Chapter 5 – Let's Go To Whitmore
A/N: Klaroline is getting closer and closer to being reunited! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, make sure to review!
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"Ugh, just leave me alone already!" Caroline shouted, throwing her phone across the room and onto the opposite couch, incidentally next to Katherine who was curled up with a book in her hand.
Katherine looked up from her book with a glare.
"Excuse you, that was rude." She snapped.
Caroline sighed. "Sorry. I'm just so annoyed!"
"About what?" Katherine picked up the phone and looked at the screen, face dawning in realization. "Ah, I see. 4 missed calls and 3 texts from Klaus."
"He won't let it go!" Caroline complained, eyebrows shooting up as she got more and more frustrated. "It's like he has this obsession with me or something, but I know the real reason why he keeps trying to talk to me."
"Oh really?" Katherine drawled. "Do tell."
"He sees me as a challenge. Because I didn't immediately fall for his charm at that Christmas party like a month ago, he thinks he has to win me over to prove himself." She said matter-of-factly, scooting to the edge of the couch and talking with her hands.
Katherine chuckled, twirling a strand of dark curly hair around her finger lazily.
"And it couldn't possibly be that Klaus just, oh I don't know, actually likes you?" She asked sarcastically.
Caroline pursed her lips in thought. Klaus couldn't actually like her, could he? No, there's no way. She was just some conquest to him. Klaus Mikaelson, the super rich businessman of Mikaelson Arts, with the smooth British accent and crazy hot body, he couldn't possibly like her. Caroline was just a student at NYU, only 20 years old (well, 21 next month) from a tiny little nothing town in Virginia. He couldn't like her.
"And are we forgetting that little moment on the elevator two weeks ago that I was fortunate enough to witness?" Katherine asked coyly, bringing Caroline out of her thoughts. "Because let me tell you, I managed to see past that haze of awkwardness and embarrassment, and I definitely saw some real potential there."
The girl in question just rolled her eyes and huffed. "Katherine I begged you not to bring that up again –"
"Well I'm bringing it up again anyways." She interrupted sharply. "Look, I don't know Klaus that well, but what I do know I've heard from Elijah and that's a pretty good source. Klaus puts on a show for most people, acts all cocky and confident, and tries to intimidate people. Kind of like yours truly."
Caroline couldn't help but shrug in agreement.
"But according to Elijah, most of that is just a ruse. He does that to push people away. Apparently the guy is pretty messed up. I think he had a super bad childhood or something, Elijah didn't tell me much."
Caroline stilled, leaning back as she absorbed what Katherine was telling her. Klaus was an arrogant jerk, there was no getting around that painful fact. But she hadn't even stopped to think about why he acted that way. She always saw the best in everyone, so why was that so hard for her to do with Klaus?
"I guess I'm saying don't be so hard on the guy." Katherine shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean worst case scenario, you go out with him, decide you don't like him, get a free meal and maybe a little bump and grind in the bedroom, what's the harm?"
"Katherine!" Caroline whined in embarrassment, tossing a throw pillow at her friend and making her laugh.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Geez, so touchy." She smirked, going back to her book.
"Wait are you reading?" Caroline asked incredulously. "Since when does Katherine Petrova read?"
"Hey, I'm changing my last name to Pierce tomorrow, so stop calling me Petrova." Katherine said firmly, pointing at Caroline.
"Katherine! You're changing your name again? This is like the hundredth time!"
"Oh stop being so dramatic, it's only the second time." Katherine drawled. "I mean, I love my mom's maiden name and all, but I changed it from Gilbert to Petrova just to piss my dad off, the cheating bastard." She scowled. "So now that I'm starting to make a name for myself around here, I need something with a better ring to it. Katherine Pierce." She said slowly, trying the name out. "Oh yeah, that's much better."
"I'll admit it does sound fierce." Caroline finally conceded. "But I mean if you keep changing your name you might as well go back to being called Katerina since it is your birth name – hey!"
The pillow hit Caroline right in the face and when she pulled it away Katherine was pointing at her sternly.
"Do not call me Katerina. I mean it, you know I hate that name."
