Caroline came progressively to her senses. She looked around her, completely disorientated. She couldn't say how much time she's been unconscious.
She was quick to look at her finger and sighed in relief: her ring was still there. But she wasn't out of woods quite yet.
What is this place? Where the hell is Klaus?
She found herself lying in a bed, in a room, in an unknown location…
Instead of freaking out, she decided to jump out of bed and started exploring the place.
The floor was covered with old-style parquet. Shades of off-white covered the walls.
She left the room.
In the corridor, entire sections were hidden by nearly a dozen of renaissance paintings and posters of varying sizes and content, mostly expressing political ideas, or taste in art and music.
Klaus' taste.
There were large apartments in each side of the clearway but she didn't get in. She continued searching for a way out.
The young girl climbed down the stairs using her vampire speed even though she felt weak and still a little dizzy.
To her amazement, she ended up in a large room with a fine décor, lightened only by candles. All the walls were made of engraved glass. Only moments later, she saw that Klaus was standing in the frame door, a glass of champagne in his hand.
"On a clear night, you can admire the stars with naked eye from here. No need for telescopes."
She lifted her head, it was a clear night. Such a breath-taking view.
"Now, let's have a drink!" He said, enthusiastic.
Caroline gave him a look full of hatred.
"Ouch!" He mocked.
"Is this one of your sick games? I will not engage in that kind of thing." She sighed of exasperation.
She headed to the door but Klaus stood in her way, preventing her from getting outside.
"Oh come on, don't be such a killjoy, dear. You never let yourself go, do you?"
"Please, don't give me that crap about embracing my true nature because I simply don't care about what you think of me." She responded, faking indifference.
"Truth to be told, your opinion does matter to me, though. Tell me what you think of me."
"I said I'm not playing any of your games."
"Come on, spell it out loud and clear. I want to hear it."
"Why don't we skip the intro and get right to the part where you tell me why you drugged me and brought me in this creepy place."
"I can see that you're really determined to offend me."
He wasn't smiling anymore. She expected an angrier and more impulsive reaction but he remained calm and impassive.
"I'm just a little curious. Why your little friends haven't showed or even called yet, hum?"
"I will not answer this question, Klaus."
"You're right. It's a rhetorical device. If Elena was involved, they would be already, here, bustling around like sick puppies."
She felt annoyed. Especially because, deep down, she knew he was right.
"Or send you instead, to distract me. It's actually very clever. I'm getting very old, I need distractions. Was it your idea, sweetheart? No, I think I know. Damon." He added with an irritated gesture.
She moved backwards cautiously at the sound of his threatening voice.
"You're trying to miss up with my head. Please, stop it."
"I'm trying to make you see obvious dysfunctions in your own relationships since you've been so judgmental about mine."
He gazed at her for a long moment without saying a word. It made her very uncomfortable and nervous.
"I know what this is all about. You feel betrayed but you have no right to be." She finally spoke her mind.
"Oh, don't worry about it, love. I'll get over it. I just need another thousand years to do so."
He smiled but she wasn't a hundred per cent sure he was just teasing her.
She looked at him with desperation in her wide blue eyes and somehow it softened him.
"All right, I'll stop it. No more beating around the bush. Please, sit down. We need to talk."
It could never mean something good when someone tells you the words we need to talk, she thought. But she wanted to know why he brought her here in such mysterious circumstances.
She sat down on the couch, next to him.
He pulled out Rebekah's phone and showed Caroline the video his sister took in the cave where Elena was taken as a hostage.
"There is a way to end all this mess I've created over the centuries. It's written in the cave. The White Oak tree…"
"The one you and your family burned so nothing could ever kill you?"
"No, another one. It's not like they're popping from the ground like mushrooms but the witches, apparently, found a way to replace the old one." He calmly said.
It was a total shock for Caroline. She stared at him wide-eyed.
"When everyone - including myself- was wondering what the hell really brought me in this bloody town… It's been there the whole time, graved in stone. My urge to sire my own super race made me come all the way here to face my real fate. Funny, isn't it?" He added.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I thought that you and your little friends will be glad to know about it."
"You drugged me and brought me to this place to tell me that there is a way to kill you?"
She still couldn't get it.
"First, I brought you here for an entirely different reason. Rebekah and I came out with a plan to use you find the tree, destroy it and then kill all and each of you."
"Why didn't you stick to your plan?" she asked, suspiciously.
"And then live happily ever after?" He scoffed. "It's useless. There will always be a tree or a curse awaiting me around the corner. I convinced Rebekah to take-off and disappear. If she had followed my path, she would have been permanently in great danger."
There was some kind of empathy in her eyes. She was discovering a new dimension in Klaus' personality she couldn't hate.
"My family members… I wanted to get rid of them but still keep them close. In a way, it's how everyone feels about their families but I took it to a very extreme level. So I ended up alone. Again."
He paused then went on in a broken voice.
"You know, I desperately wanted to take you in an amazing journey. Away from all this mess that slipped out of hand. Starting from here, in Eastern Europe where it all started. I built this house, centuries ago; it's the closest thing for me to home. But here I am, as lonely as ever, dragging you here without your consent, otherwise you never would've let me."
She realized it was his first real confession to her. It sounded very strange and intense coming out of his mouth.
As he spoke, she wasn't sure where he would have gone next with his confessions. But she was completely captivated. She felt his pain for the very first time.
"I will not bore you with the details of my existential problems, any longer. If I am astray, I only stray to the loss of my own soul..."
"You're going through a millennium crisis or something? What happens to your little secret? Your great cities and art; and music? The whole world waiting, the genuine beauty?" she finally asked, disconcerted.
A mysterious smile covered his doleful face at the echo of his own words rephrased by Caroline. The same words he shared with her so generously not so long ago. In her birthday. Right before feeding her with his blood to save her life.
"I've seen it all. Twice. Three times. And more than I can ever remember. Déjà vu over and over again."
"You spent centuries hunting down others, being hunted. Taking all possible precautions even in the most extreme excesses because of some curse or some angry father…"
"Now because you heard a part of my story, you think you know my every thought and feeling?"
"All I know is that there is no genuine beauty in revenge and fear. And definitely not in suicide." she spontaneously said.
He moved closer, looked her in the eyes and gently held her hands.
"Why didn't I meet you back then when everything was still possible? And when it was worth the trouble to chase the impossible."
"May be the future still holds a reward for you."
He laughed the joyless laugh of those whose souls are tearing to pieces.
"There is no future for a being like me, darling. Life is a circle. And as I said before, I've been around it so viciously more than twice. I've seen enough of the world and the world has seen enough of me."
"You've been dragging your past with you, all the way around. A heavy, dark past and I'm not just talking about the coffins. If you let it go, you'll see things from a whole new perspective. Even things you've seen before. You'll live the life you truly deserve. And die, eventually. Pleased."
"Words of wisdom from such a young soul. As comforting as it sounds, I'm pleased now."
He gently caresses her hand with his fingertips then moved his face closer to hers. She dived into his penetrating gaze and felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. Every cell of her trembling body was craving for him to kiss her. But since he never showed any sign of real physical attraction to her, she didn't expect it to happen anytime soon. When he finally did, she had a feeling of weightlessness. It seemed almost like she was never been kissed before. It was soft and electrifying in the same time. He was a thousand-years-old handsome, powerful and experienced man, after all. But the way he kissed her was far beyond any expectations.
"Mesmerizing!" He exclaimed when he finally moved away.
She was figuratively out of breath. She couldn't think straight. That's why she didn't contest when he carried her, upstairs, in his arms. On the contrary, she hung on to his neck in real delight.
(To be continued…)