts her hand on his shoulder when she sees that he's not looking at her. "I think she's still alive" she states and that immediately gains his attention. "The veins aren't spreading to her body" she looks to Caroline's hands and her face.
Klaus looks to Caroline's skin and notices that Hayley is right. I'm a swift motion Klaus he passes Hope to Hayley and bites into his wrist and puts it to her mouth. He wishes with everything he has that this will work, that Hayley was right, that they would have an eternity together. "Caroline please" he whispered into her ear, trying to get her to come to.
Moments passed and there was no movement. Soon Elijah and Alaric came up behind them. "Caroline" Alaric looks on horrified. Hayley moves from her position next to Caroline, taking Hope with her and allowing Alaric to fill the place. The two might not have a romantic relationship- nothing close to it- but these past few months they have become a family.
Klaus is still rocking her gently as his wrist is still at her lips, staining it red. Everyone was still. Waiting for a heartbeat as Klaus whisperers to her. A shrill noise erupted from Elijah's pocket as he pulled out his phone to answer it. He walked into the house with Hayley in tow. Klaus didn't pay any attention to it however. What he did hear was a gasp of unneeded air.
Caroline's eyes snap open as air fills her lungs. Looking up she sees Alaric next to her then her eyes travel to the person she was looking for the most. Klaus looks at her in shock and relief. "What...what happened" she asks. "Lucian's followers came for you, love" Klaus says simply and then she remembers it.
She remembers the house being surrounded, the fire, Hope. Oh god. "Hope" Caroline asks, frantically looking for the baby. "She's fine. Hayley has her" Klaus says as he moves to pick Caroline up from the ground.
Once inside he lays her on the couch in the living room and sits beside her, her hand clutching his. "Caroline...I... I'm" Klaus begins but is cut off when Caroline moves her hand to his neck and beings him in for a searing kiss.
She leans her forehead against his looking deeply into his eyes. "This wasn't your fault Klaus so don't you dare feel guilty" she says. She was exhausted but she still wanted him to know. Wanted him to understand that none of this was his fault. "I could of lost you" Klaus says in an almost inaudible whisper. "But you didn't. I'm right here" she says while holding him tighter, her touch being the only thing to anchor him, to make him realize that she was alive. That she was here with him. "I'm safe now" she adds with one hand on her belly.
Caroline knows that Alaric was probably worried as well but she was glad that he decided to give them a minute, not following them into the room when Klaus brought her in.
Unfortunately for them, their reunion was short lived as Elijah walks into the room followed quickly by Alaric and Hayley. Alaric looks to Caroline with a look of concern. "They're fine" she says reassuringly. "I'm not just worried about my children Caroline. I care about you" he replies. "I'm fine too" she adds while grabbing Klaus' hand even tighter, if that's possible.
"I'm glad you're unharmed Miss Forbes" Elijah says and she gives him a small smile. "But unfortunately I have some bad news."
There is a beat of silence where the occupants of the room wait with bated breath. What could be worse than what just happened. Can they even take another hit form the enemy. Caroline was lucky. They left her alive and she had a feeling that none of them would be so lucky next time.
"There have been...attacks on the others. Davina Claire is dead while...while the elder Salvatore and your friend Enzo are unaccounted for" Elijah says slowly.
Caroline tries to suck in a breath as she takes in this information. Damon and Enzo are missing. She didn't know Davina very well but the young girl didn't deserve to die. Oh god. Oh god. How were they going to fix this.
Caroline looks to Klaus with tears in here eyes begging him for an answer, for a plan to fix this. He reaches out to her tenderly "I promise you love, I will fix this. We'll get them back." Klaus hated the elder Salvatore and barely tolerated the newbie friend Caroline picked up along the way but he saw the pain in her eyes and knew he had to do all he could.
Before he could go on however Caroline's phone started to ring. She takes it from the table and sees that it's Damon calling her. With a frown she shows Klaus the name that appears and answers it. "Damon" she says hesitantly. "Hello Caroline. Lovely to hear your voice again."
AN: okay so don't know if I got the werewolf packs correct or not so I'm sorry if they're wrong. Also forgive any spelling errors.
I'm also really feel like giving up on this fic after I read some of the spoilers for 5x13. I don't know if I should or not :(
Anyway, as always reviews would be much appreciated and thank you guys for reading.