"Okay, okay, fine." Caroline chuckled. "But back to what I asked, what the hell are you reading?"
"Grapes of Wrath." Katherine sighed, holding it up for her roommate to see. At Caroline's expression she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Elijah suggested it to me, so…whatever."
Caroline smirked, easily seeing past her friend's façade of indifference.
"So Elijah, huh?" She asked, Katherine snapping her head up. "Things must be going pretty well. Seeing each other almost every day, having lunch at his office, taking his book suggestions. Is it serious?"
"No." Katherine said quickly, almost too quickly. "I'm Katherine Pierce, I don't do serious."
"So you're going to break up with him at some point?"
"There's nothing to break up, Caroline." Katherine snapped. "We're just fooling around, it's not like he's my…" She trailed off, staring into space.
"Boyfriend?" Caroline finished for her.
Katherine froze, slowly looking up at her friend. It was very rare for Katherine to show emotion, but she was chock full of it in that moment.
"I'm in too deep, Caroline." She whispered. "I'm in way over my head, and I don't like it. The way that he looks at me, it scares me. Like he sees right through me or something."
"Oh Kat." Caroline murmured, walking over and sitting next to her friend, who immediately leaned into her. "It's okay to like Elijah, hell it's okay for you to maybe even fall in love with him. He's a great guy that is obviously head over heels for you. You deserve to be happy, Katherine."
"But don't you?" Katherine turned the tables quickly, turning to look at Caroline, who was puzzled. "Don't you deserve to be happy too? If you say I should let Elijah in, then why are you not doing the same thing with Klaus?"
Caroline's eyes widened as she took Katherine's words to heart. Her friend was right, she wasn't taking her own advice. Chest constricting in understanding, Caroline realized she wasn't seeing the best in Klaus because she was scared of falling for what she saw.
"Give me that phone." Caroline said quickly, reaching over Katherine – who looked quite confused – and snatching the device up, quickly hitting the call button on the most recent listing.
"What are you doing?" Katherine hissed, but Caroline just held up her hand in a signal to be quiet.
The phone rang two times before he picked up. He didn't say anything at first and Caroline's breath caught in her throat.
"Caroline?" He asked slowly, making her inhale sharply. "Is that you?"
She froze for a moment, Katherine nudging her arm and waiting expectantly.
"Yes." She finally said quickly. "It's Caroline. And I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me."
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Caroline hitched her rucksack further up her shoulders as the group entered the last two mile stretch of the day, walking through fairly open fields of dead grass. They were on their third and supposedly last day of travel – according to Enzo – and they were trying to beat the rain that everyone could feel was coming. Rainy days were always terrifying because clouds meant the sun wouldn't be shining, and no sun meant plenty of Infected out and about during the day.
Everyone was exhausted – walking thirty miles a day was no easy task when they usually covered only about fifteen to twenty. Elena looked dead on her feet as she walked next to Damon, practically leaning on him, and Bonnie was in a similar shape with Kol. Jeremy and Alaric were trying to keep their tough guy act up but the bags under their eyes and their slow gait said otherwise.
Katherine and Caroline were another story entirely though. They wore expressions of determination, refusing to let the wear and tear bring them down. Caroline was at the front of the group, walking with purpose, Katherine a few paces behind her.
And then of course there was Enzo. Enzo had decided as of late that he was completely and utterly fascinated with Caroline. Nobody could really tell if he had romantic intentions or not, but he wouldn't leave the girl alone. At that moment he was walking next to her, easily matching her stride as he pestered her with relentless questions.
"So you wanted to make clothes?" He asked incredulously, his accent seeming like it got thicker every day.
Caroline sighed, looking straight ahead. "I wanted to design clothes, not make them."
"Ah I see, how silly of me not to note the difference." He remarked sarcastically. "So, NYU, eh? How'd you end up there from all the way down in Virginia? You said you were from a place called Mystic Falls or something, right?"
"Yepp." Caroline said shortly. "I got a brochure in the mail from NYU, applied, got in, and moved there. Exciting story, huh? Now can you please be quiet for like two seconds?"
They heard Katherine snicker behind them and Enzo looked over his shoulder to glare.
