A/N: Sorry to all of you who have already read this. There were some typos and formatting things that were driving me crazy so I'm re-uploading the same chapter. Also, I may have revamped the Klaus scene a little bit, but nothing serious. Just some wording.
"So, how exactly do you plan on fixing this?"
That was the last thing Caroline wanted to hear. Enzo talking. Having sat in her tiny Ford Fiesta with him for nearly three hours now with nothing but bad radio stations and her thoughts, the presence of someone else was grating on her nerves. The highway was nearly empty so instead of channeling her energy on road rage all Caroline's thoughts wandered to was how was she going to fix this? Or what about if Tom was really there, then what? How could she kill him? And the ever looming question she didn't want to consider. What if she was wrong? How could she explain herself to a Klaus so insistent on loving her? A Klaus so sure of his future involved her when Caroline didn't even know what she was going to do once they got to New Orleans?
When night had fallen, she'd settled on the fact that she did not know and didn't want to think about it anymore. And she wasn't going to tell Enzo, or anyone else for that matter. She wasn't a dumb blonde, she knew what occasions would implicate her as such and how to avoid them. This happened to be one of them.
"You haven't got a clue, have you?" Enzo mused, throwing his head back in delight.
"No! What?" Caroline exclaimed. "I have a plan," she grated out in affirmation. "One I'm going to tell you about when we get there."
"All right," Enzo settled, not believing a word she'd said. "What can you tell me now?" He was met with silence and Caroline tightening her hands on the wheel. "How about Klaus?" White knuckles. "How's that fellow become a hybrid?"
"You really except me to believe that you don't know?" she scoffed, her hands relaxing as she shot him a disbelieving look.
"Well I have been locked in a cage for 70 years," Enzo replied, "have I forgotten to mention that?"
"Okay, all right," Caroline sighed, there wasn't exactly a newsletter that went out to everyone when it happened. "He's actually the son of a werewolf. So when he was turned into a vampire his mom, the Original witch, made his wolf side dormant or something. He came to Mystic Falls a few years ago and broke the curse. Now he's a hybrid."
"And what exactly does the doppleganger have to do with any of this?"
"Doppelgangers," Caroline corrected. "Klaus can make Hybrids with the blood of the doppleganger. But we thought it was just Elena's blood he needed. When she was human."
"And now that Stefan has got another, missing, doppleganger and you have a penchant for identifying Klaus's blood we don't know if he's making more hybrids, do we?"
She dismissed his mention of Klaus' blood and simply nodded. The less she baited him the smoother their trip would go. "When we get there and if there are hybrids, don't get bit. Their bites have werewolf venom."
"Deceiving creatures," Enzo nodded. "How fun." There was the briefest of pauses before Enzo attacked the elephant in the room. "Now, what's this about you sleeping with Klaus?"
If it weren't for her vampire abilities Caroline knew she would have definitely, accidentally, veered off the road in shock. "You can't just ask someone that!" she chided. "In case you don't remember, we're not exactly friends!" Yet deep down Caroline cursed herself for not seeing it coming. She'd gotten it from everyone else, why not Enzo too?
"Yes about that, you've already stated your disinterest. But why can't we be friends?"
"You're Damon's friend!" she cried. "A friend of Damon's is not a friend of mine."
"Isn't your best friend sleeping with Damon?"
Caroline was practically seething with annoyance. Who did he think he was? Just waltzing into Mystic Falls and assuming he could know anything about any of their lives? "For your information, Elena is having an ongoing issue with her poor lapse in judgment that I am praying to whatever Gods are out there will be reversed in due time."
"Yes, time," Enzo entertained. "Because time is such a finite thing to us vampires."
"Whatever," Caroline dismissed. "She'll come to her senses eventually."
"What have you got against Damon anyway?" Enzo asked, wondering what his friend had done to the blonde to not deserve her friendship.
"Damon is not one of the good guys. Elena deserves so much better than him, okay?"
"I don't think he's one of the bad guys," Enzo pondered for a moment. "If there were such a thing, that is. Though he did leave me locked in a cage of a burning room, dooming me to be the Augustine vampire for another 50 years."
"See!" Caroline exclaimed. "Not a good guy."
