Ch 4

A hallway...he found himself in a dark hallway that he had never seen before. There were no lit candles, but a soft glow from the end of it drew his gaze. A door, opened a fraction, silhouetted a figure in its light. He watched from further down the hall as the figure stood motionless in front of the door. Their blonde hair illuminated by the door's light.

Caroline?

She turned as if he had called out to her. He might have. Dreams were a funny thing. Her eyes caught him off guard, frightened and begging for him to understand something he could not grasp. She turned away from him again, her hand outstretched towards the door.

This was wrong, something was wrong. He made to step forward but stopped as she pushed the door open. The door led to a room of fire. Caroline stepped in without hesitation.

And then he woke. His eyes roamed the room, falling on the familiar place, he breathed in shakily. How on Earth did that happen? True, he had fallen asleep to the thought of her. But he was a master of control, and dream jumping was something he never did on accident. He cursed the idea that this girl was getting to him. He'd have to get rid of her.

The soft sounds of crying tore him away from his thoughts. He could hear Caroline's muffled voice from the other side of the castle. She repeated the same sentence over and over till she slipped back into a fitful sleep, 'It should have been me, it should have been me'. Was that a nightmare, or was it a memory?

The morning meal was a quiet affair. Caroline had been surprised that it was just her and Elijah. His brother was nowhere to be found. After her dream last night, she was glad for it. Seeing him in her dreams now made seeing him in person awkward.

When their meal ended, Elijah left through one of the many doorways leaving Caroline quite alone. She wondered if she could simply leave the castle, would they follow her? Find her family?

As her thoughts took a dark turn, she rose and headed off to her room. Leaving this place was a foolish idea. She could not risk the lives of so many. You said you would be brave, so show it.

Once safely inside, she took in her room with hawklike precision. She had a mission in mind, and when she made up her mind on a task, she would do whatever she needed to get it done.

The fine furniture was sturdy, ornate, and most likely expensive. But it was all wrong. The chairs were too far apart, the small writing desk was against the wrong wall and away from any light that would be beneficial, and there was an odd number of tables. The rug would have to go too. If she was forced to be here, or better yet, if she was a guest here then she would need to move everything around to her liking.

She untied the sleeves from the pink kirtle she was wearing that day, rolled up the exposed chemise sleeves, and found a long ribbon to tie back her long locks. Kicking off her slippers, she set to work rearranging the room.

He forced himself to stay away from her. Burying himself in his work, artistic and otherwise. It certainly was not due to the bizarre night he had, the fact that he would be distracted by her, by the secrets she kept. He really could not afford any distrations.

He supposed he could turn her for the sacrafice. He would need a vampire, anyways. She was right here, after all. And he had a feeling he would greatly enjoy drinking her dry. An image of her, pressed against him, hands clutching his shoulders for purchase as his teeth sunk into her pretty little neck, flashed across his mind. He quickly shook his head, the idea was too enjoyable to him. Klaus needed to keep his mind clear.

Caroline would be useful to him, and he would drain her, but for now, he would simply watch and listen. She had secrets he wanted to know more about. He would not dwell on anything else, till the time came to think about when and how she'd die.

A loud, to anyone with supernatural hearing, scraping noise suddenly pulled him from his thoughts. He paused, assesing where the sound was coming from. Another scraping noise. Then another. He gritted his teeth.

Sighing in defeat, he left his study to find out the reason behind the sound.

As he walked towards her side of the castle, he quickly found his brother heading outside, book in hand. "Elijah?"

Elijah, pausing only briefly, to say, "Our guest is moving all of her furniture." With that, he promptly left the castle in a huff.

Klaus watched him leave with a curious look on his face. He climbed the stairs while the sounds kept up their pattern.

Scrape. Pause. Scrape. Pause. Over and over.

He could hear her breath now, huffs and deep breaths. His mind went back to that previous image he had thought he banished from his mind.

The door to her quarters was wide open. He caught sight of her skirts before her image was obstructed by the door. Casually, he walked up to the door way, leaning against it as he watched her. She had not heard him approach as she attempted to move her oak bed further from the door way. Caroline, by herself, had managed to move it only a foot or so away.