"You know you should be nicer to me Caroline. After all I am leading you – quite heroically I might add – to Whitmore without asking for anything in return."
"Oh please!" Caroline scoffed. "You would have been dead in a day if it weren't for us! If anything, you owe it to us to take us to Whitmore." She could practically feel the arrogance oozing from his person.
"You know I am curious as to why you and Miss Scary Hair back there – " He looked back to Katherine, who shot him daggers with her eyes, " – are so eager to get to Whitmore. Am I missing something?"
It was quiet for a few seconds, the only sound was the wind and everyone's heavy feet crunching over the dead grass.
Finally Katherine sighed dramatically. "My husband." She said bluntly. "I'm hoping he'll be there. He was in New York during The Outbreak and would have started heading west towards Chicago if he survived. I'm hoping he heard about Whitmore too."
Enzo glanced down at Katherine's left hand, noting the tanline from the missing wedding band.
"I had to trade it a couple months ago for some food." Katherine said sadly.
"What was his name?" Enzo asked. "I know the majority of the people at Whitmore, maybe I've heard of him."
"Elijah Mikaelson." She said, hope lacing her voice despite her best efforts.
Enzo thought for a moment, slowing down his pace so he could better look at Katherine.
"No, I don't think I've ever heard of him." He shook his head, and Katherine's shoulders visibly drooped. "But I've been out scouting for months, and my friends Rose and Trevor were the ones scouting east where your husband would've been. If they met up with him then I'm sure he would've started making his way there as well."
"What about Stefan Salvatore?" Damon shouted from the back of the group, where he had an arm around Elena and was supporting most of her weight. "You ever heard of him?"
"No, sorry mate." Enzo shouted back. "But none of you lot need to worry, word of Whitmore is finally getting out. I'm sure your loved ones are on their way there now, if they're not already there."
Caroline cocked an eyebrow at Enzo's sincere tone, surprised that he wasn't being sarcastic or snarky for once. He caught her eye and gave her a look.
"What?"
"Nothing." She said. "Just surprised that you're being…decent."
"Excuse me?" He asked in mock offense. "I'm always decent, I haven't said a cross word to you since we met."
Caroline laughed, but it was forced. "No, but you've been pestering the hell out of me."
"Well that's because I find you interesting. Truly!" He defended himself as Caroline looked at him it disbelief. "You act all tough and gruff, but I think I can catch a few glimpses here and there of the girl you were before The Outbreak."
"Oh really?" Caroline asked bitterly. "And who do you think that girl was?"
"Kind." He said immediately. "Heart of gold, saw the best in everyone, never ran out of second chances. Terrified to love, but once you did, you put your entire soul into it."
Caroline almost came to a complete stop, the rest of the group other than she, Enzo, and Katherine still several yards behind them. She looked at Enzo with a fear-ridden expression, scared that he was hitting her old self's personality so accurately.
"And I would bet my life that you were the kind of girl that no one could say a cross word about because you were just so damn nice to everyone." He added before leaning closer to her face and lowering his voice to an almost whisper. "So tell me, what made you turn into this vicious zombie-killing person you are now? Hm?"
Caroline was frozen to the spot, staring into his dark brown eyes, feeling like he could see right into her very soul.
"Oh just tell him Caroline." Katherine finally spoke, tearing her gaze away from Enzo. At Caroline's dazed expression Katherine just rolled her eyes and turned to their guide. "My husband's brother is her boyfriend."
"Katherine!" Caroline shouted indignantly, annoyed that she was bringing him up.
"And Kol is Elijah's other brother, that guy right there." Katherine pointed at where the group was approaching them, concern written on their faces. "We were in Chicago while Elijah and Klaus – her boyfriend – were in New York. We've been trying to get back to them since."
"And my baby brother too." Damon spoke up as everyone reached the trio. "Stefan would be with Elijah and Klaus if I had to guess."
"Don't forget about Lexi." Elena said in a weak voice. "Stefan wouldn't have gone anywhere without Lexi."
"And Elijah would have our sister Rebekah." Kol said in a serious tone, expression hard. "And probably her fiancée Matt."
"Who is mine, Katherine, and Caroline's good friend." Elena added somberly.