"No," Enzo replied, his voice gentler. "He turned it off."
"That's not an excuse. It never is."
"You can't hold vampires accountable for what they do with their humanity off."
Caroline thought about that for a moment. In a way, yeah, Enzo was right. She never held Elena accountable for what she did while her flip was switched. She even stole her prom dress, but Caroline had forgiven that. And Stefan? He flipped his switch and left Mystic Falls for a joyride across country with Klaus and Caroline had forgiven that. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't forgive, or ever forget, what Damon had done to her; how he's took all her control away, how he toyed with her, how he treated her like a pawn. The worst part is not knowing, to this day, if his switch was flipped or not.
"But enough about Damon," Enzo declared, deciding the conversation about his friend was over by the look on Caroline's face. "You still haven't answered my question. If you don't want to answer it," Enzo shrugged, "I can imagine a few scenarios. Compulsion?"
Though she was grateful Enzo forced her to drop her train of thought about Damon, she wasn't ready to pick up the one about Klaus just yet. Instead, she absorbed what he said and sent him a heated glare she hoped told him she had enough. But Enzo didn't stop talking. "No, no, of course not. How about a little blonde distraction gone too far? You seem like you could play the part well."
"All right enough!" Caroline snapped. There was no way in hell she was about to tell Enzo that Klaus was probably in love with her and she had no clue how she was supposed to deal with that knowledge when waltzing into the town he's probably made home by now. So she fibbed. What's the worst that could happen? Yeah, it could come back and bite her in the ass. But it only could, it was not a definite would. "He had an infatuation with me. We got it out of our system. End of story."
"Infatuation?" Enzo asked, eyebrows raised. "Now I've never met the man but I can't imagine an Original having a simple infatuation with you. Actually, I can't imagine anyone having a simple infatuation with you."
"I may be younger than you, but I will still kill you." It was an empty threat of course, she just needed him to stop hinting at the fact that she might be the only reason he's still on this mission.
"Now, I don't think you have the heart to," Enzo explained.
Clearly offended, Caroline asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"This mission, Caroline."
Caroline paused, not quite sure what he was implying anymore. She was here, wasn't she? "You're gonna have to say more than two words. I mean what? You don't think I'm up for this?"
"'This' being the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man? You can hardly say the word. How do you expect to actually do it?"
And that incited a fire in her Caroline never let burn out. No one told her what she could and couldn't do. No one. "I'm sorry, is this all supposed to be easy?" she asked incredulously. "You barely know me, so let me reintroduce myself. Hi, my name is Caroline Forbes and I am a good vampire, and I don't just go around killing people!"
"You've got me all wrong," Enzo sighed, shaking his head the slightest bit. "I'm not judging you. I'm preparing you." Caroline scoffed at that but let Enzo continue. "I've seen soldiers, men trained to kill, look their enemy in the eye and freeze up on the battlefield – a hesitation that usually costs them their lives."
She hated the way he was looking at her, like he knew this was some sort of twisted lesson she needed to learn. Like he'd seen the whole world and she had yet to see it. It reminded her of how Klaus looked at her. Except the chills that went up her spine with Enzo were from disconcert "Well, last time I checked, this isn't war and I'm not a soldier, but Stefan is one of the best people that I know and when it comes to saving his life, yes, I will do just about anything for him." She hoped she had said it in such affirmation that Enzo would back off. She'd been in such a confined space with him for long enough, and they were hardly done with their drive, that if he didn't stop talking soon she might even consider snapping his neck.
Somewhere along the way the conversation did finally stop and Caroline's gas light flashed on. They stopped off at a filling station where Enzo grabbed a quick snack from a compelled patron while Caroline waited patiently for the tank to fill, trying hard not to roll her eyes and silently praying whoever it was lived.
It was time for them to switch off drivers. Even though Caroline had no desire to let Enzo drive her car, or really put her safety in his hands and driving abilities (because really, he lived in confinement for 70 years, that's 70 years without driving practice), but Caroline was too tired and too hungry to get behind the wheel again. Her body would probably damage the car more than it would damage her in the case of an accident. She'd take her chances.