His gaze was caught by the sight of her. Her skin was coated in a light sheen of sweat, her slim arms exposed, and her hair, swept up and away from her neck, was falling into her face. Her breath blew it softly away as she moved around the bed, heart beating faster from the exertion. He couldn't look away from her. He could picture a hundred different, more pleasant, scenarios with her sweat soaked skin, her messed up hair, her heart pounding, and her breath going in and out in little huffs. He shook his head, he was acting like a prepubescent boy. He was a master of control. He would not let her get to him like this.

Stepping back, she propped her hands on her hips, presumably taking a moment to figure out what to do.

"What are you doing, sweetheart?" He smiled at her, catching her by surprise.

Caroline gasped, startled by his sudden presence. "Oh, god, you frightened me."

"My apologies, sweetheart, it is in my nature, after all."

She tossed a glare his way before she went back to her task. He did so enjoy that fire in her.

"I am moving some things around if you must know."

He nodded, "I could hear that, but I must ask, why?"

She huffed. "All the furniture was in the wrong place. I simply wish to fix it." She pulled at the bed's frame in an attempt to move it. It did move, but only a few inches. She made a groan-like noise that had him fighting with his inner thoughts.

Her eyes caught his in a defiant stare, "Are you just going to watch or will you be a gentleman and help me?"

Cocking his head to the side, he smirked at her. He walked over to stand a bit too close to her, he enjoyed her scent, sweet, floral, a hint of citrus, and something he couldn't place. As if she smelled like a feeling, like the feeling you get when you are at peace. He couldn't name it but he found it to be quite pleasing.

"Where would you like it, love?" He spoke in a softer tone. He could hear her heart sputter a bit, making him smile wider at her.

Suddenly, she backed up a few steps, as if she thought him to be a trap disguised as a person. She would be right, of course. "Over there, if you would, please." Her voice lacked the bite of confidence it usually had. He had gotten to her, a small victory in his mind.

Casually, he walked over, grabbed the foot of the bed, and moved it to the location she had mentioned. Turning back to her, he smirked at the surprised look on her face. She quickly schooled her features back into an indifferent mask. "Thank you," she said as she made her way to the doorway, a sign she wanted him to leave.

Klaus chuckled, being directed in his own home was not something he was used to. He would make this an only exception. Making his way out her room, he moved closer to her than he needed to. "As you wish, love." Her skin flushed that pretty pink he enjoyed as he walked out of her room and back towards his study.

What an insufferable man?! Why did he insist on toying with her? A game perhaps? No matter the reasons, she would not let him get to her.

Hours had passed, the day was all but gone now, and she had finally moved everything around to her liking. The maid, Mary, helped her tidy herself up and soon she found herself back in the great hall again for supper.

Elijah stood promptly while his brother remained seated. After only a day she had started to understand the two men. She wondered if she would be able to predict their behaviors soon. Seating herself, the three of them ate in relative silence. Caroline would either catch Elijah's steady gaze, no doubt trying to piece her together, or the intense glances from his brother. Maybe she should rethink the whole 'understanding them' approach.

"Have you moved everything to your liking, love?"

Wetting her lips, she took a steady breath before answering the man to her right, "Yes, I have." She refused to look at him.

"I'm glad, I was beginning to think you were planning to rearrange everything in my home."

"Well, as you had said, I am your 'guest'. I know not when you plan to kill me, so I thought I should move things to my liking. You may move it back when I am gone." She gave him her most 'take that' look and continued eating.

"That is the second time you have told me what to do in my own home." His voice held a bite, a promise hidden in its depths.

"Three, actually," she smiled serenely at him. His jaw ticked, in what she had considered being his 'annoyed' look. "I did tell you to toy with a knife."

"How could I forget," he said with eyes that bore into her, voice dripping with danger. If he thought that he could scare her, well, he would have to try much harder. Caroline had her own teeth, not sharp and visceral as his, but she had words. And he no longer scared her, if anything, he was fueling her fire.

The rest of the meal went on in utter silence. Elijah looked everywhere but at her or his brother, Klaus kept his gaze mostly on his food, and she found the whole affair to be quite enjoyable after that.

Elijah and Caroline retired to the library for some reading, while Klaus left them to finish his work. After an hour of light reading, Caroline retired for the night. She blissfully dreamt of nothing.

AN: I hope you guys like this. My goal for the next chapter is a doozy so here's hoping I can get it up soon. The reviews are great and I'm so thankful for them, you guys are great. :D Also I'm attempting to put this up on AO3 as well so catch me over there if you'd like. 3