Enzo's eyes were wide as he looked around at the group in its entirety.
"Well then." He muttered. "You lot certainly have quite the twisted family tree."
He looked back to Caroline, who was staring down at the ground with an unreadable expression.
"But I promise that I will do my best to get you all back to the people you love." He said sincerely. Caroline looked up and met his eyes, sensing that he meant what he said.
She mustered the weakest smile she possibly could, and received a smile from him in return as well.
The group started to walk again, Jeremy and Alaric taking the lead when Enzo pointed the direction they needed to go in. Katherine squeezed Caroline's hand once before walking ahead and joining them. Damon, Elena, Kol, and Bonnie looked at her sympathetically as well as she stayed back and brought up the rear, much slower than before.
"I'm sorry." Enzo finally spoke after about five minutes of awkward silence, making her look up at him. "For pestering you so much. It's just that you remind me so much of her. Of Maggie." He looked off into the distance, face full of emotion as he thought about his lost love.
"Is that how you got my personality so right?"
He chuckled. "Yes. Maggie was a lot like you. Well, a lot like who I think you used to be." Caroline nodded. "She was so caring, always putting others first."
"Yeah, that sounds like old Caroline." She murmured to herself, looking down at the ground.
"Hey." Enzo said softly. "You're still that Caroline. If I, a complete stranger, can see that she's still in there then you can certainly get back to her. You just have to believe it."
Caroline looked up and met his eyes yet again, seeing the sincerity in them. For the first time in a long time, she smiled genuinely.
"Hey! Guys!" Jeremy suddenly shouted back, making everyone get on the defensive.
Enzo and Caroline both ran up the hill past the rest of the group to where Jeremy and Alaric were pointing at something.
"What the hell is that?" Jeremy asked worriedly, putting to a big gray wall that looked to be about a mile and a half off.
"That," Enzo said with a wide grin, "Is Whitmore."
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Klaus cursed under his breath, scowling as he threw his phone onto the bar in front of him. He picked up his glass of Bourbon and tossed it back, hissing at the familiar burn.
"Something wrong, Niklaus?" Elijah asked from his left, lifting his own glass to his lips in a sophisticated manner, posture rigid whereas Klaus was hunched over the bar with disregard.
"Yes brother, do tell us what's got you so troubled." Finn asked from the other side of Klaus, making him roll his eyes. "Don't tell me it's that girl from the Christmas party again."
"Oh shut it, both of you." Klaus grumbled, toying with his now empty glass.
"It is her, then!" Finn laughed, shooting Elijah a look over Klaus' head. "Why I don't think I've ever seen Niklaus so bothered over a woman before, Elijah. Annoyed that she didn't fall at your feet like all the other ones, brother?"
"Finn leave him alone." Elijah scolded, a fond smile on his face. "I think it's healthy for Niklaus to have to work for a woman for once."
"I am doing no such thing." Klaus grumbled, sitting up straight and signaling for his sister's boyfriend Matt, coincidentally the owner of the bar, to come over and refill his glass. "Caroline seems to despise me, and I would like to know why, that is all."
"And it has nothing to do with how extraordinarily beautiful and kind she is?" Elijah asked sincerely.
"Come now 'Lijah," Klaus said in a teasing tone, "What would your dear Katherine think of you saying such things about her best friend?"
"Wait what?" Finn asked as Matt filled his glass as well. "Katherine and the girl Niklaus is trying to woo are friends?"
"And roommates." Elijah added. "And I assure you Niklaus, Katherine is very much aware of my feelings for her, she has nothing to worry about. You on the other hand are the one who needs assistance in wooing Caroline."
"Yes." Klaus murmured, looking up at Matt for a moment before straightening up. "Donovan." He startled the boy, smirking at his frightened expression. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you not used to date the lovely Caroline Forbes?"
"Uh," Matt stammered, looking between the three brothers of his girlfriend, all of them incredibly intimidating, "Y-Yeah, we dated in high school for a year then for about another three months when I moved up here to the city."
"What happened?" Elijah asked, sipping his drink casually.
"Well I uh, I met your sister actually."