A blood bag later they were back on the highway. Enzo's driving abilities weren't as awful as Caroline had been expecting. Though the silence between them was occasionally stifling, she tried her best to nap over Enzo's humming 40's show tunes. "You're so old," she grumbled while readjusting her coat turned make shift pillow against the cool window.
"That's a compliment to us vampires you know," Enzo smiled, before continuing his humming and tapping his fingers against the wheel. Though Caroline classified him under pain in the ass, and she would have preferred doing this trip alone, she couldn't help but think he didn't make an awful companion.
Klaus had a dungeon. Much to Elijah's chagrin. He preferred the term basement or even cellar but his brother couldn't help but smile and remind Elijah that every King needed a dungeon. When Klaus had finally weeded out Marcel's informant from his own group of nightwalkers, he knew it was high time to put his dungeon to good use.
It originally was a cellar, a large one at that. Klaus had fitted the stone walls with manacles for any number of its uses. Now, a very bloody, very battered, and very young vampire hung from them, arms high above his head, and dried blood stuck to his torso in a rather horrific sight. "It's a pity really, and a gift, that vampires heal so quickly," Klaus thought aloud. "There are, of course, an endless number of ways to get information out of you but there are no real lasting effects," he sighed, running his finger over a blade covered in blood. The last of the vervain was nearly out of him, Klaus could tell by the way the skin on his finger only barely burned against the bloody blade.
Eyeing his handiwork, there were two stakes stabbed into his prisoner's upright forearms, Klaus sighed at the mess his blood was making. The cellar would no doubt have to be completely washed out. Bouncing quickly on the balls of his feet, he thought he may need a new pair of shoes now also. Torture was such tricky business.
"No matter, let's try again shall we?" Stepping forward with a smirk on his face Klaus watched as the vampire, whose name he can't quite remember at the moment-Robbie? Richard? Rowland? Rowland-squirmed and pulled helplessly at his restraints. Futile task, Klaus noted, it only prolonged the pain from his stakes. "Rowland. Where's Marcel compound?"
"I told you," he gasped, "I don't know." While vampires don't become exhausted in the same way humans do regenerating took energy, energy derived from blood. And since most of Rowland's blood was on the floor, though he hadn't quite desiccated, his body was functioning much slower than usual. And while he didn't need to breathe, he needed to breathe to speak or Klaus would puncture his lungs, again.
A blade struck his abdomen once again, slicing right through his liver and trailing off as a flesh wound in one quick flick. Crying out, Rowland gritted his teeth and braced himself from the pain that accompanied an organ's re-growth. The loss of blood made the process much slower than usual and much more painful as his liver drew all the blood left in his to that one spot just to regenerate.
"Now mate," Klaus sighed, stepping forward into his personal space. Blood and saliva covered Rowland's round, boyish face. No doubt he'd been turned fresh out of high school. His breath came out in wet pants as he avoided Klaus' deadly gaze. "You're making this all very difficult for yourself," he emphasized by sticking his blade into Rowland's chest, a mere centimeter from his heart. "Just tell me before I'm forced to compel you and I might just let you live."
Rowland couldn't help but laugh at that before gasping in pain. The blade was so close. He was young but he knew he was already dead, at Klaus' hands or Marcel's. "I told you, I don't know! He meets us in random places! It's never the same place twice."
"What is he planning?" Klaus demanded, twisting the blade ever closer to his heart. The answer to that question was the only one he cared for. He had an idea of where Marcel's compound was, the heart of his whole scheme, but it seemed foolish to have a prisoner and not take advantage of it.
Rowland cried out; spit flying from his mouth as he tried desperately to gasp for breath. "I don't know, I don't know; oh my God please don't kill me. I really don't know," he breathed out in quick succession. Klaus could smell the fear emanating off of his skin. It made him smile. Fear never ceased to thrill him. He's quite certain it never will.
Begging for his life, Klaus thought Rowland to be pathetic. Marcel never did choose his men wisely. And so Klaus compelled him, waiting to hear the truth. But alas, he received the same story. "He said he's not afraid of you. That he's not hiding. Just waiting for the right moment," Rowland relayed to him, monotone and blissfully unaware that he was mere centimeters away from death.
