Hello there! I'm very thankful for all your reviews and alerts! I wanna thank you JaneA0202, Hazel21, thicketof lisses87, and beverlie4055. Really, reading the few reviews I got is awesome. I'm not really a good storyteller but I hope you picture out what I'm trying to write. Here's the third chapter, enjoy! :)

(3)


(Caroline POV)

I woke up and saw a dark crimson ceiling. I remember I'm not in my room. I'm here in a town far away from Mystic Falls, and far from all the people I care about. Bonnie, Elena and the others are in a dangerous situation back in town and I'm here to look after myself, Tyler, and to keep Klaus from doing any more damage to us all, especially Tyler.

I'm in a stranger's house living with the one who caused all these trouble. And I will have to stay for a while with him. I still cannot believe all of these are happening.

I sigh and saw the wall clock. It's already late in the morning. I realized I slept in. Yesterday was a very tiring day as I drove straight from Mystic Falls up to here, without stopping. And now it's time to get busy and keep my head off all the worries. But I have to keep my guard up at all times since I'll be dealing with the original hybrid in every second of the day.

I got up and looked out the window and felt my heart when I saw Tyler…. no wait, it's not Tyler. It's Klaus. I need to always remind myself about that. He's talking to a man just across the street. The man's wearing overalls. He seems like a resident of this town.

"Alright then, my shop is just around the corner, you may go visit if you need some help. I'll be going. Good luck." I heard the man speak to Ty…Klaus.

"That would be really fantastic, thank you again. Have a good day sir." And that was Klaus. The man walked away and I saw Klaus turned to his back and looked straight at my window. Our eyes locked and I decided to go down and ask what he's up to. I changed into a pair of jeans and shirt and went straight down.


Klaus is at the porch when the door opens for Caroline to get out. Both stopped upon seeing each other. Caroline folded her arms. Klaus smiled and opened his mouth to speak but Caroline got to speak first. "What was that about?" Caroline asked Klaus.

Klaus raised his eyebrows. Breathing out a wider smile, he looked down first before turning to her face said "And Good Morning to you too, Caroline. I understand you're a bit tired since you won't let me drive yesterday. I, uh, made some arrangements early this morning to begin this whole housekeeping thing. I've walked around the house already and it seems acceptable enough for me to stay for a while. A little housework is fine with me and I figured I could make some renovations in some areas here. You see, if I'm going live in a place just to spend my time waiting, I prefer to live comfortably. Especially when I live with someone I fancy but apparently hates me in return."

Caroline scoffs and rolled her eyes. She looked at Klaus and asked. "So what were you doing?"

"I got a little help. That man I was talking to is a building contractor. He offered me some help. But I have to decline it since I've already got all what I needed for the moment. The garden's almost done now, I think." Klaus smirked.

Caroline's eyebrows met and walked out the porch to take a look at that bushy area she saw last night just beside the house. What she saw is not anymore that unkempt piece of land. What she saw is indeed what looked like a pretty garden, with lovely flowers, a swing, a small fountain, trees, a table and chairs perfect for some afternoon coffee or tea, plus a number of people with smudges of soil on their faces while they go around making the garden prettier.

Caroline felt Klaus just behind her and turned to face him. "What in… you compelled them to do all of these? We're in a different town now, can you stop compelling the people here and leave them be? I know the caretaking job is just a trivial task for us but I can make this house good enough for you as long as you just sit inside and do nothing." Caroline stared at Klaus.

Klaus looked at her and said "Well sweetheart first of all, you are, again, making assumptions." He turned at the people working in the garden. He sighed and continued to talk. "They're not compelled. They, in fact, find some pleasure when they do what I humbly ask of them even when I'm not really looking in their eyes. Surely they look familiar to you in any way?"

Caroline turned to look at the faces of the garden workers. "They're hybrids… from Mystic Falls" She whispered. She turned to look at Klaus again and asked. "Why did you bring them here? Just to do all these work for you?"

Klaus stared at Caroline. "With that purpose, I would rather have them stay at Mystic Falls to keep a lookout on whatever's happening there, especially with my body being 'hostaged' by your good friend Bonnie. Well at least that's what I thought."

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Caroline is confused.

"One of my loyal witches sent me a message late last night that my body is at the moment safely secured by my brother Elijah somewhere outside Mystic Falls. Don't get me wrong, your friend Bonnie consented it. In fact, she's with my brother, still working on reviving my body."

Caroline doesn't seem to like what he's trying to say.

"About my friends here working…" Klaus walked nearer towards the garden, away from Caroline, keeping some good distance from each other. He turned around to face her and continued to talk. "It seems the presence of both vampires and hybrids in Mystic Falls is somewhat, I'm not going to say 'dangerous' for them since hybrids are powerful, invincible creatures, but I can't really take the risk of having unnecessary decrease of number from my hybrids, taking in consideration the lack of a doppelganger."

Klaus paused as he watches Caroline taking in what he's trying to tell her. Caroline was absently staring at Klaus while she was listening. Klaus didn't fail to notice how her face has changed from being aggressive to being confused and now to being worried. "You see, things are getting serious back in your town. You, uh, might want to catch up with your friends?"

Without a word, Caroline turned around to get back in the house.


(Caroline POV)

What is happening? Has the council become too powerful against the vampires in just one day? And why's Bonnie with Elijah?" Elena, Matt, Jeremy, Stefan… what's happening to them? And mom…

I sped up to my room and took my cellphone. 13 missed calls. From Bonnie, Stefan and Matt. The last was early this morning. I must be really exhausted. But what the hell is happening?