"Our little sister was your other woman?" Finn growled, leaning forward menacingly, making Klaus and Elijah smirk.
"No, no!" Matt rushed to say. "I broke up with Caroline before I even went out with Rebekah, I never cheated. I couldn't do that to Caroline, she's the nicest girl in the world."
"So tell me Mr. Donovan," Elijah began, "What kind of a girl is Miss Forbes?"
Klaus turned his head to glare at his older brother only to be completely unacknowledged.
"Uh, Caroline is a planner. She thinks everything through, down to every last detail. She can be kind of neurotic sometimes, but she's matured a lot since moving away from Mystic Falls."
"And what if one were trying to…" Klaus began, trailing off and scowling at his own need of help, "…woo her?" He finally spat out. "How would one go about that?"
"Wait are you – are you trying to date Caroline?" Matt asked, leaning on the bar with the corners of his mouth turned up.
"You know what, forget it, this is ridiculous." Klaus spat, standing up to leave, but Finn and Elijah each put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him back down in his seat.
"Go on, Donavan." Finn encouraged, leaning his chin in his hand. "Answer the question."
"Uh, well, you can't…woo her." He said, fearing what Klaus might do to him next. "Caroline is the kind of girl that comes to you. If you like her, let her know, but then you just gotta wait and see if she acts on it herself. If you keep bugging her, she's going to push you away."
Klaus looked down at the bar, fists clenched. What was wrong with him? Being reduced to asking dating advice from his little sister's bartender boyfriend. It was downright embarrassing.
"Look, I gotta get back down to the other end of the bar, but I'll get back to you guys later." Matt nodded to the three brothers before walking away.
"Fantastic." Klaus mumbled sarcastically. "Caroline has already decided that she doesn't care for me whatsoever and now I haven't a chance."
"Niklaus –"
"No 'Lijah." Klaus cut him off, standing up and pointing at his brother. "See this is why I don't try to do the feelings nonsense. It may work for you with Katherine and Finn with Sage, but not for me."
Elijah fell silent at his brother's words, sighing in disappointment. And just as Klaus reached to grab his phone and make a quick exit, it began to ring.
"Well would you look at that." Finn said slowly after they all looked at the Caller ID.
Klaus' eyes were wide and disbelieving as he read the name. He looked between his brothers briefly before quickly snatching up the phone and answering it.
"Caroline?" He asked disbelievingly. Had Katherine taken her phone and was playing some sort of prank? "Is that you?"
It was silent for a moment and Klaus' heart dropped.
"Yes." Her bell like voice rang out, making the corner of his mouth turn upwards. "It's Caroline. And I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me."
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"For the last time Stefan, I'm fine." Lexi said with a fond smile as they walked along the abandoned interstate, cars littering the cracked and overgrown pavement. "I just have to walk a little slower, but I don't need to stop every five minutes."
Stefan looked disbelieving as he travelled alongside his friend, worried for her well-being. The penicillin had taken care of the bacterial infection sooner than they anticipated, just two days after administering it. She was weak, but when they told her about Whitmore, Lexi insisted that they start travelling sooner rather than later. So it was the second day of their five day journey and they had covered about thirty miles when the exhaustion had really started to show on her. On everyone, really.
Everyone except Klaus and Elijah that is. They wore grim faces of resolve and determination. Matt was keeping an eye on Rebekah, and Stefan was making sure Lexi didn't pass our or get dehydrated. But the two brothers were the forefront of this expedition, that much was obvious. They led the way, weapons constantly in hand. The group had only run into three Infected thus far, easily taken out. There was a group of five or six travelers they had passed the day before though that had eyed their belongings greedily, but one glimpse of Klaus' cutlass and they went on their way without another word.
Klaus and Elijah were both thinking about the women in their lives as their feet pounded the pavement, it was what kept them going. It had been eight months since The Outbreak and this was the first time they had ever really had any hope to cling onto.
Klaus kept playing a scenario in his head of walking through the walls around Whitmore and seeing that familiar head of blonde hair, calling her name, almost falling to his knees when her familiar blue-gold eyes would meet his. Elijah was thinking something similar, just with his own dark-haired, stubbornly feisty beauty.