"Brother," came a cultured voice behind Klaus. It seemed nearly out of place what with the dungeon and Klaus covered in blood, none his own of course. "I think that's all our prisoner has to tell you."
"Elijah," Klaus sighed, pulling the blade from Rowland to wait for his torso to restore itself. "Must you always interrupt my fun?"
"Interrogating a spy is hardly fun."
"Well if it wasn't, I'd have let you do it brother," Klaus grinned, wiping down his blade one final time. At that very moment, Klaus was a sight to see. Blood was smeared across his face and dried into his beard. Splattered across his Henley, it looked like Klaus' torso had walked through a blood shower. His well tailored jeans too dark to show any telling signs of damage, but if Elijah knew anything about his brother blood would be splattered across his jeans the way paint is on a painters. "Don't worry Elijah, I'm all done. Simply contemplating what to do with him now." Despite the grotesque scene playing out before him, Klaus was ever calm, not even a hint of crazy danced across his eyes.
"What is there to contemplate? We have no use for him, he clearly knows nothing. Kill him."
"And you always wonder why Rebekah and I call you the bore."
Elijah rolled his eyes at his brother. "Whatever tactic you'd like to employ this time, do it soon. We have more pressing matters to handle."
"Oh but brother," Klaus smiled, "he's only just begun to beg." Behind him Rowland sucked in a harsh breath, refraining from whimpering. But Klaus heard his heartbeat speed up and couldn't hide his smile.
"If this prisoner is a flea you are so inclined to scratch, do so and rid yourself of it," Elijah advised, hands stuffed into his perfectly tailored suit pants. Though the night was ending, not a hair on Elijah's head was out of place. Always the perfectly put together Original.
"All right, all right," Klaus conceded after having finally decided how to dispose of his captive. "Now, Rowland," Klaus began his compulsion. "Return to Marcel, tell him of our little chat just now. Remind him I take no prisoners nor offer pardons. And then rip your heart out right in front of him." As Rowland came back to himself, he was startled, terrified, that he had to kill himself. But he said nothing, only collapsing into quiet sobs.
Klaus smiled at the fear on his face before turning back to a waiting Elijah. "I take it you can handle the clean up than?"
"Who else cleans up your messes?"
"Certainly not Rebekah," Klaus mused. "She can hardly clean up her own. Did you see the one she found today? He will surely be messy."
"I can hear you arseholes," Rebekah growled from stories above them. Elijah couldn't help but smile at the pleased expression Klaus wore.
Entering New Orleans, Caroline awoke with a start. It was late and nothing but darkness surrounded the road they were on. "Where are we?" she asked, her throat croaking in protest.
"Oh good, you're awake. I was beginning to wonder if I'd have to pick the dodgy motel to stay the night in myself."
"That's not an answer to my question," she groaned, stretching her stiff neck. "My God you can't see anything but the road."
"Interstate 10, we're driving over Lake Pontchartrain. You're bloody GPS keeps mumbling something about a Bayou, won't shut up about it."
Leaning forward, Caroline glanced at the sat nav and confirmed that they were to drive through the Bayou into the city. "It's just telling you what to expect next."
"Well tell it to stop," Enzo stated, clearly not well acclimated with the technology this century came with.
Sighing, Caroline leaned forward and pressed a few buttons on the dashboard to quit Enzo's whining. "Happy?"
"Very. Now where to stop?"
"I don't care, first motel you see. The blood bags need a fridge."
"As you wish," Enzo smiled to himself.
And they continued to drive, past the lake and into what Caroline know knew was the Bayou. If she wasn't a creature of the night, the darkness that engulfed them the moment the lake ended and the Bayou began would have given her some serious heebie jeebies. Looking out the window, Caroline couldn't help but feel disconcerted by the enveloping darkness contrasted starkly against the night sky.
Maybe she was just tired or the car was going too fast or anything really, but Caroline swore she saw something, or even someone, in the woods. Not wanting to alert Enzo because really, she just woke up, it could all just be in her head. Narrowing her ears outwards, she tried her hardest to hear anything in the woods, snapped twigs, feet, heavy breathing. Over the noise of her engine and the crinkle of rubber on tar, it was hard to make out much. But she didn't hear a human heart as far out as her hearing took her and she left it at that, simply noting the Bayou was a place to stay out of by sheer instinct.
