A twisted hunk of metal crashed down from the ceiling with an alarming thud that reverberated throughout the hallway as it narrowly missed Caroline's head. She roughly pulled Klaus behind her, shielding him from any additional debris that might fall. Blue eyes scanning the ragged hole in the ceiling, Caroline aimed the barrel of her submachine gun, her finger gently resting on the trigger. A rush of movement and the harsh scrape of claws on metal still didn't prepare her for the sudden onslaught of rough fur and solid muscle as it knocked her to the concrete floor.
"Caroline," Klaus shouted fearfully, unable to get to her because of the snarling beast between them.
She quickly leapt to her feet, swinging the butt of her rifle in an upward arc that caught the werewolf underneath its muzzle, momentarily stunning it. She caught Klaus' wide-eyed gaze, appreciating the fact that while he obviously was terrified, he appeared rigidly calm. She jerked her chin toward a far corner, indicating that she needed him out of the direct line of fire. Klaus nodded once, slowly making his way over there while she kept the beast's attention on her.
Shaking its massive head, it slung ribbons of foul-smelling saliva onto her forearm. She jerked her arm away, narrowly missing the razor-sharp claws as it swiped at her. Narrowing her gaze, she looked for an opening to land a shot. The werewolf's long, coarse hair and thick hide would make it difficult for a bullet to do much damage.
When it raised its head to let out a guttural roar, she aimed for the newly exposed neck, hoping the bullet could pierce the carotid artery. See the blue mist on the mountain peak. Her calming mantra kept her focused and she breathed through the shot as the bullet left the chamber with a forceful gust of air. The bullet lodged in its neck, the thin trickle of blood indicating that only the first few layers of the beast's hide were penetrated. Fuck.
Enraged, the werewolf pounced, pinning her shoulder to the floor before she could roll away. She felt the warm gush of her blood as it soaked through her shirt, gritting her teeth to keep from yelling. The creature turned its head as Klaus shouted her name, and she blindly groped for her compact folding knife, the cold feel of the titanium frame reassuring in her sweaty grip. She shoved the sharp blade into the werewolf's side, twisting the metal to cause more damage.
The werewolf bellowed angrily, rearing up slightly which allowed Caroline to quickly roll away. Klaus rushed forward to pull her to her feet, but then his gray eyes widened in horror and she knew she wouldn't have time to get away before the creature attacked again. She quickly clasped her hands behind her neck and braced her elbows to make it harder for the werewolf to roll her over, but she realized that Klaus foolishly distracted the monster by slamming into it with his entire body.
"Damn it, Klaus," she cursed, worry straining her voice as she watched him awkwardly grapple with the werewolf. His movements were too unfocused for her to get another clear shot at the creature, and her heart sank as she saw that Klaus wouldn't be able to keep the beast's snapping jaws away from him much longer.
Gripping her knife still slick with the werewolf's blood, she raced forward, knocking Klaus safely to the side as she ducked underneath the beast's forelegs to deliver a punishing blow to its lower belly. She'd barely slid in her knife a third time when the werewolf caught her shoulder between its teeth. She couldn't help the gasp of pain that escaped as the creature dug its fangs into the same patch of flesh it had previously clawed. It bit her. She couldn't stop to think about what that might mean. She watched in confusion as the beast narrowed its dark eyes, oddly breathing her in. Why was it smelling her?
A shot rang out, the bullet ricocheting wildly off of the metal casing of an overhead light. Klaus tried to shoot the werewolf. Lousy aim, but she appreciated the effort. It distracted the beast long enough for her to unclip a grenade from her tactical belt. A specially designed multi-purpose hand grenade, she flipped the lever to a fragmentation rather than a concussive blast to cause more damage.
The moment she threw the grenade at the werewolf, Klaus raced toward her, pulling her with him as they fled the narrow corridor to try to escape the blast. They had just reached the air duct when the walls shuddered from the grenade going off. They coughed as dust from the cracked walls choked the air, freezing when they heard the terrifying roar of the enraged creature.
Caroline used the corner of a metal cart to spring forward, knocking out the vent with one punch from her uninjured shoulder. "Move, Klaus," she hissed at him, keeping a lookout for the creature. He valiantly tried to mimic her fluid vault maneuver, but ended up struggling to pull his lower half into the air duct. She quickly shoved his legs up, her heart speeding up as she heard the telltale scratching noises of the werewolf's claws as it drew closer.
Ignoring the painful ache of her shoulder, she repeated her move, springing forward to grasp the rough edges of the duct and neatly rolled herself inside. Sandwiched next to Klaus, they tried to control their labored breathing as they heard the werewolf enter their corridor, its low, threatening growl sending a chill down their spines as they waited to be discovered. Everything felt heightened in the air duct — her blood drying to a sticky mess, the painful throb of her torn skin and muscle, Klaus' labored breathing, the strength of his hand as he gripped hers tightly.
Turning her head, she was startled by how close he was, and she instantly was pulled into the intensity of his gaze. While his fear was apparent, she admired the steel she found there, and the way he set his jaw determinedly. He was a fighter.
The lumbering creature's movements echoed down the corridor as it searched for them. The scraping of its claws against the concrete floor made them both wince slightly, but they maintained rigid control as they silently lay beside each other. While her vision was blocked by the steep pitch of the air duct, she listened carefully to the werewolf's movements and realized that the noises were fainter — it was moving away from them.
They stayed where they were, weighing each moment of silence to determine if it was safe to continue their journey. Her sweaty skin now felt cold and clammy, and she shivered slightly. Klaus' handsome face contorted in concern as he gingerly ran his hands along her bare arms, clearly searching for other wounds. When he realized her shoulder was still bleeding slightly, he tore off the edge of his shirttail and bound her wound.
"Thanks," she whispered, "You saved me a couple of times back there. Stupid, but brave," she muttered.
Flushing slightly, Klaus replied, "It's only fair; you saved me right back, love." Hand shaking slightly, he brushed aside several blonde strands that had escaped from her braid. "Sweetheart, you shot, stabbed and wrestled a bloody werewolf to defend me. I owe you my life."
The sincerity in his voice touched her. Swallowing the lump that suddenly appeared in her throat, Caroline lightly scoffed, "Yeah and the werewolf is still out there. We have to figure out how to stop these things."
"We will. The science is in front of us, just waiting to be recognized," he answered forcefully.
Squeezing his hand, she smiled gently. "I like your confidence. Now, let's go save Matt and then prove you right."
The rest of their journey through the air duct was mercifully uneventful, and they arrived outside the control room without another werewolf sighting. Caroline started to remove the large vent cover for them to gain access to the room when she heard Katherine hiss, "Goddamn it, Alaric — I get that your crippling insecurities demand you hit on women half your age, but if you hit me with one more lame-ass pickup line, I will skin your wrinkled, leathery ass and turn it into boots just so I can stomp on you all fucking day."