I dialed up Bonnie's number. Her phone's ringing but no one's answering. Same's happening with Elena. Matt's phone can't be reached. I dialed up Stefan's and after three rings someone answered finally.

"Caroline" I heard Stefan's voice.

"Finally! Klaus has brought his hybrids here. And what's going on with Bonnie? How's Elena? What's happening?" I asked him.

"Calm down Caroline, everything's fine. Yesterday and last night got a little out of hand but everything's okay now. We're still here in the cabin in the forest. The council has tried to break in our house but of course they didn't find us there. They went to the Mikaelson's and saw Rebekah. They found out she's a vampire and tried to kill her. Rebekah killed two of them and fled. The council's tracking vampires in town. They also got Jeremy and Matt yesterday. They want them to talk but of course they got nothing from them. They weren't harmed."

"And Bonnie? How's Elena doing? My mom?"

"Bonnie needed to get out of here. Apparently she requires assistance from other witches to revive Klaus's body so Elijah led her to one of Klaus's witches. Elena's doing fine. I and Damon, we're helping her. And your mom…" Stefan paused. Why did he stop talking?

"Stefan?" I heard my voice faltered.

"Your mom and Mayor Lockwood tried to get out of Mystic Falls. The council went after them. But they only got your mom. Mayor Lockwood is with us here. Your mom's in jail. They're telling everyone she committed a crime but of course that's not true. The new sheriff is leading the vampire hunt. I haven't met him yet but maybe I will when I rescue your mom. We have a plan, don't worry about it. Jeremy assured us your mom's safe there and unharmed."

Mom's in jail. I can't think of her being there. I heard Stefan sigh. He continued talking. "About Jeremy, the council made him the Gilbert representative. And I trust that's good for us. Caroline, just keep Klaus close. You being there is helpful. We, uh, might need him in the future. There's something about this new sheriff but I don't know. We're yet to find out."

I got no more to ask Stefan. What he said is overwhelming. Mom's in jail, and there's this new sheriff who's making his moves too quickly. Why is everything happening so fast? I told him to be safe before I said goodbye.


Klaus is sitting on the couch in the living room, reading some newspaper when he heard Caroline going down the stairs. Caroline looked at Klaus and sighed.

Klaus put down the newspaper and stood up. "I heard about your mother."

Caroline walked towards him. "Stefan's going to get her out." She took out a set of keys from her pocket and handed it to Klaus. "Here are your keys."

Klaus took the keys and put it down the coffee table beside him. He looked at Caroline. And sincerely told her "I'm sure Stefan's going to do it without fail."

Caroline looked at him. She may see Tyler but the kind words are from Klaus. Tears began to fall. She's completely snowed under. Everything's falling. She's too concerned about what may happen to her mom, to Elena, Stefan and everyone. She badly wants to be hugged but no one can do that to her now. Not even Klaus in Tyler's body, she won't let it. But then, although she's somehow expecting Klaus to go near her to embrace her, he didn't. But he did go near her.

Klaus cupped her face and looked straight at her eyes. Caroline tried to fight her tears and stared back at Klaus. And he tells her "Caroline, you're strong. You're better than this. I may not be particularly concerned about what's happening in Mystic Falls right now, but I'm sure everything will be fine for you. I'm sure of it. And you should be sure of it as well if you trust others enough."

Caroline's still gazing at Klaus' eyes, and he at hers, while his words rang in her head. At that moment, she's completely convinced this man is not Tyler. Looking at his eyes, she's seeing no one but Klaus only. No one but Klaus. And for the first time since she arrived at this place, she felt stronger, and although she may find it hard to admit, she felt relieved. Just like how she felt just some days ago, at the school corridor with Klaus.

Caroline released her gaze and removed her face gently. She looked down before looking outside the window. She sighs, composes herself, and tells Klaus "Please take your hybrids somewhere. I would like to have something to get busy with."

"Alright" Klaus tells her. "But I hope you won't mind some of them staying here? Maybe, one or two?" Klaus smiled.

Caroline looked at Klaus. "Fine." She says, thinking the hybrids helpful for protection. Suddenly she smelled something nice from the kitchen. "Who's cooking?" She asks.

"About that… you didn't have breakfast and it's almost noon now. One of my friends 'offered' to prepare us some delicious meal. I hope your appetite's ready for lunch?" Klaus asked her charmingly.

"Well, it smells nice and yeah, I'm starving." Caroline tried to smile. After what he said to her, she feels she needs to show him some appreciation. And she's indeed starving.

"Well then shall we?" Klaus widened his smile and laid out his hand to direct her in the dining room.

Both of them head into the dining room.


(Klaus POV)

It went out fine. The lunch was good and we had a fine little chat over that meal. She was still making her sharp remarks but I didn't mind since it was all too amusing for me. It was amusing how she went around telling her set of rules and what needs to be done in this house while we are to live here, as if she's not talking to an indestructible hybrid, who is I; as if she's just talking to some teenage schoolmate she needs to work on something for some event she's planning.

She still doesn't get what I'm trying to tell her about going out and traveling the world. But I know she will, eventually. But then I guess before she gets it I have to wash these stupid dishes. She's saying it's because I made my hybrids work on the garden without telling her. Well, I said fine of course. But then again, my hands are better off painting some nice garden.

"Thalia!" I called on the same hybrid who was made the wonderful lunch for us. Maybe it would be appropriate if she finish the kitchen work she started. Now let's see what Caroline will do if she finds out.


And that's it for the third chapter! I hope the chapter's fine for you for reading!