It felt like forever before street lights dotted the side of the roadway once again. Enzo took a few turns as if he knew these roads like the back of his hands. "Have you been here before?" Caroline asked, puzzled.
"Once or twice over the years," Enzo responded. "Enough to know the perfect bar for a night cap."
"Motel first, please," Caroline sighed, trying her best to ignore that knot she felt growing in her stomach. The deeper into the city they went, the tighter the knot pulled. "Why are we getting so close?" She was perfectly fine with, exactly she might have even preferred, to stay on the outskirts of town.
"Nightcap," Enzo answered, shooting her a short smile to which Caroline scoffed. "And strategy."
"There's strategy involved in waltzing into the city probably ruled by the Original family and demanding the doppelganger they may have taken. Who knew?"
"Now, now, hear me out," Enzo placated. "We can't be too far out. I'm sure you'd like that but we can't be seen directly in the middle of it all either."
"Let me guess, you know just the place."
"Of course," he replied, turning right and crossing a bridge. "We stay out of the Quarter and get a feel for things."
"The Quarter?"
"The French Quarter, it's the heart of New Orleans."
"Okay," Caroline said, digesting the information and filing it away. She thought vaguely that she should have a good look at a map of the city before they venture out tomorrow, commit it to memory. "That was always the plan, just, you know, further away," Caroline grumbled, pushing her own thoughts away and refusing to argue. It was hardly midnight, and though she knew she should go straight to the motel, shower, and rest up, Caroline felt like she desperately needed a drink. All this contemplation about the Klaus situation and having Enzo around needed to be soothed with some liquid therapy of the intoxicating variety. Plus, her limbs had been cramped in a car for way too long; walking to a bar would be the perfect opportunity to stretch. She repeated this logic to herself while checking into their motel and squashed that sliver of excitement that escaped the knot in her stomach. She was in New Orleans, Klaus' favorite city, and she was on a mission to save her friend. She had to keep reminding herself of that last bit.
"Shall we?" Leaning against her doorframe, Enzo waited patiently for Caroline to grab her phone. With a fleeting thought she reached into her duffle and pulled out two small vials of vervain she'd packed. Tossing one to Enzo, she gulped down the liquid, ignoring the burn, before passing him on her way out the door. "Always prepared."
"We still don't know what we're walking into. I'm not getting compelled. I just want a drink and a lay of the land. We can deal with the rest tomorrow." Caroline was determined. This mission was going to be as cut and dry as possible. She'd make sure of it. All she had to do was fish out if there were hybrids in the city, find Tom, get him out of there, and not get caught. Simple. Sighing internally, she also knew she was so screwed.
Pushing that all away for now, she focused on the road they were on now. This bar Enzo spoke so highly of wasn't far. They had forgone the car and walked. Though neither of them said a word, Caroline's mind kept wandering back to Enzo and his presence. Eventually she couldn't even enjoy the architecture that surrounded her. She had to ask. "Why are you still here?" He seemed taken aback, as if this had been established already.
And he took the humorous route while answering, Caroline could tell. "I couldn't let you walk into the lion's den by yourself."
She tried so hard not to scoff. "This isn't about me," she said, her voice deflated. "Why are you still here Enzo?"
"Look," he started, standing up a little taller. "The Travelers saved my life, let me just finish this up here so I'm no longer indebted to them."
Caroline wanted to say something more but they had arrived. Pausing before the entrance to the bar, Enzo held the door open for her and Caroline realized there were things about Enzo she'd never understand. And while he was her companion on this mission, he wasn't exactly on her side. Stefan had said Tom was good, requested she not kill him. She'd let Enzo think what he wants but she knew she wasn't in New Orleans to take Tom's life. For some reason, she was beginning to see that's all Enzo wanted. So yes, he was her companion for the moment. But no, she didn't want to know anything about him, especially his reason for being so willing to take Tom's life.