Fortunately for everyone though, Lexi was back to her normal self – well, what could be defined as normal for Lexi. They had all taken her constantly positive attitude for granted since The Outbreak, only realizing how much it kept everyone a little bit lighter on their feet when she got sick and wasn't able to be so cheerful all the time.
"I know you're fine Lex, I'm just worried that this is too much on you." Stefan murmured, her arm looped through his as they walked so as to take a little bit of the effort off her. "You were basically on your death bed a few days ago and now we're making you walk twenty plus miles a day."
"Yeah, to get to Whitmore!" She countered excitedly, grin taking up her dirty tanned face. "Stefan, we're going somewhere safe. Somewhere we don't have to worry about getting eaten by a terrifying monster whenever the sun goes down. We won't have to hide in cars at night, or break into people's houses. We can get back to normal!"
"Yeah I don't think being enclosed in sixty foot high cement walls is really normal, Lexi." Matt called out over his shoulder from where he walked with Rebekah hand-in-hand.
"Well it's as normal as you can get during the apocalypse." Rebekah grumbled, nudging his shoulder with her own, smiling. Ever since the other day when Klaus tried to kill Matt, she hadn't left his side nor even so much as looked at Klaus.
"Well I am willing to walk until I feel my feet fall off if it means we can be somewhere safe, and hopefully see everyone again." Lexi said with a content sigh, squeezing Stefan's arm. "Think about it Stef, Chicago is closer to the Indiana-Ohio border than where we started off in New York. If they all started heading towards us like we were heading towards them then – "
Lexi paused as she and Stefan stepped over a dead body on the road.
"– then they could totally be at Whitmore right now!"
"Well I'm hoping that as much as you are Lex, but I'm not putting all my cards on the table." Stefan said. "That's best case scenario. If they're not there though, then maybe someone there has heard of them or knows where else they could be."
"True." Lexi sighed, looking up at Stefan with her prize winning smile. "And if that's the case, we'll keep looking for them."
Stefan looked down and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and kissing her forehead fondly.
"Damn I hope they're there." Matt said, mostly to himself. "Caroline, Elena, Katherine, all of them."
"Hell I even miss Damon." Lexi said, shocked at herself. "I would kill to hear one of his stupid innuendos right now."
"And we can't forget about Kol." Rebekah looked back. "I remember texting him the night of The Outbreak and telling him that Caroline and Katherine were in Chicago and wanted to meet him, maybe they were together when everything happened."
"Yeah, maybe so." Matt said, grinning at her optimism.
"I do wonder how Finn and Sage are." Elijah wondered out loud, speaking for the first time in a while. "The last time I spoke to him was a week before The Outbreak and he was in Manchester with Sage and the baby."
Everyone got quiet, each thinking about how terrifying it would be to not only have to protect yourself and your significant other from the Infected, but a baby as well. Rebekah was especially silent.
"I'm sure they're fine." Klaus said roughly. "Finn was always capable of taking care of himself, and we both know Sage could – "
Klaus cut himself off and everyone turned at the same exact moment, drawing their weapons at the sound of horses coming towards them.
"Quick, behind that van." Elijah whispered, and everyone immediately complied, Stefan helping Lexi rush behind the nearby vehicle.
The group of six crouched down behind the van, Klaus peering through the windows to see who was coming. A makeshift carriage that looked like it was thrown together much too quickly was being drawn by two horses and coming towards the road from the thin forestry alongside it. There seemed to be a man and a woman in it, and the back end of the carriage was pulling some supplies.
As the carriage came closer and slowed down, they were able to make out voices.
"…nobody over here, Liv."
"I'm telling you, I saw them! It was a big group, right here on the road."
"Sure you did, just like you thought those Infected the other night were a nice family that could need help."
"Well excuse me Luke, sorry I have a heart and want to help any other survivors I can."
"Whatever. Well since we're already stopped can I have a pee break? Or are there any other mysterious invisible travelers you need to stop and help?"
"Oh screw you, Luke."
The two people in the carriage looked to be teenagers, maybe in their early twenties at most. The girl had incredibly curly blonde hair and her jeans and shirt were torn all over. She was thin, too thin, like she hadn't eaten in a long time. The boy was the same way, they looked to be siblings. He had floppy blonde hair as well, facial hair rampant.
