I'm back, and working on my stories again! Thanks for all of the kind words while I was gone, they meant more than I can say Here's a drabble to tide you over : )
Klaus was delirious, a feeling he'd had too much of when Silas had played mind games on him the previous year. This time, however, he was manacled to a wall, and routinely injected with something the witches had created with the help of his sister Rebekah.
When Tyler had returned with several packs of werewolves he bonded with in his travels, intent on rousting any and all vampires from New Orleans, Marcel had needed a steady supply of the anecdote for a werewolf bite, Klaus's blood.
When Klaus had not consented to the idea, Rebekah, desperate for a life of her own, had jumped at the chance to render her brother helpless.
Elijah had fled with Hayley some time ago, and all Klaus could do was hope that maybe his brother would think of him someday and return.
Some nights, when the delirium was at its worst, he would think he saw her, Caroline, sitting beside him and stroking his hair. She never says anything, just soothes him. And, always, just before the hallucination ends, she gently presses a kiss to his forehead.
Tonight, his dosage is late. He can feel the cloudiness in his mind beginning to lift, and something deep inside of him, still capable of hope, wonders if it might all be over.
The door to his dungeon creaks open, and he sighs deeply. His life never fails to betray him.
The vampire approaches him, hood pulled up to mask the face. Presumably, so that, should he ever escape, he won't know who to thank for his current state.
He gathers what little strength he has to snarl as the door to his cell is opened, and the vampire steps over the threshold. They come closer, and now he notices that there is no syringe to be seen.
"What fresh hell have you planned for me, then?" He mutters as the vamp kneels down beside him, unlocking the manacles and freeing him. Without hesitation, he attempts to rise to his feet, but he is weak and stumbles forward.
Hands reach out to catch him, gentle hands. His arm is guided around the shoulders of his apparent rescuer, and an arm snakes around his waist.
He takes a deep breath and freezes, because the scent he has caught belongs somewhere far from here.
"No, no. It's another hallucination!" He begins to struggle, and a hand reaches up to cup his face.
"No, Klaus. It's not. I've come to take you home." She's pushed the hood back, and he sees the blood dripping from her lips, fresh from the guards posted outside.
Caroline tightens her grip, and they flash out of the dungeon like bats out of hell.
Several hours later, Klaus wakes in a soft bed, in a hotel far from New Orleans. Caroline is nowhere to be seen, and he sits up in a panic. DId she leave him here? Did she leave him behind?
"Caroline? Caroline!" He calls, stumbling out of the bed, knees buckling as he tries to make it to the door. He collapses, crying, his head swimming in confusion.
"I'm here, I'm here!" The bathroom door swings open, and she runs to him, kneeling down beside him and cradling his head in her lip.
"Caroline, you came for me." He looks up in to her eyes, shocked to see the tears trickling down her face.
"Of course I did." She chuckles as she strokes his hair.
"I thought I'd never see you again, that you'd forgotten about me."
"Forgotten about you? How could I? You're my forever." She leans down and presses her lips to his foread. He chokes back tears as he grasps her free hand.
So, this was happy.
Hope you enjoyed : ) Review?