The bar they walked into was raucous, gritty, and teeming with life. She felt entirely out of place until she heard the irregular heartbeats surrounding her. Few in the room were human. The ones that were seemed blissfully unaware of the supernatural creatures amongst them. Enzo headed straight for the bar and ordered Bourbon. It wasn't Caroline's poison of choice but with the day she'd had, she'd take it.
"What are you going to do when you see him?" Enzo inquired over his glass of whiskey before taking a generous gulp and dropping it back down on the sticky bar. He signaled for more before turning his full attention back to Caroline.
"I'll figure it out when it happens," she sighed before taking a gulp. It should have troubled her that she understood who he meant immediately. But it didn't. Who else would she be dreading to see? "If it happens," she decided to amend.
"Come on now, you really think you could avoid him?"
"I could try," she replied before throwing back the rest of her drink.
Their conversation ended abruptly when the bar door was thrown open and in rushed another group of vampires. To the humans, they looked like a group of rowdy boys looking for a good time. But Caroline saw the way their eyes narrowed, the way their shoulders straightened. They walked like they owned the place, or least the head of their group did. He had those broad football shoulders Caroline remembered so well from her cheerleading days, how she used to find that attractive.
Before she could zero in on any of their heartbeats, she and Enzo were confronted with a man with the whitest teeth and biggest smile Caroline had ever seen. And the most charismatic. And that already spelled trouble. "You guys must be new in town," he greeted. Leaning forward the slightest bit, he dropped his voice an octave. "I'm Marcel, I know all the vampires around here."
Caroline could see Enzo give Marcel the same once over she did. It was impossible to see vampire years but from the drawl in his voice, Caroline would guess he wasn't from this century. "Enzo," he stuck his hand out, figuring Marcel harmless enough.
Following suit, Caroline stuck her hand out, palm down, and flashed Marcel the smile she'd perfected from cheerleading and Miss Mystic Falls. "I'm Caroline, nice to meet you."
"Well Caroline," he smiled, grabbing hold of her hand and bringing it to his lips for a quick kiss. "Welcome to New Orleans."
She feigned a blush and flirty smile when really all she wanted to do was rip her hand away and sanitize it ten ways to Sunday. But Caroline was a planner and right now she hadn't expected running into locals. On the fly she decided she should appear as harmless as possible. The less everyone knew about their mission the better and smoother it would run.
Before anyone could say anything else, the leader of the pack of vampires that had just walked in came up next to Marcel and clapped him on his back. And that was the moment Caroline cursed herself for not being more aware, not listening to this mysterious group while meeting this incredibly happy stranger.
"Well, well, Marcel," he sang. "Klaus seems to think you're hiding. I'll be sure to let him know you're not as much of a coward as we thought you were."
Caroline had to visibly pause in order to not react at his name. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Enzo had noticed and hoped this new arrival to the conversation hadn't noticed and distracted Marcel well enough.
"Hello Elliot," Marcel sighed in greeting. Caroline was acutely aware of their body language now, attempting to assess friend or foe. So far she was at foe. Very much foes. "Doing Klaus' bidding I assume."
"Not really, just enjoying a drink," Elliot shrugged. At that moment the bartender decided to hand him his beer. Caroline couldn't help but notice his carefree confidence rolling off his shoulders. It bordered so close to arrogance she wasn't even sure if the line was there anymore. "And you know, just making sure there aren't any signs of mutiny in any corner of his kingdom."
Unable to help it, Caroline's eyebrows shot up to her forehead. Of course he'd call it his Kingdom, she thought. "I wouldn't be so quick to call it his kingdom, Elliot," Marcel stated, cutting off Caroline's train of thought and starting a new one. "We're at a bit of a stalemate."
"All right mate," Elliot chuckled, clearly mocking him. "Call it what you want."
"But never mind all that, I'm sure you guys don't want to hear about the issues us locals have," Marcel chuckled, brushing it all off and redirecting the conversation back to Caroline and Enzo. But it was too late; Enzo and Caroline were on high alert and made a great effort to hide it.
"Where are my manners? I'm Elliot," he finally greeted, his hand outstretched. "Welcome to New Orleans."