Klaus and his group observed them through the windows of the van unseen, and the girl jumped down to check on the horses while the boy walked over by a car in front of the van, his back to the group as he pulled down his zipper and started to relieve himself.
Klaus glanced back at Elijah, who nodded, already knowing the plan. Klaus unsheathed his cutlass silently, stalking up behind the boy without a sound so that the girl wouldn't hear him from where she stood about fifteen feet away.
"Make one move without my permission, and I remove your head from your body." Klaus said menacingly, making the girl scream as she looked up to see her brother at the receiving end of a blade.
While Klaus had been stalking up to the boy, Elijah had crept around the other way and snuck up behind the girl. Just seconds after Klaus, he had his own blade at her throat, making her scream yet again as he pulled her body against his chest.
"Take whatever you want, just take it." The girl pleaded, looking down at Elijah's blade in terror. "Please, just don't hurt me or my brother."
"D-Dude let me at least pull up my pants." The boy stuttered.
"You'll be allowed to zip your fly when you tell us who you are." Klaus smirked, obviously in his element.
"I'm Luke Parker, that's my sister Liv." He spat quickly, gulping as the blade dug into his skin.
"And why were you so interested in finding us, hm?" Elijah asked, smiling his pearly whites and looking both charming and terrifying.
"We're trying to help people." Liv replied to the man holding her, mustering some bravery in her voice. "I thought I saw people on the road and we just wanted to see if we could help."
"Who says we need your help?" Klaus hissed.
"Nobody." Liv shot right back. "But we're offering it all the same."
"Look we're not thieves." Luke said. "We're just travelers okay, our parents were killed a few months back and we're all each other has. We're trying to go to a safe place we heard about a few weeks ago, about seventy or eighty miles from here. It's called –"
"Whitmore." Stefan finished for him, stepping up towards the boy. "You guys know about it?"
"Yes." Liv said, letting out a breath as the blade against her throat slackened. "That's where we're going now."
"So are we." Matt said.
"We can help you get there!" Luke scrambled, zipping up his pants and adjusting himself quickly as Klaus very graciously released him. "You can ride with us, it'll take two days off your journey."
Klaus scoffed, starting to say something when Rebekah suddenly stepped up to him and put her hand on his arm. He was so startled that she had approached him he turned around with a shocked expression.
"Nik we should go with them." She whispered hurriedly.
"Bekah they are practically children." He said back to her under his breath. "Not to mention we don't even know if they're telling the truth. They could be Infected for all we know!"
"And if they are then we will deal with it then. But right now, we need to make good time to Whitmore before we walk right into the rain. Not to mention Lexi is still recovering!"
Klaus sighed, looking back at the rest of the group. His sister was right, Lexi was still incredibly weak despite her best efforts to appear otherwise. And as they got closer to Whitmore the cloudier it was becoming. Fortunately the sun was still shining through, but pretty soon it wouldn't be. And that meant the Infected would be paying them a visit out in the open, where they would have nowhere to run.
He looked back at the twins, who were standing next to each other now, Luke making sure Liv was alright.
"What do you want in return?" He called out to them, getting their attention. "For safe passage to Whitmore, what do you want?"
"Um…nothing?" Liz replied. "We just wanna help, okay? Obviously your friend is sick, and you guys look exhausted. The rain is coming soon and trust me, running from those things is a lot easier when you have a horse drawn carriage at your disposal, no matter how crappy it is."
"We can help each other out." Luke added. "We have transportation, you guys have weapons to protect us with in case we get attacked."
"They make a fair point Niklaus." Elijah murmured, looking over at his brother. "It seems to be a good offer for both parties."
Klaus thought for a moment, meeting the eyes of everyone in his group. They were all exhausted, emotionally and physically, Lexi especially. Oh what the hell, he thought to himself. Worst case scenario they kill the teenagers and use their carriage for themselves.
"Fine." He conceded. "Let's go to Whitmore."
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A/N: Review pretty please! Just a few more chapters until Klaroline reunites! xoxo