Being closest, Caroline took his hand first, flashing him yet another one of her smiles. "Caroline," she said, her smile faltering the slightest when she felt the warmth of his skin. A split second later she'd zeroed in on his heartbeat. It was steady but thrummed with a sense of life hers never could all the while beating exactly as her own undead heart did. Hybrid. She didn't know why she didn't notice it before. The blood drained from her face but she kept her composure nonetheless. Elliot was a wildcard, Marcel was Klaus' enemy, Enzo's intentions did not match her own, and now was not the time to forget that she was a drama major.
"So what brings you guys to town?" Marcel inquired, probably trying to assess friend or foe as Caroline had done between him and Elliot earlier.
She was in no mood for conversation at that point. She needed to be alone so she could plan, with color coordinated note cards and a big chart, maybe even a pro/con list so she could decide what the hell it was she was supposed to do here. So much new information hit her in the past minute alone; she didn't know how she was supposed to carry this charade any longer. Instinctively, her flight or fight response was kicking in and she was seconds away from flight.
"Just passing through," Enzo replied, inconspicuously eyeing Caroline carefully.
"Well I gotta let you guys know," Elliot said, "before you guys hit the hay wherever you're staying, the big guy, Klaus, he's gotta meet you."
"They look like they just rolled into town, let them rest up first," Marcel interjected. Under his concern Caroline could see a smugness in his eyes, like he wanted to defy Elliot or keep them away from Klaus. Or maybe he wanted to appear compassionate. Whatever the reason, Caroline was not buying it.
While Caroline-on-a-mission wanted to agree because she needed to gather her thoughts and figure out what the hell she'd even say to the hybrid first, she knew Caroline-who-could-flirt-her-way-in-and-out-of-anything needed to seem like she didn't mind, completely indifferent to whoever this Klaus guy was.
"Well I'm done here. Caroline?" Enzo asked, dropping his empty glass on the counter with a few stray bills, implying he didn't mind meeting Klaus now.
She wanted to shoot him a dirty glare because he knew. He knew how much Caroline didn't want to face Klaus though he never said it. Yet she refrained. There was only a moment's hesitation before Caroline forced a smile and agreed. "Just let me go freshen up really quick." Slipping away, Caroline found herself in a dirty bathroom that smelled so awful she had to hold her breath, not that that did any harm to her. It did however help her slow down her heart rate because the moment she walked away from the group she couldn't believe the mess she'd gotten herself into. And she'd been in the city barely an hour. This already seems like an awful idea, Caroline thought to herself while side stepping toilet paper on the floor.
Pulling out her phone, she did the only thing she could think of. She texted Enzo.
C: What are you thinking? He's a hybrid!
It took hardly a second before she got her reply.
E: I've gathered
E: Time to put your wits to use blondie
Blowing out a breath of air, Caroline could not believe her luck today. Stepping in front of the grimy mirror, she did actually freshen up because no one likes a gross vampire. Her hair was frizzy, and while her makeup was always intact now (hello vampirism), she really wish she could have redone it, and she smelled like her car. If she was going to waltz into Klaus's "kingdom" she was going to have to look pretty damn cute to get what she wanted. But none of these things could be helped now.
Taking one last deep breath, Caroline steeled herself for what was to come next before exiting the bathroom. Stepping back through the bar, she found Marcel was missing and she was sure it had to do with meeting Klaus. "Ready?" Elliot had asked, dropping a bill on the counter for his beer.
No, not at all, Caroline thought, but instead smiled and gestured ahead, "Lead the way."
A/N Well this chapter is a monster, my apologies. But wow, guys, I'm sooo beyond overwhelmed at the response the first chapter got. Like seriously, thank you so much for enjoying my little hobby and I really hope I don't let any of you down in any sort of way. But just a disclaimer, there is that little chunk of conversation between Caroline and Enzo that belongs entirely to the CW, I just really liked it, it kinda helps define their relationship. Also, I'm still getting the hang of Enzo, I hope he's not too OOC for you all cause I wrote most of him before the last TVD episode with him in it came out. And I really, really hope you're all getting the vibe that Caroline is SOOO entirely out of her comfort zone here. But please, tell me what you think! And I'm in desperate need of musical inspiration so if any of you have any suggestions, please drop me a line! Other wise I hope you enjoyed!